Here, two leading contemporary novelists are shown at the Edinburgh Book Festival in 1993. McLean was born in Aberdeenshire and now lives in Orkney. Welsh grew up in Muirhouse on the outskirts of Edinburgh. His first novel 'Trainspotting' became popular throughout the world. According to the film historian David Bruce 'The story of Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and company living their various but related forms of hell was scarcely a celebration of Scotland in the nineties... But it did prove the Scottish ability to make books and films of tremendous intelligence and impact about contemporary issues'.