Malta Book Festival: A pint with Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh, the international guest of the 2021 Malta Book Festival, will sit down for an extended interview with writers Wayne Flask, and again with Immanuel Mifsud in an exchange moderated by Mark Vella
25 July 2021, 9:00am
by Matthew Vella
Irvine Welsh is the international guest of the 2021 Malta Book Festival. He’ll be sitting down for an extended interview on his life and works with Wayne Flask, and again with Immanuel Mifsud in an exchange moderated by Mark Vella to discuss the generation-defining influence of the Scottish writer’s works.
Ahead of the Festival, the National Book Council spoke to the moderators and fellow writers who will be appearing on stage with Irvine Welsh at this year’s Book Festival.
Freed from the conventions of office-life and the need to maintain certain standards, months of lockdown have allowed men to be a bit more adventurous about their appearance- but the results can be disastrous.
Male politicians and business leaders are finding out what film stars and TV presenters have known for years - your hair is your brand.
Get it right and you re man of the moment, get it wrong and you re a laughing stock.
Some pandemic hairstyles were stylish, most completely tragic. Mullets, buzzcuts, creepy ponytails and a lot of thinning lank strands looped behind the ears.
Men are in the stone age when it comes to hair intelligence. Women, on the other hand know a good hairdo gives you confidence, sending a message to others about how you want to be treated.
The influential Labour Party figure, Lord Peter Mandelson (Getty/Claire Doherty)
Former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson has reflected on being the target of an “explicitly homophobic” jibe from Boris Johnson and being a “role model” for young gay people.
Mandelson held a series of powerful roles in the Labour Party under ex-prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, earning the nickname ‘the Prince of Darkness’ due to his behind-the-scenes influence and mastery of media.
While he did not publicly discuss his sexuality during his time in power and has only begun to do so in the past few years, Mandelson did not make a secret of the fact he was a gay man in political circles.