When Hugh and William McIlvanney were born in Kilmarnock in the 1930s it seemed very unlikely they would become two of Scotland's most-celebrated writers. Hugh, who has just died at the age of 84 ...

When Rebus author Ian Rankin first met William McIlvanney ... I thought can I do it?". McIlvanney, described as The Godfather of Tartan Noir, was born in Kilmarnock and was a high school teacher ...

McIlvanney was born in Kilmarnock, the son of a miner, William, who was “educated below his ability” and a mother, Helen (née Montgomery), who was a rock of stability. The family, with four ...