2025 marks the sixth year of the Paisley Book Festival, which has gained a reputation as a festival that foregrounds bold ideas and radical thinking, showcasing the best in Scottish writing, platforming the voices and stories of everyday people, and supporting a burgeoning community of book enthusiasts in Paisley.

Poet’s Corner is a lunch hour taking place each day of the festival, showcasing exciting new work and voices in Scottish poetry.

On Friday, Poet’s Corner features three poets whose new work explores the challenges and opportunities of growing up. Andrés N. Ordorica, with his new collection, Holy Boys, traces the journey from boyhood to manhood through a queer lens, portraying the lingering echoes of youth and the pains of living a life in the shadows. Charles Lang’s debut collection, The Oasis, pulses with the energy of urban life, traversing the gritty, playful and tender moments that shape adolescence, with a focus on working-class experiences. Paisley-based Lorna Callery-Sithole introduces us to an emotive extract from her spoken word show, Inheritance, centring on a brother and sister’s experience of being surrounded by gang culture in 1980s and 90s Pollok.