Martin MacIntyre - A Summer Like No Other
From Scots Whay Hae! by Alistair Braidwood
June 5, 2026 · 48 min
About this episode
Alistair Braidwood interviews writer Martin MacIntyre about his novel A Summer Like No Other and its themes related to Gaelic culture and storytelling.
For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali spoke to writer Martin MacIntyre to talk about his novel A Summer Like No Other which is published by Luath Press . Martin begins with a reading before he gives an overview to the novel, which is a translation from the original Gaelic version, Samhradh ‘78. The two then discuss the central characters, the key role the Gaelic language plays in terms of character and plot, (even in this translated adaptation), the use of footnotes, the importance of telling and sharing stories from all parts of Scotland, the tales of ‘Ossian’ and ‘Finn McCool’, island living, the move from adolescence into adulthood, and so much more. They also reminisce about the 1978 World Cup, which is the backdrop to the titular summer. Martin then talks about his other work, including poetry, and the podcast concludes with him reading one of his poems in both Gaelic and English. We have been wanting to get Martin on the podcast for a while, so it was a great pleasure to finally get to talk to him about his life and work. For full details, and all the ways to listen, head over to scotswhayhae.com
People in this episode
Host: Alistair Braidwood
Guest: Martin MacIntyre
Topics covered
- Gaelic language
- character development
- storytelling
- Scottish culture
- coming of age
- literature
- poetry
Keywords
- Martin MacIntyre
- A Summer Like No Other
- Gaelic
- storytelling
- 1978 World Cup
- Luath Press
- poetry
- Scottish literature
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Luath Press
Books & works: A Summer Like No Other, Samhradh ‘78
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