Kevin Williamson (born 1961) is a writer, publisher, and activist originally from Caithness. He is a Scottish socialist and republican and was an activist for the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), and was the architect of their radical drug policy, which includes the legalisation of cannabis and the provision by the state of free heroin to addicts. He wrote a regular weekly column, "Rebel Ink", for the Scottish Socialist Voice.
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In 1992 Williamson launched a literary magazine called Rebel Inc [1] and through its pages was one of the first publishers of such Scottish writers as Irvine Welsh, Laura Hird, Alan Warner, and Toni Davidson. He has also championed such major Scottish writers as James Kelman, Duncan McLean, Gordon Legge and Alasdair Gray.
In 1996 Williamson joined forces with Edinburgh-based Canongate Books to create the Rebel Inc imprint [2] which, in the following five years, published almost sixty titles, mixing Scottish fiction with the international counter-culture and the politics of dissent. Within the Rebel Inc imprint Williamson re-published a series of out of print titles under the heading of Rebel Inc Classics that included writers such as Richard Brautigan, Alexander Trocchi, Charles Bukowski, Nelson Algren, John Fante, Knut Hamsun, Jim Dodge, Robert Sabbag and Jack London.
He is a long-time campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis, and unsuccessfully tried to open a "hash cafe" in Edinburgh. [3] [4] [5] In 1997 Williamson went on a "National Change The Drug Laws" tour with former cannabis smuggler Howard Marks.
In 1999 Williamson stood as an SSP candidate in the first ever elections to the Scottish Parliament in the Edinburgh Central constituency. In 2001 he stood again for the SSP in Edinburgh Central in the Westminster General Election.
In 2003 Williamson became the first person to be physically ejected by the police from the Scottish Parliament when he made an anti-war protest wearing a George Bush mask.[6] He is strong supporter of Scottish independence and Independence First.
In August 2006, in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridan's libel case against the News of the World, Williamson parted company with the Scottish Socialist Party. A lengthy letter of resignation was published online which contained a highly critical attack on Tommy Sheridan, as well as citing political differences with the direction the SSP was going in.
In November 2007, Williamson signalled a clear break with party politics and his previous Marxian background in an article entitled Scotland's Libertarian Left [7] which was originally published in Bella Caledonia - a free newspaper Williamson currently co-edits (with Mike Small) aimed at stimulating discussion around left libertarian and Scottish republican ideas.
Since acrimoniously parting company with Canongate Books, Williamson has worked as a newspaper columnist and cultural commentator, regularly appearing in print and on television and radio. In 2002 he had a regular weekly column controversially axed from The Herald newspaper for his outspoken views on Israel.
His published work includes "A Visitor's Guide To Edinburgh" (co-written with Irvine Welsh in 1993), and "Drugs and the Party Line" (1997). His poetry has been published in anthologies and magazines. In 2005 he won the Robert Louis Stevenson Award for literature.
His first collection of poetry In A Room Darkened was published by Two Ravens Press in October 2007. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Williamson was also a contributor to Pax Edina: One O' Clock Gun Anthology (Edinburgh, 2010)[13]
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