A forgotten writer rediscovered at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival.

“I can now go into bookshops and see my book in there, which is a novel experience,” enthuses Ron Butlin on no longer being Britain’s best kept literary secret. Yet until he was “rediscovered” by Irvine Welsh, who described his 1987 debut, The Sound Of My Voice, as “one of the greatest pieces of fiction to come out of Britain in the 80s”, he was all but invisible on the literary landscape.

Butlin’s second novel Night Visits is being re-published to coincide with his appearances at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. The first time around, in 1997, it sold a whopping 87 copies. “I wondered why I wasn’t getting any reviews,” he laughs. “Then I realised my publisher was saving on postage by not sending out any copies.” The struggle eventually proved too much. “The ten-plus years subsequent to its [The Sound Of My Voice’s] first publication were very hard indeed. At one point I reached an all-time low when I decided to abandon writing fiction altogether.”

So what did we almost miss? The Sound Of My Voice follows biscuit executive Morris Magellan as he gradually implodes through alcoholism, while Night Visits takes place in a nursing home (Butlin partly grew up in one) and is about an abusive relationship between a ten-year-old boy and his Bible- obsessed aunt. Both combine maximum economy with devastating emotivity.

Salvation for Butlin came via a transatlantic phone call. It was New York’s Village Voice saying that Irvine Welsh had nominated The Sound Of My Voice as a “lost classic” in the magazine and could they publish an extract? Could they! “I’d never met Welsh and immediately felt rather humbled, I suppose. And very, very pleased. His support came completely out of the blue… I will be eternally grateful to him.” Though success was not immediate, Welsh’s support eventually led to a new publishing deal, great reviews and, most importantly, books on shelves. Michael Williams 22 Aug 03

The Sound Of My Voice and Night Visits by Ron Butlin are out now, published by Serpent’s Tail.