Director’s Introduction

The acclaimed novelist Daphne du Maurier once said: “Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.” Sorry Daph, but the readers of the Highlands beg to disagree! We love seeing and hearing writers. This year we will hold the fifth Inverness Book Festival, which I hope you will agree promises to be the best yet. Not only do we have a fantastic author line-up but we’re back in our natural home, at Eden Court, with its superb new facilities.

I always try to organise a varied programme of events so that everyone’s tastes are catered for, and I always ‘reach for the stars’ for you!

This year, if you like top flight fiction you’ll drool at the prospect of meeting brilliant and original writers like James Kelman, Jon McGregor, Alan Bissett and Anne Donovan. We have authors from the fields of crime, travel writing, cycling, saving the planet, whisky and making the news, and for all you ageing rockers, we are lucky enough to be joined by 60’s icon and music producer Joe Boyd.

This year’s Book Festival also sees us working with the Schools Library Service and the Bookstart Team to put together a great variety of events for kids, for teenies and for schools featuring the best children’s writers in the country. We’ve got a very special limerick competition for schools and we’ll even be enjoying a visit from our big blue friend, the Bookstart Bear!

It’s not all about books though – it’s also about getting active and involved and we’ve assembled an array of workshops and creative sessions, including ‘Create a book in a day’, a masterclass in creating artwork for comics and some helpful hints for aspiring scriptwriters. This year’s Book Festival isn’t confined to the page either, as there are some very special film screenings of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and Brideshead Revisited – both adapted from hugely successful novels.

Happy reading!

Jason Rose
Festival Director