Book Week Scotland 23 – 29 November
Book Week Scotland is a week-long celebration of books and reading that takes place every November. Book Week Scotland 2015 will take place from Monday 23 – Sunday 29 November 2015.
With many of Scotland’s authors, poets, playwrights, performers, illustrators and book lovers coming together to celebrate everything wonderful about the written word, there’ll be a packed programme of events for all to enjoy.
As always, our capital city is at the heart of the programme and these are just a few of the highlights in Edinburgh to look forward to in Edinburgh (click on ‘more info’ for venue details):
Under the Skin + Michel Faber Q&A
Lothian Road, Edinburgh
Paid, ticketed
Adults
Sunday 29 November 15:15 – 17:45
See Jonathan Glazer’s gloriously cinematic interpretation of Michel Faber’s brilliant novel, and hear the author discuss the experience of having his work adapted for the big screen. A beautiful woman (Scarlett Johansson) drives a white van along Scotland’s lonely back roads. Her identity and her motives unclear, her eyes deadened but alert, she prowls the night streets seeking male victims.
More information about this event
Space and Lit with Michel Faber
Market Street, Edinburgh
Paid, ticketed
Adults
Saturday 28 November 19:30 – 22:00
Leaping off from the retro-futurism and technological fetish of California Light and Space art, tonight’s happenings at The Fruitmarket Gallery take in a reading from Michel Faber, author of The Book of Strange New Things, and the modular synths and tape delays of band Found’s post-cataclysmic world. Refreshments and stimulation from caffeinated art collective CONCH. Pulsating pop tones throughout.
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Making a Difference: The Edinburgh International Book Festival
Juniper Green, Edinburgh
Free, ticketed
Adults, Young Adult
Saturday 28 November 19:30 – 20:30
The Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Nick Barley joins us to bring our new Festival to a close and talk about how literary festivals are making a difference to the way we make sense of a changing world. Having just completed his sixth and most globally ambitious programme yet, Nick Barley gives a behind-the-scenes insight into the delivery of the Edinburgh International Book Festival which welcomes over 800 writers, poets, politicians, journalists, illustrators, photographers and thinkers from 55 countries around the world.
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Ronne Browne: That guy fae the Corries
George IV Bridge, Edinburgh
Free, ticketed
Adults
Saturday 28 November 14:30 – 15:30
Come hear Ronne Browne in conversation with Nicola Meighan (Chair) about his recently published autobiography That Guy fae the Corries, a memoir featuring his wartime childhood, austerity Britain in the 1950s and 60s, and his amazing musical career. Ronnie was one half of The Corries, the popular folk duo who made famous the unofficial national anthem of Scotland, Flower of Scotland, written by the other Corrie, Roy Williamson.
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Make your own Mini-Comic with Metaphrog
Craigmillar, Edinburgh
Free, unticketed (turn up on the day before event start)
Children, Young Adult
Saturday 28 November 14:00 – 15:30
Make your own Mini-Comic at this fun workshop with Metaphrog. Award-winning graphic novelists Metaphrog are coming to Craigmillar Library ahead of a US tour promoting their new book, The Red Shoes. Their workshop is aimed at kids aged 8+ and their families – you get to make and take home your own mini comic, plus we will have ten free copies of The Red Shoes to give away on the day to lucky young artists. No need to book for this free event, just come along to the library on the day.
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Val McDermid: Literary Inspirations
Edinburgh
Paid, ticketed
Adults, Young Adult
Friday 27 November 18:00 – 19:00
Join Scotland’s celebrated and best-selling novelist Val McDermid as she discusses her literary inspirations with critic Stuart Kelly. Raised in Kirkcaldy, and studying English at St.Hilda’s College, Oxford, Val McDermid was a prize-winning journalist before becoming one of the great names in crime writing, selling over 10 million copies worldwide. Her latest novel is Splinter the silence, but she has also recently revisited Northanger Abbey. The conversation promises to be wide-ranging, entertaining, and informed.
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In Conversation with Alan Bissett
Currie
Free, ticketed
Adults, Young Adult
Thursday 26 November 15:30 – 16:30
Ranked as The 46th Hottest Man in Scotland by The Daily Record, Alan Bissett is a male author, who wrote and performed a One Woman Show. He sprang onto the Scottish literary scene in 2001 with the zeitgeist-busting Boyracers, a Scottish novel about being young, naive, and getting taken on a sinister adventure. Later novels include Death of a Ladies Man, and Pack Men – a novel which, in the words of The Guardian, ‘casts an unsparing eye over the sectarian pollution of Scottish society.’ As well as writing, Bissett is a performer and a teacher of Creative Writing at Leeds University.
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Tollcross, Edinburgh
Paid, ticketed
Adults
Wednesday 25 November 21:00 – 23:00
Edinburgh’s own Ian Rankin has chosen one of his favourite book to screen adaptations. Join him in celebrating Get Carter from 1971 starring Michael Caine.
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In Conversation with Janice Galloway
Currie
Free, ticketed
Adults
Wednesday 25 November 18:30 – 20:00
Described as ‘unnerving’, ‘visceral’ and ‘surreal’ – Janice Galloway has haunted the landscape of Scottish writing with her terse and musical language since the publication of The Trick is to Keep Breathing in 1989. Telling the story of a young anorexic teacher, the novel quickly became a modern classic for its truthful portrayal of mental illness – a recurrent theme in Galloway’s work, connected to her own experiences. Galloway has also written an anti-memoir, This is Not About Me, as well as a novel documenting the life of the Schumanns and their close friendship with Brahms.
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Alistair Moffat, Scotland: A History from Earliest Times
South Bridge, Edinburgh
Free, ticketed
Adults
Wednesday 25 November 18:30 – 20:00
Join historian Alistair Moffat on a journey through Scotland’s past as he discusses his latest book, Scotland: A History from Earliest Times. From prehistoric timber halls to inventions and literature, Moffat’s tale explores the drama of battle, change, loss and innovation interspersed with the lives of ordinary Scottish folk, the men and women who defined a nation.
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Paula Hawkins: Be Gripped by The Girl on the Train
West End, Edinburgh
Free, Ticketed
Adults
Wednesday 25 November 19:00 – 20:00
Were you gripped by The Girl on the Train, the psychological thriller that topped bestseller charts and gave reading on the morning commute a whole new level of intrigue? Then you’ll love hearing Paula Hawkins discuss her enthralling book, as part of this year’s Book Week Scotland!
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The Humanities in a Post-Human Future: Iain M. Banks’s Theory of Mind
Horse Wynd, Edinburgh
Free, ticketed
Adults, Young Adult
Tuesday 24 November 18:00 – 20:00
We race upon the post-human. And we fear it. Will humanity someday cease to know itself? Professor Caroline McCracken-Flesher (University of Wyoming) discusses how Iain Banks poses and addresses this troubling future. In Banks’s Culture novels, he stands heir to an enlightened Scotland. For Banks, Mind reinvents the human.
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Cathy Rentzenbrink: For the Love of reading
Wester Hailes, Edinburgh
Free, ticketed
Adults
Friday 27 November 14:00 – 15:30
Come hear Cathy Renztenbrink talk about her work with Quick Reads, the Reading Agency’s ongoing project to encourage adults new to reading. And hear her read extracts from her family memoir, The Last Act of Love, a recent bestseller. A story of great sadness, great warmth and humour, it’s refreshing to read, and shows us how to keep going, despite it all.
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Edinburgh Trams: Book Gifting Event
Edinburgh Airport – City Centre, Edinburgh
Free
Children, Adults
Friday 27 November 13:00 – 14:00
Authors Douglas Lindsay and Cathy Rentzenbrink hop on Edinburgh Trams – take a trip to collect your free Book Week Scotland book ‘Journeys’ – because Reading keeps us on track.
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Edinburgh
Paid, ticketed
Adults
Friday 27 November 19:30 – 23:30
Faber Social and Book Week Scotland presents ‘For the Record’, a night of storytelling, performance and the secrets of the Scottish music scene with Fence Records and Fife’s finest, James Yorkston, music journalist and radio DJ, Vic Galloway and Richard King, the acclaimed writer of ‘How Soon Is Now? and ‘Original Rockers”.
Richard and James will kick things off, the trio will then be talking about the history and legacy of Fence Records and James will finish the evening with a solo set.
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And lots, lots more …!
You can check out the full programme tailored to your area here :http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/events
For more information about Book Week Scotland 2015 and how you can get involved, visit www.bookweekscotland.com
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