Every P2 and P3 child in Scotland will receive a pack containing books, games and other materials to help improve their literacy and numeracy skills. Education Secretary John Swinney launched the first packs at Towerbank Primary School, as part of the Read, Write, Count campaign delivered by Scottish Book Trust which encourages parents to actively engage in their child’s learning journey. Continue reading Book gift packs for all P2 and P3 children
We recently gave you ten unmissable Book Week events happening across the city this month. Well, we have another – Pentlands Book Festival takes place from 11 – 26 November. Continue reading Book Week events: the one that (nearly) got away!
Multi-award winning writers and household names Irvine Welsh, James Kelman and Jenni Fagan feature alongside emerging talents Chitra Ramaswamy and Martin MacInnes in the shortlists for the 2016 Saltire Literary awards, unveiled on Thursday. Continue reading Saltire shortlists announced
BOOK WEEK SCOTLAND
21 – 27 NOVEMBER
View the Book Week Scotland 2016 events programme here
Edinburgh events: edinburgh
#BookWeekScot
The full programme for Scotland’s fifth national celebration of books and reading has been announced. Working with a wide range of partners, Scottish Book Trust will deliver a feast of activities and events across the country during the 2016 edition of Book Week Scotland, all rooted in this year’s central theme of Discovery.
The key focus of the week will once again be a rich and varied events programme for all tastes and ages. Author events will abound with the UK’s best-loved writers and illustrators visiting libraries in every local authority, a programme funded by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), and appearances from such bookish heavyweights as Will Self, Lisa McInerney, Jenni Fagan, Jill Mansell, Simon Scarrow, Isabel Greenberg, Clare Mackintosh, Jodi Picoult, Alexander McCall Smith, whose event is programmed by East Lothian Libraries, and Liz Lochhead and Christopher Brookmyre, whose events are programmed by Cove and Kilgreggan Book Festival. Well-known personalities such as Alan Cumming, programmed by Literary Dundee, Nick Crane and Tony Robinson will also make special appearances in locations across the country.
As part of the theme of discovery, a brand new Book Generator quiz will be available on the Book Week Scotland website, enabling participants to uncover the perfect book match for themselves or the ideal present for a friend. Celebrities and authors such as Simon Mayo, A.L. Kennedy, Susan Calman and Lemn Sissay will provide additional inspiration by revealing which book they would give to everyone in Scotland for Christmas.
Booklovers far and wide will also be encouraged to take on a Reading Dare, with the joint aim of helping others to begin or continue their reading journey, and of challenging themselves to try something new. Those who need some inspiration can visit www.bookweekscotland.com to try out the Reading Dare Randomiser, which might suggest anything from gifting a book to a stranger, to proposing to the person you love with a line from your favourite poem.
To ensure that Book Week Scotland is accessible to as wide a range of people as possible, there will also be an outreach programme working with 20 local and national organisations. These partnerships will be tailored to specific audiences, and will include Dyslexia Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, 5 local authority Community and Learning Development teams and organisations like Fare Scotland, Sunny Govan FM, the Maker’s Bistro, Open Book and many others.
Participants will take part in a range of activities including finding out what friends and family like to read and gifting a specially chosen book, running book/film discussion nights, sharing and celebrating adult learners’ reading achievements, running a “write to recovery workshop” to encourage people to use creative writing to improve mental wellbeing and a “Reading, Writing and Self-Management” event to celebrate people using reading and writing to manage their long term health conditions.
For those who have an interest in discovering new writing talent, 150,000 free copies of a short story and poem collection written by the people of Scotland, Secrets and Confessions, will be handed out during the week via libraries, bookshops and other outlets.
School pupils across the country can also get into the Book Week Scotland spirit, with the three free picture books shortlisted for the Bookbug Picture Book Prize gifted to every Primary 1 pupil in Scotland in the Bookbug P1 Family Bag, and free bags of books, writing materials and counting games gifted to all Primary 2 and Primary 3 pupils. The bags, produced in partnership with Education Scotland and Scottish Government as part of Read, Write, Count, provide fun materials for parents and children to use to have fun learning at home.
Additionally, children across the country can tune in to watch award-winning children’s author and Ruby Redfort creator Lauren Child in a special free Authors Live webcast on 24 November at 11.00am. Several secondary schools will also enjoy a personal visit from hip hop artist Dave Hook of Stanley Odd fame, who will tour schools around the country during the week.
The week will conclude with the unveiling of the nation’s 10 favourite Scottish book to screen adaptations – will cult movie Trainspotting triumph, or will Robbie Coltrane’s Gruffalo snap up the top spot? Voting is open now at www.bookweekscotland.com – film, TV and book fans can choose their number one page to screen adaptation from an eclectic shortlist of 40.
For more information about Book Week Scotland 2016 and how you can get involved, visit www.bookweekscotland.com, where you can find information about all the events taking place in your local area, vote for your favourite book to screen adaptation and discover all sorts of ideas to help you celebrate and share whatever it is you love to read.
Comments:
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “It’s a fantastically positive endorsement of Scotland’s thriving literary scene that Book Week Scotland is now entering its fifth year, bigger, better and bolder than ever before. Authors, booksellers, libraries, readers and partners too numerous to mention have really taken this national festival to heart and made it what it is – a joyful, democratic and inclusive celebration of reading’s unique capacity for empowerment, enrichment, education, solace, pleasure and growth. The 2016 programme is our best yet, with world-class authors and more programmed events than ever before.”
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, said: “Book Week Scotland has gone from strength to strength since it was established in 2012, gaining the support of some of Scotland’s leading authors, including Christopher Brookmyre and Liz Lochhead. The importance of reading for pleasure cannot be underestimated, it can be a force for good in so many ways, helping people realise their potential.
“The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging reading in all our communities and, over the last four years, thousands of people have enjoyed events and free books during Book Week Scotland. It’s now a firm fixture in the calendar for thousands, and I encourage people the length and breadth of the country to embrace Book Week Scotland 2016”.
Leonie Bell, Director, Arts and Engagement, Creative Scotland, said: “The fifth year of Book Week Scotland promises to be a real celebration of Scotland’s incredible literary culture, from new writers to old favourites. With an outreach programme ensuring that everyone across Scotland is able to enjoy the magic of reading and a plethora of book-related events, talks and dares to embark on, Scottish Book Trust is taking us on a reading adventure like no other.”
Pamela Tulloch, Chief Executive, Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) said: “The Scottish Library and Information Council is delighted to support Book Week Scotland in this its 5th year. Scottish Book Trust has pulled together a stellar programme which will tantalise and engage audiences across the country. Scotland has a proud literary heritage and it’s great to see today’s authors celebrated in such an imaginative and inspirational way.”
Author Jodi Picoult said: “I am delighted to be part of Scotland’s celebration of books and writing, and love coming north of the border to meet my fans. I can’t wait to be there!”
Initiated by the Scottish Government and supported, along with a Reading Champions programme in libraries, by £200,000 from Creative Scotland, Book Week Scotland will be delivered by Scottish Book Trust. Book Week Scotland in public libraries and Further Education College libraries is funded by the Scottish Library and Information Council
PICTURES: ROB McDOUGALL
CBBC’s Awesome Authors is coming to the capital this weekend, giving Edinburgh’s children the chance to take part in this fun and exciting national event. Continue reading Awesome Authors coming to Edinburgh
Storyteller Mara Menzies joined Craigroyston Primary P2 children for a storytelling session in North Edinburgh Arts’ beautiful community gardens yesterday. Continue reading Mara and Craigroyston kids share stories in the garden
Diana Gabaldon (above), author of the hit Outlander series, now a major TV series, will join top authors Val McDermid, Michael Faber, A. L. Kennedy, Vic Galloway, Juno Dawson and Kirsty Logan for the Saltire Society’s first ever virtual literary festival, taking place from 24 – 26 June. Continue reading Outlander author joins stellar line-up for Saltire Society’s first ever virtual literary festival
The Piper tops Scottish Book Awards poll
Danny Weston, the Edinburgh-based author of four novels, was today (2 March) announced as the winner of the Older Readers (12-16 yrs) category of the Scottish Children’s Book Awards 2016, which celebrate the most popular children’s and young adult books by Scottish authors or illustrators.
Scotland’s largest book prize for children’s authors and illustrators, with each winning book receiving £3,000, the Scottish Children’s Book Awards are voted for exclusively by children and are run by Scottish Book Trust and supported by Creative Scotland through Regular Funding.
Nearly 30,000 votes were cast in this year’s awards, which are judged in three age categories – Bookbug Readers (3-7), Younger Readers (8-11) and Older Readers (12-16). Children across Scotland were encouraged to read the three shortlisted books in their age category and to vote for their favourite.
Danny (above), who lives in Tollcross, won the Older Readers (12-16 yrs) category for his book The Piper. Published by Andersen Press, the book follows Peter and his little sister, Daisy, who are evacuated from London to the countryside and find themselves on an isolated farm in the middle of a treacherous marshland. As Daisy gets drawn deeper into the secrets of their new home, Peter starts to realise that something very sinister is going on. What is that music they can hear at night? And who are the children dancing to it?
Danny has published three novels (under the name Philip Caveney) with Edinburgh-based publisher Fledgling Press. These are time travel adventures, all set in Edinburgh at different points in its history. The first book Crow Boy is set in Mary Kings Close, Seventeen Coffins is all about the tiny coffins found on Arthur’s Seat in 1836 and the most recent book, One For Sorrow, is all about Robert Louis Stevenson.
Commenting on his win, Danny said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won this award, especially because it has been voted for, not by critics and industry insiders, but by the people who matter most; the young readers for whom the story was actually written. Thanks to everyone who voted for ‘The Piper’. You have rocked my world!”
Jasmine Fassl, Head of Schools at Scottish Book Trust, said: “It’s a well-worn statistic that a love of books is more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status. Initiatives like the Scottish Children’s Book Awards are intended to instill a love of books in children right from the very start, by making the process of reading fun, interactive and collaborative. But it’s the teachers, librarians, parents, and of course the authors and illustrators, who bring this project to life for the pupils – who download the resources, who put on the silly voices, who cuddle and tickle and leap about. Today we’re celebrating all the people who bring the magic of books to children and set them on a path to being booklovers for life.”
Aly Barr, Head of Literature, Languages and Publishing at Creative Scotland, said: “Once again the Children’s Book Awards confirm Walt Disney’s maxim that “there is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island”. If you’re only buying one book for your child this year, buy all three!”
Simon Puttock was announced as the winner of the Bookbug (3-7 yrs) category for his picture book Mouse’s First Night at Moonlight School, (illustrated by Ali Pye) and Ross MacKenzie won the Younger Readers (8-11 yrs) category for his book The Nowhere Emporium.
Children from Forthview Primary School and their families have created their very own story book. ‘Whose Egg Is It Anyway?’ was launched at a special reception at the City Chambers yesterday, where Education convener Paul Godzik praised the children for their ‘fantastic work’. Continue reading ‘Fantastic’ Forthview!
‘Libraries are often the hub of a local community’ – Cabinet Secretary for Culture Fiona Hyslop
She may be too young to read, but Halle Edwards has become Edinburgh’s youngest library member – at the tender age of three weeks! Continue reading Meet Halle – Edinburgh’s youngest bookworm!
