Lord Robertson went from his birthplace in Port Ellen’s Police Station (and his first schooling in its Primary School)
to doing business in the White House and the Kremlin as NATO’s Secretary General.
He will describe that journey and how he developed his photographic hobby into his popular book of photographs of Islay and Jura.

Find out from the Scottish Political Editor of The Scotsman who has analysed and reported every twist and turn of
the most remarkable and fast-moving decade in Scottish political history.
May 2009 sees the publication of Hamish’s lucid and colourful account – Uncharted Territory: The Story of Scottish Devolution 1999-2009.

Andrew Nicoll woke up one day with an idea for a story and, on the train to work he started to write it.
After rejections from over two dozen publishers and agents, The Good Mayor won the Saltire Prize for fiction
and is on sale in 14 countries around the world. Andrew will talk about his book, his writing and the nightmare that is the UK publishing industry.

Robin is a songwriter with a passion for whisky. He has produced three CDs of songs about whisky and has written The Whisky Muse
(Scotch whisky in poem and song) and The Whisky River (a book about Speyside distilleries). He will introduce his latest book,
The Whisky Legends of Islay, which combines stories, old and new, with a few songs and poems.

www.robinlaing.com

Lin Anderson, Alex Gray and Alanna Knight combine their talents in an event
described in the Edinburgh Evening News as “intriguing, quirky and highly enjoyable”.

These three dynamic Scottish women crime writers will talk about the darker aspects of their work.
Whether you prefer historical crime, procedural crime or forensic crime thrillers, you will find them all in Femmes Fatales.
No question is left unanswered in their exploration of the darker side of human nature.

www.femmes-fatales.info

Lin is an author, screenwriter and crime-writing creator of forensic scientist, Dr Rhona MacLeod.

Her Rhona MacLeod stories include Torch, Blood Red Roses, Driftnet, Deadly Code, Dark Flight

and Easy Kill. Her most recent book, published in 2009, is Final Cut.

www.lin-anderson.com

Author of page-turning thrillers steeped in the history and atmosphere of Glasgow.

Her books, which feature DCI Lorimer include Never Somewhere Else, A Small Weeping, Shadows of Sounds,

The Rivermen, Glasgow Kiss and Pitch Black. Described in The Good Book Guide as “Glasgow’s answer to Ian Rankin”,
Alex decided to write crime fiction because she always enjoyed the element of mystery which these books contain.

www.alex-gray.com

Alanna Knight has recently celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the publication of her first book. Her most recent novel,
Murder in Paradise is the fourteenth novel in the series about the Edinburgh police detective, Jeremy Faro.
In addition to the Inspector Faro series, Alanna’s other books include the Rose McQuinn series. Rose is Inspector Faros’ daughter,
and Destroying Angel, the latest in this series was published in 2008.

www.alannaknight.com

Lin Anderson – Bodies of Evidence

The fascination of forensic – how the creation of forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod led to a fascinating journey of discovery.

www.lin-anderson.com

Alex Gray – A Sense of Place

Alex talks about setting the scene in crime fiction – and not just around the bodybag!

www.alex-gray.com

For P4 – P7 (numbers limited to 30)

In this session, Dawn will look in-depth at the art of story writing. She will help you to explore characters,
plot, setting and all the other elements that make up a good story. So bring your own ideas, or just come along to be inspired.
This is a chance to let your imagination run wild and to create a short story.

Dawn’s first book, DarkIsle was inspired by the stone dragon overlooking Irvine Beach,
where Dawn used to play as a child. This action-packed fantasy novel won the 8-11 category in the 2008 Royal Mail Scottish Children’s Book Awards.
Her second book will be published before the festival.

www.danelson.co.uk

With the help of story games and exercises, this event focuses on how writers write the exciting bits –
the bits that are most likely to make the best movie trailers! – how to build up tension,
grab the reader’s attention and keep the pages turning.
The session will also include some readings from Questors and Seventh Tide,
and there will be an opportunity for questions about her books and what it’s like to be a writer.

www.joanlennon.co.uk

Moira Munro – Hamish Bear

For pre-school children with parents, and nursery children

Bring along your teddy bear and hear how Moira Munro wrote and illustrated Hamish the Bear Who Found His Child
and Hamish and the Missing Teddy. Why did it take her 153 goes to draw Hamish?
She’ll tell you stories, draw pictures and sing songs. As she makes a terrible mess of all these things, please,
PLEASE would you come and help her get them right?

Underneath all the fun, Moira aims to whip up enthusiasm for reading, writing, drawing, and being creative.

www.moiramunro.com

Simon Puttock – Playing Around With Words

For P1 – P4

Join Simon for an hour of fun and games with words. Come along with some DIFFICULT questions and get some very PECULIAR answers.
Simon has written lots of books for children. He’s even won prizes for some of them. So be ready to enjoy at least one of his many stories!

www.scottishbooktrust.com/contacts/simon-puttock/