Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Book Week Scotland is nearly here!

Book Week Scotland, Scotland's first national celebration of books and reading, is taking place from 26 Nov - 2 Dec. The inaugural programme is packed with fantastic events, projects, and opportunities for people of all ages, interests and reading abilities, to celebrate books and reading.



Scottish Book Trust has worked with partners across the country to create a diverse series of events with some of Scotland’s best-loved authors including Iain Banks in Loch Leven, Val McDermid in Orkney, Debi Gliori in Carnoustie, Janice Galloway in Benbecula, Christopher Brookmyre in Greenock and Vivian French in Glenrothes.


Highlights of the week include:
  • A pack of three free picture books by leading Scottish authors for all Primary 1 schoolchildren in Scotland.
  • A pop-up festival at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow featuring authors such as Iain M Banks, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Mairi Hedderwick and illustrator-in-residence John Fardell who will be creating a marvellous Mitchell inspired mural. Aspiring teen authors can attend the Young Writers Conferenceand get practical advice from established authors, playwrights, poets and performers. In the evening there is an exciting programme for adults including: Charles Jencks on art and life; Liz Lochhead and Aidan Moffat celebrating My Favourite Place; Sci-fi legends Iain M Banks and Ken McLeod; a writing masterclass with Alan Bissett; and Literary Death Match comes to the Mitchell!
  • A great book giveaway – more than 150,000 free copies of My Favourite Placea collection of stories and poems written by the people of Scotland in association with BBC Radio Scotland.
  • A national Reading Hour on St Andrew’s Day to encourage everyone to take the time to read.
  • Celebrations in schools including an Authors Live Poetry Slam with Lemn Sissay and other poets, broadcast live to all secondary schools in Scotland.
  • The League of Extraordinary Book Lovers – a band of book loving volunteers, aged from five to 75 who will save the nation from boredom by making reading recommendations throughout the week. Tweet @bookweekscot or email theleague@scottishbooktrust.com for book-related info!
Initiated and funded by the Scottish Government, Book Week Scotland will be delivered on behalf of Creative Scotland by Scottish Book Trust, the leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland.
Find out more at bookweekscotland.com.

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