Festival Information
Welcome to the third Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Book Festival, taking place at The Mitchell Library. We're now fully established as an annual event, thanks to the support of Bank of Scotland, and our media partnership with the Herald. Waterstone's are sponsors and the official bookseller for Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Book Festival 2008. There will be author signings in the Festival Bookshop for most authors after their event.
Once again we have some fantastic authors and debates. Authors include Kathleen Turner, Tony Parsons, George Monbiot, Asne Siersted, Louis de Bernieres, Hanif Kureishi, Johnnie Walker, Joanne Harris, Iain Banks, Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Will Self, Tony Benn, Martin Bell, Helena Kennedy, and Blake Morrison. There are fun events with the philosophy of Monty Python and an afternoon with the great Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds are go!). We celebrate 25 years of Taggart. We look back at the sixties to mark the 40th anniversary of 1968 with a special debate, and look at sixties music. We also pay tribute to one of Glasgow's great authors, Archie Hind.
Music is a big theme this year. We've got Stuart Murdoch and Roddy Woomble talking with authors about writing and performing music. James Naughtie talks about what music means to him. We have sessions on climate change and how to be happy. We look at issues of justice and liberty. And, as always, we've got our focus on Glasgow's and Scotland's authors, a look at what our communities have been writing over the past year, and a free festival programme for Glasgow schools.
We've also got a fabulous citywide read this year with 15,000 copies of a specially commissioned book of poems by Edwin Morgan being given away free.
Last year, 25,000 people enjoyed the festival. Whether it's poetry, history, science, fiction, crime, sport, politics, music, philosophy, current affairs and more, there's something for everyone at Aye Write!
Karen Cunningham
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