The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Welshto join stellar line-upat festival
Authors Denise Mina, Val Mcdermid and Irvine Welsh are in the line-up for Scotland’s crime-writing festival, it has been announced.
Other leading authors taking part in the Bloody Scotland festival this year include Louise Penny, Ann Cleeves, Chris Brookmyre and Quintin Jardine.
The three-day event in Stirling will also feature experts in their field, such as BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner and forensic scientists Dr Richard Shepherd and Professor Sue Black.
This festival will open on Friday September 21 with the presentation of the Mcilvanney Prize for Scottish crime book of the year.
Mina and Mcdermid will then lead a torchlight procession, which members of the public can join, to their event.
The festival will close on Sunday September 23 with an event with Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, it was revealed during yesterday’s programme launch.
Writer Alexander Mccall Smith, who was involved in the launch, said: “Literary festivals have become a fixed feature of our cultural lives.
“Bloody Scotland was started comparatively recently but has already established itself as one of the most popular of these festivals.”
The festival uses a number of historic venues in Stirling, including the Albert Halls and Allan Park South Church.
Council provost Christine Simpson said: “It’s a key festival in our growing events calendar and a truly unmissable event for crime fiction fans from across the UK and beyond.
“This year’s event promises to be the biggest and most international yet, and we’ve been working closely with Bloody Scotland organisers to bring a real sense of the festival to the whole of Stirling.”