Bookends Festival opens for its second chapter
Benderloch’s second Bookends Festival launched its week-long programme today ( Thursday).
This year’s festival of the written and spoken word, which runs from September 23-30, features authors reading books ranging from King Arthur to free outdoor fitness.
‘ Last year was the first Bookends and we hadn’t envisaged it would be so popular,’ writes organiser Joy Cameron.
‘ We transform the Victory Hall in Benderloch into a sumptuous reading room where most of the action takes place. The 100-yearold, wood-lined hall is filled with couches and comfy armchairs, the walls lined with tall bookshelves crammed full of books on all subjects. The children’s area was very popular last year and we’re hoping to have more teen literature and interest this year.’
The reading room’s doors will be officially opened by Kenneth Steven on Saturday September 23 at 3pm, followed that evening by a talk from author Adam Ardrey, who will share stories of King Arthur, and where he walked in Benderloch, from his book Finding Arthur.
Kathleen Anderson will then read from her book Sweaty Hugs, which details her discovery of free outdoor fitness in the USA, which is now spreading worldwide. Lindsay Campbell from Kilmelford will reveal Argyll’s acts of skullduggery from her book, Ane Compact of Villany.
Graeme Pagan is well known for the marvellously entertaining tales in Once Bitten Twice Fined, and he and Alison Pringle have co- written a book on bereavement, which he assures isn’t all doom and gloom. Graeme and Alison will read from Don’t Mention the Coal Scuttle, and talk about how they came to write this book and how it has helped them and others over the years.
To complement the Bookends Festival, Oban’s Phoenix Cinema will also show films The Help, The Shipping News and Dead Poet’s Society.
You can find the festival’s full programme at its website www. bookends. scot, which goes active on Thursday, and further updates on its Facebook page, Bookends Festival Benderloch.