Words, drama and music all on BOOKMARK bill
Tickets are selling well for10th anniversary event
The final preparations are in place for this year’s BOOKMARK festival – which takes place at Blairgowrie Community Campus this weekend.
Organisers have said that ticket sales for the popular local event, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, are going well and are still available from Blairgowrie Library and the east Perthshire town’s Adventure into Books and Booklore shops.
Some tickets may be available on the door over the weekend, although purchasing a ticket in advance is recommended.
The festival will be opened by Perthshire North MSP and Deputy First Minister John Swinney, a long-term supporter of the event.
Nine events are planned to take place over the weekend and the theme of this year’s festival is ‘Another Time, Another Place’.
Festival committee chair Gail Wylie is looking forward to celebrating BOOKMARK’s milestone year – and Scotland’s ongoing Year of Stories – in style.
She said: “Our guest authors will be taking us with them as we travel from the time of Mary Queen of Scots to the present day; from the exotic places of the Middle East to the more familiar territory of Highland Scotland; from stunning photography of Cairngorms wildlife to famous paintings by Scottish artists.
“Words, music, drama and images all come together in our very special book festival.
“Well-known names such as crime writers Lin Anderson and Chris Brookmyre, artist Lachlan Goudie and journalist Rosemary Goring share the weekend’s varied events with exciting new voices.
“We can all enjoy the wildlife photography from Neil McIntyre, listening to the thriller writer – and director of the famous Halo Trust – Simon Conway, engaging with literary fiction from last year’s BOOKMARK Book of the Year winner, Merryn Glover, and travelling into the past with historical fact and drama from Mary Queen of Scots with Rosemary Goring and Clare Hunter to Gary West’s short play about ‘Jock’s Jocks’.
“Our finale this year has the acclaimed composer Gareth Williams writing ‘Songs from the Last Page’ to do with books relevant to BOOKMARK.
“And every writer is chaired by equally talented guests to give our audiences the best of experiences.”
As well as the events at the community campus, this year a special song-writing event is also being run by Gareth Williams in Blairgowrie Library on Saturday morning.
Numbers are limited but Gail says it is “an extraordinary chance for anyone interested in music to spend two hours with a gifted musician”.
Saturday morning will also see the winner of the Christine Findlay Prize for talented young writers from Blairgowrie High School announced, while later that day the winner of this year’s BOOKMARK Book of the Year will also be announced.
This year, Blairgowrie bookshop Adventure into Books will be running the onsite bookshop.
And mobile coffee and cake van Procaffeinate
will also be in attendance for those who wish to enjoy refreshments with the festival sessions.
Gail said: “All of this is made possible by generous sponsors including Lyon and Turnbull, Publishing Scotland, Perth and Kinross Council, and great support from Blairgowrie friends – Castle Water, the Findlay family, the A Proctor Group Ltd, and Hodge Solicitors LLP.
“Ivybank Lodge and Heathpark House provide fabulous accommodation that makes everyone who stays want to return.
“All these supporters allow us to provide a highquality, professional book festival to which we invite the best of authors and provide a festival that Blairgowrie can be proud of.”
Tickets for each of the sessions at the campus are £9, with a discounted rate of £55 for all nine events. For further details, including how to get to the campus, see www.bookmarkblair.com.