Rankin ‘pilgrimage’ to Islay festival

WRITER Ian Rankin is to be a guest at this year’s Islay Book Festival.

Rankin has said the trip to the festival, which runs from August 29 to September 1, will be “a bit of a pilgrimage”.

Other literary figures attending the event is Scotland’s Makar, or poet laureate, Jackie Kay and novelist Karen Campbell.

Children’s author Philip Reeve, creator of the award-winning Mortal Engines series will be accompanied to Islay by illustrator-collaborator Sarah Mcintyre.

Sir Tom Devine has agreed to discuss The Scottish Clearances.

For Rankin, the trip will mean walking in the footsteps of his late friend and fellow writer Iain Banks, who spent time on Islay while researching his acclaimed whisky travelogue Raw Spirit.

“I’ve been a long-term fan of [Islay malt] whiskies like Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Caol Ila,” Rankin said.

“With Rebus it depends on who’s buying. If someone else is buying he’ll go for an expensive malt but if he is buying himself he tends to go for the cheaper stuff. But he has always got a couple of good bottles at home and last thing at night he does that thing that I do as well after a hard day’s writing, which is have a whisky or two and relax.

“Bowmore was my Dad’s favourite whisky.

“He is no longer with us alas but I used to get him a bottle for his birthday. So there’s definitely going to be a bit of a whisky pilgrimage going on when I go over to Islay.”

Islay Book Festival was first staged in 2006.

Islay is home to eight working distilleries. www.islaybookfestival.co.uk