Colonsay Book Festival line-up revealed

The Colonsay Book Festival has announced an exciting line-up for this year’s event, with award-winning writers and authors bringing stories from the heart and the edge of Scotland, writes Heather Graham.

The annual Hebridean literary celebration will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28, and has carved a unique niche in Scotland’s ever-expanding book festival calendar.

The two-day event has been put together in its entirety by the island’s residents.

On Saturday, crime writer Ann Cleeves will be talking about her Shetland series, the last of which – Wild Fire – was published late last year, as well as her continuing series of Vera Stanhope novels.

Textile curator Clare Hunter will also be discussing the social, emotional and political significance of sewing, followed by readings from Jen Hadfield. Tying in with the Shetland theme, ‘recovering’ journalist Tom Morton will hold an informal session about writing in Shetland on Sunday.

The afternoon continues with Robin A Crawford reading from his book, Into the Peatlands, followed by author Sarah Maine, who will talk about the power of place.

Afterwards, father and son, James and Tom Morton, tell some entertaining short stories about Shetland. James, who was a Great British Bake Off finalist, has written a cook book with his father, part memoir but mainly, in Tom’s words, a book about place and ‘a culture and community spirit that has been all but lost in the rest of the UK’.

The festival will close with a glass of wine and more literary chat.

Visit www.colonsaybookfestival.org.uk The 2017 Colonsay Book Festival welcomed a stellar line-up.