Book Week Scotland set for 2015 launch
Book Week Scotland 2015 kicks off on Monday 23 November – here are a selection of the key literary events taking place across Scotland over the course of the week.
The Scottish Book Trust's annual celebration of the written word takes in a wide range of events celebrating both Scotland's authors and its readers, as well as the literary world's links to Scottish music, film and art. Book Week Scotland runs at venues across Scotland, from 23-29 November.
Among the key events of Book Week Scotland is the award ceremony for this year's Saltire Literary Awards (26 Nov, 6pm at Central Hall, Edinburgh). This year's nominees are an eclectic, high-quality bunch, with Fiction Book of the Year nominees including Irvine Welsh for his latest, A Decent Ride, Michel Faber for The Book of Strange New Things, and Janice Galloway for her new short story collection Jellyfish. Galloway discusses Jellyfish in-depth at Dumbarton Library on Mon 23 Nov at 7.30pm, while Faber teams up with art collective CONCH and Edinburgh synth duo FOUND for multidisciplinary night Space and Lit at Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery (28 Nov, 7.30pm, tickets £7 via Eventbrite).
On 27 November, Edinburgh's Summerhall hosts For the Record with author Richard King, journalist and radio presenter Vic Galloway, and folk mainstay James Yorkston. The night will feature a discussion on the Scottish music and the legacy of Yorkston's former label Fence Records, followed by a solo set from Yorkston. 7.30pm, £8.
Elsewhere in the capital, Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award-winner Kirsty Logan discusses her "rich and compelling" debut novel The Gracekeepers at Morningside Library on 25 Nov at 7pm, while playwright and author Alan Bissett is in conversation at Currie Library on 26 Nov from 3.30pm.
Film events at Book Week Scotland
The Book Week Scotland programme makes the deep links between Scotland's film and literary worlds more apparent than ever, with a host of screenings and talks featuring some of Scotland's top authors.
Douglas Lindsay discusses his seven Barbershop novels, recently adapted into the BAFTA Scotland-winning Legend of Barney Thomson starring Robert Carlyle, at Edinburgh Central Library on 27 Nov (7pm), while Kickass and Kingsman author Mark Millar tells the story of his journey 'from Coatbridge to Hollywood' at Wishaw Library on the same day.
Dundee Contemporary Arts screens documentary WORDS:WALLS, which follows a group of artists including Scottish poet laureate Liz Lochhead and William Letford on a journey through the West Bank (29 Nov, 1pm, £6.20/£5), Ian Rankin of Rebus fame hosts a screening of Michael Caine classic Get Carter at the Cameo in Edinburgh on 25 Nov (9pm, £10.50/£9.50), while Michel Faber will discuss the experience of having his novel Under The Skin adapted for the big screen, following a showing of our film of 2014 at Filmhouse on 28 Nov (3.15pm, £9/£7.50).
'Tartan Noir' at Book Week Scotland
Scotland's crime writers are well-represented in the Book Week Scotland programme, with Val McDermid (National Library of Scotland, 27 Nov, 6pm, £5), Russel D Mclean (Monifieth Library, 23 Nov, 7pm) and Christopher Brookmyre (Aberdeen Central Library, 26 Nov, 7pm) all discussing their work over the course of the week.
'Assault & Vinegar VS. Assault & Sauce' sees crime writers Caro Ramsay and Neil Broadfoot in a head-to-head discussion at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow over that most divisive of topics – which is the better setting for a crime novel, Edinburgh or Glasgow (26 Nov, 6.30pm, £5) – while Louise Welsh invites readers to 'Descend into a Modern Inferno' in a talk on her Plague Times Trilogy at Clydebank Library on 24 Nov at 7.30pm.
Book Week Scotland runs at venues across Scotland from 23–29 November; full programme details and ticket information at scottishbooktrust.com