Excitement builds at Colonsay Book Festival HQ
18 April
Excitement and anticipation are mounting here at Colonsay Book Festival HQ as we put together the final touches for our second ever Conversations @ the Edge.
After a hugely successful first festival in 2012, with appearances by top authors such as Alexander McCall Smith and Liz Lochhead among others, we are delighted to be nearing our second festival,, which starts in just over a week’s time.
Caledonian MacBrayne, who are very kindly sponsoring our authors’ ferry travel, are getting ready to host a reception for the writers and their companions during the crossing from Oban to Colonsay.
Once they reach the island, the authors will have a chance to soak up some of the Colonsay atmosphere in the Hotel bar on Friday evening (26 April), where some of the talented island musicians often play. More musical entertainment will be on offer on the Saturday night when Edinburgh’s ‘Poet Laureate’ Ron Butlin will be joined by musicians Dick Lee and Anne Evans for an evening of poetry and music at the Village Hall.
The literary programme proper will get under way on the Saturday morning (27 April) with a special free event for families by author and illustrator Mairi Hedderwick, courtesy of the Scottish Book Trust.
The rest of the weekend’s exciting events will see some of Scotland’s finest writing talent assembled to discuss their work and answer questions from the audience, including headliner Ian Rankin, Candia McWilliam, Angus Peter Campbell and Maggie Fergusson.
Unfortunately, there is one small change to the programme as John Burnside has had to withdraw from the festival, due to unforeseen personal circumstances. We are very sorry not to be welcoming John this year but we’re working hard to see if we can recruit another author to take his place. We apologise for the late change in our programme and for any inconvenience this may cause.
For any general enquiries regarding the festival, please contact colonsaybookfestival@gmail.com.
For press enquiries, please contact Katie Spence.
