Book Week Scotland is an annual celebration of books and reading that takes place across the country. Book Week Scotland 2024 will take place on 18–24 November, supported by Creative Scotland and SLIC.
Please find further information and the links for your free tickets below.
Anne Mackinnon: Short Story Writing Workshop
Where and When
Clydebank Library Tuesday 19th November 2.00 pm
Introduction
If you would like to try your hand at writing a short story we have the perfect starter course. In this workshop poet Ann Mackinnon will give you an introduction to the process of writing a short story. You will look at a very short story and pick out the things that make it a good short story e.g. characterisation, viewpoint, setting etc. There will then be some exercises to develop characters and set up a plotline for your own short story.
Ann writes poetry in both Scots and English and is widely published in anthologies and magazines. In 2014 a New Scottish Writers’ Award for writing in Scots, enabled her to complete a pamphlet called ‘Nae Flooers’, published by Tapsalteerie which was shortlisted for the Calum MacDonald Prize.
She has been placed in the McCash Poetry Competition several times. The anthology Modren Makars Yin was published by Tapsalteerie in 2022. All three writers featured in it write in Scots. In 2022 she was nominated for Scots Language Writer of the Year in the Scots Language Awards. Her latest pamphlet, ‘Warp and Weft’, was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2023. Recently she has judged the Scots Poetry Prize at Wigtown.
Tickets
Tickets for this event can be book via Eventbrite
Anne Mackinnon: Poetry Writing Workshop
Where and When
Alexandria Library Thursday 21st November 2.00 pm
Introduction
This workshop is an introduction to writing poetry and is the ideal workshop for anyone who has wanted to try it but has lacked the confidence to give it a go. You will learn about a few poetic techniques, look at a short poem more closely and then have the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice and write your own poem.
Ann writes poetry in both Scots and English and is widely published in anthologies and magazines. In 2014 a New Scottish Writers’ Award for writing in Scots, enabled her to complete a pamphlet called ‘Nae Flooers’, published by Tapsalteerie which was shortlisted for the Calum MacDonald Prize.
She has been placed in the McCash Poetry Competition several times. The anthology Discuss a few poetic techniques. Look at a short poem. Discuss the techniques used by the poet and then set them to writing a poem by asking questions like where, when , who, why? Once they have these ideas down they can do a bit of editing and then see what they have as a basis of a poem. If there is time they can feed back. was published by Tapsalteerie in 2022. All three writers featured in it write in Scots. In 2022 she was nominated for Scots Language Writer of the Year in the Scots Language Awards. Her latest pamphlet, ‘Warp and Weft’, was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2023. Recently she has judged the Scots Poetry Prize at Wigtown.
Tickets
Tickets for this event can be book via Eventbrite
Rab Wilson: Collier Laddie
Where and When
Clydebank Library Thursday 21st November 7.00 pm
Introduction
A powerful Ode to Mining Grit and Working-Class Resilience Forty Years on From the 1984-1985 Miners’ Strike
It is now forty years on from the 1984–85 UK Miners’ Strike and Rab Wilson – a former miner deeply engaged in the strike –examines through his mining poems and strike diary the social and economic challenges that Scotland faced then and faces now.
Rab know from hard-won experience what it was like to work in the mining industry. He toiled in it for eight year and this a powerful first-hand testimony of what it was like to take part in this era-defining strike. It also provides a historical insight into what was to be the dying days of Scotland’s mining industry. This event will have a powerful resonance for those who have lived through the decline of heavy industry in Scotland including Clydeside ship-building and the corresponding loss of a particular way of life. Collier Laddie is a testimony to working class solidarity and resilience.
Rab Wilson is one of Scotland’s most accomplished poets. He was born in New Cumnock, Ayrshire in 1960. After an engineering apprenticeship with the National Coal Board he left the pits following the miner’s strike of 1984–5 to become a psychiatric nurse. Rab writes in Scots and his work appears regularly in The Herald, Chapman, Lallans and Markings magazines and he is the author of a number of highly praised volumes of poetry and a Burns scholar. He is a winner of the McCash Poetry Prize and was ‘Robert Burns Writing Fellow – In Reading Scots’ for Dumfries and Galloway Region. He is the Scriever in Residence for the National Trust for Scotland based at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayr. Currently a member of the National Committee for the Scots Language Resource Centre, Rab regularly attends the parliamentary Cross Party Group for Scots language held at Holyrood
Tickets
Tickets for this event can be book via Eventbrite
Ian Baillie Memorial Event:
Brigid Benson – Hebridean Journey: The Magic of Scotland’s Outer Isles
Where and When
Alexandria Library Friday 22nd November 7.00 pm
Introduction
Join Brigid Benson for a magical journey through Scotland’s Outer Isles. These islands are enchanting in their beauty and majesty. They have lochs, mountains, ancient monuments and stunning white beaches. You are invited to discover the unique magic of Lewis and Harris, Berneray, North Uist, Grimsay, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Bara and Vatersay, as well as the vibrant Gaelic culture of the islanders. Brigid is deeply passionate about these islands and she will share insights, hidden gems and lots of information about them. If you have not already visited them we hope that this will inspire you to make your own journey. Hebridean Journey was Shortlisted for the Scottish Nature Photography Book Awards and this talk will be accompanied by lots of beautiful images of the islands.
Brigid Benson is a bestselling author with a heartfelt passion for journeys and connections, a sparky sense of curiosity and strong, deep roots in Scotland. Her previous books include 52 Weekends by the Sea, 52 Weekends in the Country and North Coast Journey: The Magic of Scotland’s Northern Highlands.
This event is being held in memory of Ian Baillie, a much-loved former colleague, who passed away last year. Ian worked as a librarian for 40 years and was a very highly regarded and well-known figure in the community. He made a considerable impact on the cultural life of West Dunbartonshire creating the Booked! Literature Festival, setting reading groups up across the authority and helping to form the Lennox Literary Society. He wrote for the Clydebank Post, the Lennox Herald and the County Reporter. His writing about books was very popular and helped shape many people’s reading habits. Ian had an intense love for Scotland, it’s people, history and landscapes and we think that it’s especially fitting that this event honours Ian’s memory and legacy.
Tickets
Tickets for this event can be book via Eventbrite
Lindsay Littleson – Surviving the Titanic: Children’s Creative Writing workshop
Where and When
Dumbarton Library 21st November 3.30m (for children aged 8-12 years)
Introduction
Join us as we set out on a writing adventure from the viewpoint of passengers on the infamous Titanic liner. Based on Lindsay’s novel The Titanic Detective Agency, this workshop will encourage young people to develop their imagination, use of language, and descriptive skills to create their own Titanic survivor story.
Lindsay studied Medieval History and English Literature at Glasgow University, worked with the Civil Service, then retrained to become a teacher. In 2019 she took early retirement from teaching to enable her to focus full-time on writing. Her first children’ novel The Mixed-Up Summer of Lily McLean won the Kelpies Prize in 2014 with its sequel, The Awkward Autumn of Lily McLean, published in 2017. She has written several historical novels for children including A Pattern of Secrets and The Titanic Detective Agency. Additional titles she has written include Guardians of the Wild Unicorns, The Rewilders, Euro Spies, Secrets of the Last Merfolk, Terror on Titanic, Ice Cream Boy, and The Last Zeppelin.
Realising her childhood dream of becoming an author still thrills her and she loves sharing that joy with children and young people across the country.
Tickets
Tickets to be booked in Dumbarton library or by phone: 01389 608992