Programme announced for New Lanarks first ever Book Festival!

The historic setting of New Lanark will host its first ever Book Festival from Thursday 1st – Sunday 4th October 2015!

Article Source: New Lanark World Heritage Site
Last Updated: 11 August 2015 13:53

A host of well-known Scottish authors, such as Alistair Moffat, will be speaking at the 4-day event.

There will be a rich programme of sessions on offer designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of literary tastes, the themes of which all have a link to New Lanark in some way. From Scottish Fiction and History, to Whisky, Food and Drink – there will be a session for everyone to enjoy!

“With its fascinating history and colourful characters, New Lanark has often appeared in books and even had its own Reading Room 200 years ago. This year we are celebrating this link to literature by holding our first ever Book Festival!” says Jane Masters, New Lanark Heritage Manager.

The sessions will run on Thursday & Friday evenings, and throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. There will also be a variety of reasonably priced ticket options available including a ‘4-day pass’ and individual author session tickets.

The Book Festival begins with a thrilling evening session on Thursday 1st from Jonathan Whitelaw, author of Morbid Relations, and Scottish crime writer Christopher Brookmyre, author of eighteen published novels to-date, the latest being Dead Girl Walking.

Friday evening sees writer and poet Mandy Haggith discuss her nature novels The Last Bear & Bear Witness, before renowned broadcaster Billy Kay steps behind the podium to speak about his writing including The Scottish World – a book which celebrates the enormous contribution the Scots have made to the modern world.

The Book Festival activity ramps up on Saturday 3rd October with a full day of sessions from 10am-7pm across New Lanark. Throughout the day a number of interesting themes will be covered including New Lanark & Textiles, Scottish Food & Drink, Exploring Scotland and Scottish Fiction. The 11 speakers on Saturday include Janet Renouf-Miller, C A Hope, David McLaren, Catherine Brown, Charles MacLean, Ian Crofton, David Spaven, Daniel MacCannell, Kerry Hudson, Peter Ranscombe and headliner James Robertson.

New Lanark’s Book Festival concludes on Sunday 4th October with 8 authors speaking throughout the day. Sunday is the perfect day for young families and children to attend with interactive Storytelling with Gerry Durkin and sessions with children’s authors Chae Strathie and Keith Gray.

The headliner of Sunday night is Alistair Moffat, an award winning Writer, Historian and former Director of the Edinburgh Book Festival. Together with author Alexander McCall Smith and illustrator Andrew Crummy, Alastair Moffat was part of the team whose idea developed into the famous The Great Tapestry of Scotland which was exhibited at New Lanark in 2014. Other speakers on Sunday include Roger Hutchinson, Ed Hollis, Ken Cockburn and Peter Ross.

Visitors who attend New Lanark’s Book Festival can also receive 25% off Visitor Centre tickets, giving them the perfect chance to make the most of their visit & learn about the history of New Lanark with the Annie McLeod Experience Ride, Working textile machinery, Historic Housing exhibits, Clearburn Picnic & Play Area & lots more.

Early Bird tickets for the New Lanark Book Festival are currently on sale! The full programme for the Book Festival, along with ticket details can be found at www.newlanark.org