Birlinn Limited Book Week Scotland Author Availability Brochure
2017 C O N TA C T
Jan Rutherford
Publicity and Marketing Director Birlinn Ltd 10 Newington Road West Newington House Edinburgh EH9 1QS Tel: 0131 337 9724 Mob: 077 1047 4308 E:mail: jan.ppw@janrutherford.co.uk
Anna Marshall Events Manager
Birlinn Ltd 10 Newington Road West Newington House Edinburgh EH9 1QS Tel: 0131 337 9724 Mob: 078 3577 3083 E:mail: anna@birlinn.co.uk
‘Taking Scottish Publishing to ever greater heights’
- Alexander McCall Smith ‘Whenever I unwrap a Birlinn book I know I’m in for a treat of some kind or another...There is a thoughtfulness and a seriousness of purpose to the way Birlinn produce their books that makes them stand out. The key to ensuring the future of print publishing in the digital age will be creating reading experiences that are more pleasurable than anything available on a screen – experiences that begin with the sensation of holding a beautiful physical object in your hand... The team at Birlinn clearly understand this, and the company has a very bright future as a result. Happy 25th birthday!’
– Roger Cox, Arts Editor The Scotsman / Scotland on Sunday
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CONTENTS
2017
FEAST
Struan Stevenson & Tony Singh Mary Contini Sue Lawrence Scottish Food Bibles Blair Bowman & Nikki Welch Ian Buxton Liz Ashworth Claire Macdonald Charles MacLean & Daniel MacCannell
NOURISH YOURSELF
Alastair McIntosh Stuart Cosgrove Eilidh Muldoon Michael Pederson
TOP PICKS FROM 2017
Mark Muller Stuart Alan Taylor Paul Murton Angus Roxburgh Charles E. McGarry Kevin MacNeil Denzil Meyrick Malachy Tallack Liz Lochhead Scotland: Mapping the Islands Nick Perry
KIDS
5 6 7 8-9 10 11 12 13 14-15
17 18-19 20-21 22
24 25 26 27 28 29 30-31 32-33 34 35 36
Joan Lennon Ron Butlin Ron Butlin & James Hutcheson
38-39 40 41
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FEAST
STRUAN STEVENSON & TONY SINGH October 2017: The Course of History:Ten Meals that Changed the World Also available: Self-Sacrifice, So Much Wind, Stalin’s Legacy Who is Struan Stevenson? Struan Stevenson served three terms as a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland from 1999 to 2014. He is an award-winning author, lecturer, newspaper feature writer and broadcaster. Who is Tony Singh? Tony Singh MBE is an acclaimed chef and restaurateur. He is the author of several recipe books and has featured on many cookery programmes. About The Course of History: This is a fascinating and unusual history book, which examines how food and drink have had a huge influence on the outcomes of momentous battles, power struggles and critical world-changing events. Many decisions which have had enormous historical consequences have been made over the dinner table, and have been accompanied (and perhaps influenced) by copious amounts of food and wine. In this book Struan Stevenson brings to life ten such moments, exploring the personalities, the issues and of course the food which helped shape the course of history. Throughout the book, there are the actual recipes from these iconic meals, reasearched and recreated by chef Tony Singh.
Some of the historical meals include: 16 April 1746: The Eve of the Battle of Culloden 20 June 1790: Thomas Jefferson threw a dinner party at which it was decided Washington DC would become the capital of the USA 2 October 1814: The Congress of Vienna, when Napoleon’s victors met to divide up the spoils of war and re-draw the boundaries of Europe 28 August 1928: Achnacarry, when executives from the world’s four major oil companies came to a remote Scottish estate to create an oil cartel that would become the model for OPEC 12 February 1938: Hitler’s Berghof in the Bavarian Alps, when the Austrian Chancellor signed away his country’s independence and Austria was absorbed into Hitler’s Third Reich 30 November 1943: Teheran, when Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met to thrash out a strategy to defeat Hitler
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Struan Stevenson based: Ayrshire Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
Tony Singh based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Very limited availabilty
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MARY CONTINI September 2017: Dear Alfonso: An Italian Feast of Love and Laughter Also Available: Dear Olivia and Dear Francesco Who is Mary Contini? Mary Contini grew up in East Lothian above her family’s Italian cafe. She is the bestselling author of numerous books about Italian life and cooking, including Dear Francesca, Dear Olivia, Valvona & Crolla: A Year at an Italian Table and The Italian Sausage Bible. She is a Director of Valvona & Crolla, the renowned Edinburgh delicatessen, restaurant and cookery school.
Author based: Edinburgh/East Lothian Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, Wigtown Book Festival Live Literature Funded: No
About Dear Alfonso: Following the successful publication of Dear Francesca and Dear Olivia, bestselling author, Mary Contini picks up the thread of her family story from 1934 in Pozzuoli, Naples, telling the story of the commercial success of the family business – Edinburgh’s acclaimed Valvona & Crolla – and the Dolce Vita of her parent’s generation. With her inimitable style she shares tales of exuberant family relationships, mouth-watering food and hilarious laughter, painting a vivid picture of life in wartime Italy and Scotland and the decades immediately after. This is a heart-warming celebration of life and living, illustrated with archive family images and packed with anecdote, humour and history. Throughout Dear Alfonso, there are over one-hundered of Mary’s recipes from her personal collection, so that you can create your own Italian feast at home! Praise for Dear Alfonso: ‘This is a wonderfully moving memoir that will enchant Mary Contini’s existing readers and bring many new ones into the warm embrace of this masterful writer’s world. The feel of Italy is on every page – its taste, its scents, its colour. This is simply the most delightful book – a heartwarming celebration of the Italian family and its cuisine’ – Alexander McCall Smith
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SUE LAWRENCE July 2017: The Scottish Soup Bible July 2016: Scottish Baking (pbk) Also available: The Scottish Berries Bible Who is Sue Lawrence? Sue Lawrence, the ‘Queen of Baking’, is a food writer and journalist who has written many books on cooking and baking, including The Scottish Kitchen (2002), The Sue Lawrence Book of Baking (2004) and Eating In (2011). She won Masterchef in 1991 and regularly features on STV’s The Hour. In December 2013 she appeared on the Christmas Edition of the Great British Bake Off. About The Scottish Soup Bible: This is an imaginative and practical collection of recipes, organised in three sections: Fish/Seafood, Meat/ Game and Vegetables/Pulses. Some soups make ideal starters, other, more hearty, soups, are a complete meal in themselves. Featuring the very best of local produce, the 40 recipes range from Cullen Skink, Winkle Soup and Cock a Leekie to Reestit Mutton Soup, Nettle and Barley Broth and Dulse and Oatmeal Soup.
Author based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent events: Fringe by the Sea, Scottish Baking Awards, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Stirling Book Festival Live Literature Funded: No
About Scottish Baking: In recent times Britain as a whole can’t get enough of programmes like The Great British Bake-off and The Fabulous Baker Boys, but Scotland has always had a wonderful tradition of baking in both sweet and savoury recipes. Leading cookery writer Sue Lawrence has now combined her two passions, baking and Scottish cooking, into one definitive book. A compendium of 70 easy-to-follow recipes, it brings together the traditional breads, scones and cakes that have shaped Scotland’s great baking heritage and new contemporary bakes like Sticky Toffee Apple Cake and Coconut Cherry Chocolate Traybake. This is a book that will reach out to anyone who loves to dabble with flour, sugar, and butter. Praise for Sue Lawrence: ‘The queen of home baking’ – Time Out ‘There couldn’t be a book by Sue Lawrence that I wouldn’t want to own and, indeed, I’d be horrified to learn that there were any titles I don’t own. She writes beautifully, is as much chatty historian as cookery writer and her recipes always interest me and make me ravenous’ – Nigella Lawson
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SCOTTISH FOOD BIBLES SERIES July 2017: The Scottish Soup Bible July 2017: The William Shearer Tattie Bible June 2016: The Scottish Oats Bible July 2016: The Chain Bridge Honey Bible Nov 2016: The Three Chimneys Marmalade Bible Also available: The Arbroath Smokie Bible, The MacSween Haggis Bible, The Scottish Food Bible, The Scottish Salmon Bible, The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible, The Venison Bible. About the Authors: Sue Lawrence – See page 7 Liz Ashworth – See page 12 Nichola Fletcher - Nichola Fletcher has written a number of highly acclaimed cookery books, including Birlinn’s The Venison Bible. In 2014 she was awarded an MBE for services to the Scottish venison industry. Shirley Spear - Shirley Spear was born in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles, but in the early 80s moved her family to the Isle of Skye to run The Three Chimneys Restaurant. About The Scottish Soup Bible: Acclaimed cookery writer Sue Lawrence celebrates the enormous range of Scottish soups in this imaginative and practical collection of recipes. Some soups make ideal starters, other, more hearty, soups, are a complete meal in themselves. Featuring the very best of local produce, the 40 recipes range from Cullen Skink, Winkle Soup and Cock a Leekie to Reestit Mutton Soup, Nettle and Barley Broth and Dulse and Oatmeal Soup. About The William Shearer Tattie Bible: Ever since the humble potato arrived from Peru around 1730 it has been a key component of the Scottish diet. In this book Liz Ashworth introduces the heritage and history of the potato and the numerous varieties available, including information on nutritional benefits, the tattie season and how to grow your own. Featuring recipes for everything from Tattie Scones and Haggis Frittata to Chocolate Tattie Truffles and Orkney Tattie Wine.
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About The Scottish Oats Bible: In this practical and imaginative book, award-winning cookery writer Nichola Fletcher features 45 recipes which show the remarkable versatility of different kinds of oats. The result is a huge variety of mouthwatering recipes, from Fish Haggis, Wild Mushroom Risotto and Grouse Soup to Oatmeal Candy, Spiced Oatmeal Cake and a Detox Oatmeal Drink, that show how oats can be combined with a vast range of other ingredients and also take centre stage themselves. About The Chain Bridge Honey Bible: Scottish honey, with its fragrances of heather, meadowsweet, clover and birch, is a unique, magical ingredient, and The Chain Bridge Honey Bible features a host of easy-to prepare recipes drawing on this wonderful resource. Liz Ashworth introduces us to its versatility from dishes as varied as Medieval Sweet Pickled Salmon and Honeyspiced Beetroot, to the delectable Cranachan and more contemporary Chocolate Honey Fudge Cake. Prepared in collaboration with one of the UK’s oldest and largest honey farms, Chain Bridge in the Borders, this book draws on the experience and traditions of generations of skilled beekeepers and Scottish cooks in the use of this quintessentially natural and organic food. About The Three Chimney’s Marmalade Bible: Marmalade is an iconic Scottish food, traditionally made every year in January and February when Seville oranges are available. Shirley Spear, whose multi-award-winning Three Chimneys restaurant on the Isle of Skye is a magnet for foodies, has written the ultimate guide to marmalade – not just to making it, but to using it as an ingredient all the year round in a delicious variety of dishes. The recipes here are both sweet and savoury, from Chocolate Marmalade Tart, Marmalade Ice Cream and Apple and Frangipane Tart with Marmalade Glaze, to Marmalade Sauce for Roast Duck, Glaze for Roast Gammon, use of Seville oranges in fish and shellfish dishes and Marmalade Chutney – and not forgetting the Three Chimneys’ own legendary Hot Marmalade Pudding. Shirley mixes in fascinating information about how marmalade was invented, the great Scottish marmalade producers like Keiller and Robertsons, and even a link with Mary, Queen of Scots!
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BLAIR BOWMAN & NIKKI WELCH May 2017: The Pocket Guide to Whisky Also available: The Pocket Guide to Wine (2014) Winner of the Gourmand Drink Awards 2014 Who is Blair Bowman? Blair Bowman is the founder of World Whisky Day, first launched in 2012 and which is now celebrated every year, on every continent including Antarctica. He has been a whisky enthusiast since helping found Aberdeen University’s Malt Whisky Society. He currently writes for Scottish Field as their Whisky Columnist and is a contributing editor to the Cask & Still, Scotland’s newest whisky magazine. Who is Nikki Welch?
Authors based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: TedX, BBC Good Food Show Live Literature Funded: No
Nikki Welch spent ten years selling and marketing wine for a number of wine producers and major supermarkets. She now owns Convivium Wine (www.conviviumwine.co.uk), organises events for the public and for wine companies, trains staff, writes about wine and acts as a consultant for wine businesses, helping them understand what wine drinkers really want. She is the owner of the WineTubeMap©, a unique way to navigate the world of wine. About The Pocket Guide to Whisky: The ever-expanding world of whisky can be a daunting one, with a deluge of new brands, distilleries and literature on the subject making it all but impossible for the amateur whisky drinker to find their feet in the industry. Following on from the bestselling Pocket Guide to Wine, Blair Bowman provides a compact and accessible, easy-to-use guide to help budding whisky enthusiasts on their way. Uniquely, The Pocket Guide to Whisky explores every kind of whisky, from the well known Scottish giants of Glenlivet to the exotic Japanese Hibiki, and includes the evergrowing and hotly debated blended whiskies too! This little volume will tell you everything you need to know, from what to look for in whisky and what to avoid, to getting the best value for money; to the perfect accompaniments to your dram and the ideal whisky for every occasion. From novice to expert, this guide enables whisky lovers to find out more about the brands they already like and to make informed choices as they explore further.
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IAN BUXTON September 2017: Whiskies Galore: A Tour of Scotland’s Island Distilleries Also available: Whisky (2016) and 101 Gins: To Try Before You Die (2015) Who is Ian Buxton? Ian has been working in and around the whisky industry for about 20 years, but has been drinking professionally for a good deal longer. He began writing regularly for Whisky Magazine shortly after it launched, and now also writes for The Keeper, Country Life, Scotland Magazine, Scottish Field and in Russia for Whisky and Magnum magazines. About Whiskies Galore: Island whiskies have long held a fascination and a powerful emotional draw on whisky drinkers the world over. Their special combination of heritage, mystique, and remote location captures the imagination; their highly distinctive flavours are often imitated but seldom bettered. There have been few books on island whisky and none written in recent years. But Whiskies Galore is not your average whisky book. It is not merely a catalogue of distilleries, but a story of discovery and adventure. Join Ian Buxton on a personal journey across Scotland’s islands, where he learns to fish with high explosives, ends up hurling his dinner into the sea, and comes face to face with a basking shark. Combining an expert’s knowledge of whisky with a travel writer’s fondness for anecdote, and with a keen description of place, he provides a special treat for all who love the islands’ magical drams.
Author based: Worcestershire Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: Aye Write Festival, Doncaster Book Festival, Wimbledon Book Festival Live Literature Funded: No
About 101 Gins: We’re in the middle of a new gin craze. Scarcely a day goes by without an established brand offering a fresh take on their styles or, more likely, a new boutique distillery opening its doors – where gin is de rigueur. From Adnams to Zuidam; Beefeater to Bombay and London to Plymouth (and beyond), this new book from a best-selling drinks writer is the authoritative guide to the world of gin and a celebration of the hippest drink on the international bar scene With serious gin bars stocking well over 300 brands and adding still more, how do you choose? Is Edinburgh Gin a style, or just a brand name? Can a rose-flower and cucumber infusion properly be called gin? And what tonic to choose, and why? In his inimitable style, best-selling drinks writer Ian Buxton will lead readers through the great gin trap with his latest no-nonsense guide to 101 Gins.
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LIZ ASHWORTH April 2017: The Book of Bere: Orkney’s Ancient Grain Also available: The William Shearer Tattie Bible (2017) and The Chain Bridge Honey Bible (2016) Who is Liz Ashworth? Liz Ashworth is a food writer and food product developer, with a particular interest in using local produce. The author of a pioneering series of cookery books for beginners of all ages, she writes food columns in various publications, and coordinates the food programme in the annual Orkney International Science Festival. Author based: Orkney Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: Orkeny International Science Festival Live Literature Funded: No
About The Book of Bere: Bere is the native barley of Orkney. In the past it was an important multi-use crop and a staple of the Scottish diet, though its use declined as more easily-processed crops were introduced. Bere is still grown on Orkney farms by an agricultural contractor employed by the Birsay Heritage Trust who run the Barony Mill, Orkney’s last operating water mill. Here the grain is milled into beremeal, a creamcoloured flour with a distinctive, earthy, nutty flavour. In this book acclaimed food writer Liz Ashworth traces the story of bere from its Neolithic origins to the present day, providing useful culinary tips and recipes on how this ancient grain can be introduced to the modern kitchen for enjoyment. This interesting book includes over forty traditional recipes for Breads, Scones, Tea Breads, Cakes, Tray Bakes, Puddings, Pastry Dishes, and Sweet and Savoury Biscuits. It also features recipes from chefs Nick Nairn, Issac McHale (Clove Club, London), Neil Forbes (Café St Honore, Edinburgh) and Charlie Lockie (Boath House, Nairn).
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CLAIRE MACDONALD July 2014: Scottish Food Bible July 2014: Lifting the Lid: A Life at Kinloch Lodge, Skye Also available: The Scottish Salmon Bible and Entertaining Solo Who is Claire Macdonald? Lady Claire Macdonald is the author of almost twenty bestselling cookery books, including Seasonal Cooking, The Harrods Book of Entertaining, The Claire Macdonald Cookbook and Entertaining Solo. For almost forty years she and her husband Godfrey ran the world-famous Kinloch Lodge on Skye. Cited as one of the world’s top 25 small hotels in Conde Nast Traveller magazine, Kinloch’s restaurant is one of only 16 restaurants in Scotland to have been awarded a coveted Michelin star in 2011. Lady Claire was honoured to be awarded the OBE in the 2014 New Years Honours List for her services to the hospitality industry and for her services to charity in Scotland, most notably for her work with Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Author based: Skye Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
About The Scottish Food Bible: Scottish produce is celebrated the world over. The demand for game, for example, far exceeds what can be supplied, and Scottish cheeses surpass many from mainland Europe. In this book Claire Macdonald celebrates the very best of home-grown ingredients – from oatmeal, dairy produce, meat and fish, fruit and vegetables and even whisky – in 60 imaginative recipes for starters, main course and puddings, as well as for sauces, dressings, baking and other treats. About Lifting the Lid: In this book Claire looks back over four eventful decades to tell the story of how she, her husband, clan chief Godfrey Macdonald of Macdonald, and their family built up Kinloch from insignificant beginnings in a remote but spectacularly beautiful corner of Skye to the great culinary institution it is today. Full of anecdote and humour, it also reveals how hard it was to achieve their dream. An intermittent water supply, shortage of telephones, a lack of fresh vegetables and problems with fire regulations were just some of the problems they had to face, not to mention the staff member who preferred mingling with the diners to helping in the kitchen, the guest who disappeared and the gardener with very un-green fingers. Praise for Claire Macdonald: ‘She radiates a love of cooking and . . . a love of eating’ – Homes & Gardens ‘Claire Macdonald is one of this country’s most respected cooks’ – Sunday Post
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CHARLES MACLEAN & DANIEL MACCANNELL September 2017: Scotland’s Secret History: The Illicit Distilling and Smuggling of Whisky Also available: Whiskypedia (2016) and Famous for a Reason (2015) About Scotland’s Secret History: Illicit distilling in Scotland was seen as a ‘right of man’ at the end of the 17th century. Attempts to enforce excise duty on the spirit were therefore met with resistance, ranging from riots to more and more ingenious ways of avoiding paying tax. In this book Charles MacLean and Daniel MacCannell give a fascinating insight into the day-to-day struggles that led to the increase in illicit distilling from the mid-1600s, then to its eventual demise in the early twentieth century. The Cabrach, a wild and sparsely populated part of Aberdeenshire, became renowned for its production of illicit whisky. Local inhabitants mixed farming and distilling with great skill, creating a network of stills and distribution to evade customs. Using new research, first-hand historical accounts and official records, the authors show how spirits from this small parish were made and travelled far and wide, across the border to England and across the North Sea to France, firing up revolution and lending solidarity to the struggles of the Jacobites. Features: Making Whisky (Dennis McBain), The Jacobite Legacy (Murray Pittock), The Bard and the Bottle (David Purdie), The Dram In Folklore (Tom McKean), A Smuggler’s Paradise (David Ferguson); Banff – The Smuggler’s Royal Burgh (Jay Wilson), Scotland’s Lost Distilleries (Brian Townsend). About Whiskypedia: Why does Scotch whisky taste as it does? Where do the flavours come from? How might they have changed over the years? The flavour of Scotch whisky is as much influenced by history, craft and tradition as it is by science. Whiskypedia explores these influences. Introductory sections provide an historical overview, and an explanation of the contribution made by each stage of the production process. Each entry provides a brief account of the distillery’s history and curiosities, lists the bottlings which are currently available, details how the whisky is made, and explores the flavour and character of each make. Charles MacLean has spent thirty years researching, writing and lecturing about Scotch whisky. Whiskypedia is the result of deep immersion in its subject. It will guide, entertain and inform novices and experts alike.
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Who is Daniel MacCannell? Daniel MacCannell, a graduate of Aberdeen University and UCLA’s MFA-Screenwriting program, is a widely published non-fiction writer who has received the Jack Nicholson prize and been nominated for the Fotokem Maverick Award for his fictional work. He is also the author of How To Read Scottish Buildings and Oxford: Mapping the City. Who is Charles MacLean? Charles MacLean has spent the past 27 years researching, writing and lecturing about Scotch whisky. He is a world authority on whisky and has written over 35 books on the subject, including the bestselling Whiskypedia. In 2009 he was elected Keeper of the Quaich, the whisky industry’s highest accolade. His Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History won Wine & Spirits Book of the Year in the 2004 James Beard Awards and Best Drink Book in the World at the Food Media Awards. He is a consultant to the whisky industry, and to Bonhams International Auctioneers, and sits on the judging panel of the International Wine & Spirits Awards.
Author based: Bristol Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
Who is Marc Ellington (editor)? Marc Ellington is a recipient of Saltire, Civic Trust and European Heritage awards and has served on the boards of the National Galleries of Scotland, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland. He is an acknowledged authority on Scotland’s culture, history and heritage. Praise for Charles MacLean: ‘Whisky’s finest guru’ – The Sunday Times ‘Charles MacLean writes like no other expert on the subject. His prose is informed and highly entertaining’ – The Independent ‘The ultimate guide to Scotch whisky by a renowned expert’ – Scots Magazine
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Author based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
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NOURISH YOUR SOUL
ALASTAIR MCINTOSH June 2016: Poachers’ Pilgrimage Also available: Hell & High Water (2008) Who is Alastair McIntosh? Alastair McIntosh is an independent writer, broadcaster, speaker and activist who is involved in a wide range of contemporary issues, from land reform, globalisation and nonviolence to psychology, spirituality and ecology. Alastair is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow (visiting professor) in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow and a Research Fellow at the School of Divinity (New College) in the University of Edinburgh. About Poachers’ Pilgrimage: The islands of the Outer Hebrides are home to some of the most remote and spectacular scenery in the world. They host an astonishing range of mysterious structures – stone circles, beehive dwellings, holy wells and ‘temples’ from the Celtic era. Over a twelve-day pilgrimage, often in appalling conditions, Alastair McIntosh returned to the islands of his childhood and explored the meaning of these places. Traversing moors and mountains, struggling through torrential rivers, he went from the most southerly tip of Harris to the northerly Butt of Lewis.
Author based: Glasgow Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore and external events and festivals large and small Recent Events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, Solas Festival, Wigtown Book Festival Live Literature Funded: Yes
The book is a walk through space and time, across a physical landscape and into a spiritual one. Alastair had just come back from lecturing at military institutions across Europe. As he battled with his own ability to endure some of the toughest terrain in Britain, he met with the healing power of the land and its communities. This is a moving book, a powerful reflection not simply of this extraordinary place and its people met along the way, but of imaginative hope for humankind. Praise for Poacher’s Pilgrimage: [This] is a book full of generosity, spry in its thinking, and detailed in its observations. – Scotland on Sunday ‘Alistair MacIntosh’s stories are fascinating, provocative and, occasionally, very funny.’ – The Times Literary Supplement
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STUART COSGROVE October 2017: Memphis 68: The Tragedy of Southern Soul October 2016: Detroit 67: The Year That Changed Soul March 2016: Young Soul Rebels
Author based: Glasgow/London Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small Recent events: Aye Write (Glasgow), Edinburgh International Book Festival Live Literature Funded: No
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Who is Stuart Cosgrove? Stuart Cosgrove is a television executive with Channel 4. He was media editor with the NME and a feature writer for a range of newspapers and magazines. In 2005 he was named Broadcaster of the Year in the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards and in 2012 he won numerous awards including a BAFTA and Royal Television Society award for Channel 4’s coverage of the London Paralympics 2012. Stuart presents Scotland’s most popular radio show Off the Ball and lives in Glasgow and London. About Young Soul Rebels: Young Soul Rebels sets up a powerful and intimate story of Northern Soul, Britain’s most fascinating underground musical scene. In his unique style, Cosgrove takes the reader on a journey into the iconic clubs that made it famous – The Twisted Wheel, The Torch, Wigan Casino, Blackpool Mecca and Cleethorpes Pier – the bootleggers that made it infamous, the splits that threatened to divide the scene, the great unknown records that built its global reputation and the crate-digging collectors that travelled to America to unearth these gems. Praise for Young Soul Rebels: ‘fascinating’ **** – Mojo ‘it simply scintillates’ ***** – Record Collector ‘Cosgrove weaves a compelling web of circumstance’ – The Independent
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About Detroit 67: Detroit 67 is the story of Motor City in the year that changed everything. Cosgrove takes you on a turbulent year-long journey through the drama and chaos that ripped through Detroit in 1967 and tore it apart in personal, political and interracial disputes. It is the story of Motown, the break-up of The Supremes and the damaging disputes at the heart of the most successful African-American music label ever. Set against a backdrop of urban riots, escalating war in Vietnam and police corruption, the book weaves its way through a year when soul music came of age and the underground counterculture flourished.
DETRIOT 67: THE YEAR THAT CHANGED SOUL STUART COSGROVE
About Memphis 68: This is the second book in Stuart Cosgrove’s vibrant trilogy of American soul music, told through the prism of social and civil upheaval. In the 1950s and 1960s, Memphis, Tennessee, was the launch pad of musical pioneers such as Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Al Green and Isaac Hayes, and by 1968, was a city synonymous with soul music. It was a deeply segregated city, ill at ease with the modern world and yet to adjust to the era of civil rights and racial integration. Stax Records offered an escape from the turmoil of the real world for many soul and blues musicians, with much of the music created there becoming the soundtrack to the civil rights movements. The book opens with the death of the city’s most famous recording artist, Otis Redding, who died in a plane crash in the final days of 1967, and then follows the fortunes of Redding’s label, Stax/Volt Records, as its fortunes fall and rise again. But, as the tense year unfolds, the city dominates world headlines for the worst of reasons: the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
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EILIDH MULDOON July 2017: The Hebridean Colouring Book March 2017: The Colouring Book of Edinburgh April 2016: The Colouring Book of Scotland Who is Eilidh Muldoon? Eilidh Muldoon studied Art History and gained an MFA in Illustration from Edinburgh College of Art in June 2013, where she is currently Illustrator in Residence. She is also a freelance artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in prints, greetings cards and giftware. Author based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small Recent events: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh International Book Festival Live Literature Funded: Yes
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About The Hebridean Colouring Book: The Hebrides contain some of Scotland’s most breathtaking scenery, magnificent castles, picturesque villages and towns, as well as numerous monuments and other features of interest. In this book, suitable for adults and children alike, Eilidh Muldoon presents 23 of the most iconic Hebridean places. Places featured include: Port Ellen Distillery, Islay • Craighouse, Jura • Oronsay Priory • Oban, Gateway to the Hebrides • St Moluag’s Cathedral. Lismore • Skerryvore Lighthouse • Canna House • Old Man of Storr, Skye • Rodel, Harris • Dun Carloway Broch, Lewis • Ness Harbour, Lewis • Kisimul Castle, Barra • Dunvegan, Skye • Neist Point, Skye • Kinloch Castle, Rum • Sgurr of Eigg • Muck Harbour • Breacacha Castle, Coll • Iona Abbey • Puffins on Staffa • Lip na Cloiche, Mull • Bowmore, Islay • Lewis Chessmen
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About The Colouring Book of Edinburgh: A unique Scottish colouring book suitable for adults as well as children. Eilidh Muldoon’s illustrations are ideal for all levels of colouring – plenty of intricate detail for those who like a colouring challenge, yet simple enough for those with less patience to create beautiful colour artwork in a short time. Featuring 23 of the festival city’s most iconic places, including: Edinburgh Castle • Victoria Street • Grassmarket • St Giles • National Museum of Scotland • The Mound and Ramsay Gardens • Calton Hill • Old Town • Usher Hall • Balmoral Hotel • Scott Monument and Princes Street Gardens • West Register House • Holyrood Palace • HMS Britannia • Ocean Terminal & Botanic Gardens • New Town • Dean Village • Arthur’s Seat • Scottish Parliament • Zoo • Greyfriars Bobby • The Shore, Leith • The Meadows About The Colouring Book of Scotland: This is the first colouring book dedicated to the beautiful landscapes and landmarks of Scotland, and is sure to be popular with locals and visitors as well as everyone who enjoys the calming qualities and artistry of colouring. Suitable for adults as well as children, the book features 20 of the country’s most iconic places, including: Edinburgh Castle • Forth Rail Bridge • St Andrews • HMS Discovery, Dundee • Balmoral castle • Loch Ness/Urquart Castle • Dunrobin Castle, Stromness, Orkney • Skara Brae • Callanish standing stones • Lews Castle, Lewis • Highland Games • Eilean Donan • Duart Castle, Mull • Tobermory, Skye • Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow • Caerlaverlock Castle • Abbotsford House • Melrose Abbey • Rosslyn Chapel • Falkirk Wheel • Stirling Castle • Edinburgh Christmas Market
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MICHAEL PEDERSEN September 2017: Oyster Also available: #UntitledTwo Neu! Reekie! (2016), #UntitledOne Neu! Reekie! (2015); Play With Me (2013)
Author based Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small. Recent events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, Stanza Poetry Festival Live Literature Funded: Yes
Who is Michael Pederson? Michael Pedersen is a poet, playwright and animateur with an electric reputation on the performance circuit and a prolific precedent of collaborations, having teamed up with some of the UK’s top musicians, film-makers and artists. He is widely published in magazines, journals, anthologies and e-zines, and a key creative within Dream Tower Productions. He’s also the lyricist for cult band Jesus, Baby! and has written short plays for various troupes including the National Theatre of Scotland. Pedersen is also co-founder and circus master at Neu! Reekie! – started in January 2011, now one of the country’s most formidable literary nights. Based at the Summerhall Arts complex Neu! Reekie! has organised over seventy cultural showcases, on three continents, featuring spoken word, animation and live music. Other eclectic elements are thrown into the mix too, just to see what happens. About Oyster : Oyster is the second collection from prize-winning Edinburgh poet Michael Pedersen. From Grez-sur-Loing and festive nights to sizzling summers stretched out in the Meadows and Portobello, Michael Pedersen’s unique brand of poetry captures a debauchery and a disputation of characters, narrated with an intense honesty and a love of language that is playful, powerful and penetrative; he vividly illuminates scenes with an energy that is both witty, humourous but also deeply intelligent. Oyster is iced, spiced, baked and beaming for your pleasure. Oyster features bespoke illustrations from Frightened Rabbit lead singer and songwriter Scott Hutchison. Praise for Michael Pedersen & Neu! Reekie!: ‘Michael’s poems are so physical you can almost touch the images in them. Fabulously sensual and alive. I adore poetry like this’ – Stephen Fry ‘Neu! Reekie! dismantles the structures and snobberies dividing high and low art – art is for everyone’ – Skinny
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NOURISH YOUR IMAGINATION
MARK MULLER STUART September 2017: Storm in the Desert: Britian’s Intervention in Libya and the Arab Spring
Author based: Scottish Borders Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small Recent events: Beyond Borders Festival, TedX Glasgow Live Literature Funded: No
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Who is Mark Muller Stuart? Mark Muller Stuart is Founder of Beyond Borders Scotland. He is a senior advocate at Doughty Street Chambers in London and the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, where he specialises in public international law, criminal, terrorism and human rights related litigation. He also regularly advises numerous international bodies on humanitarian and conflict resolution laws. Since 2005 he has acted as a Senior Advisor to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Beyond Conflict and InterMediate. As an advocate and mediator he has appeared before various UN, OSCE, EU, and Council of Europe bodies including before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. About Storm in the Desert: In this remarkable book, Mark Muller tells the story of British intervention in Libya and the Arab Spring from a unique civil society standpoint: he was there in Benghazi two weeks after the UN No-Fly Zone Resolution was passed, meeting with Rebel leaders to discuss how Western civil society might help them stabilise the country and resolve difficult legacy issues such as victim claims over Lockerbie and the supply of IRA Semtex. In an age when Western governments have become risk averse and distrusted in the Middle East, Muller documents how non-state mediators, non-governmental organisations, journalists, artists and like-minded diplomats, such as assassinated US Ambassador Chris Stevens, explore ways to support democratic movements and promote human rights in one of the world’s most turbulent regions. Storm in the Desert describes a dramatic story of revolution but also the murky but sometimes inspiring role successive British governments have played in trying to contain conflict in the region. It gives a unique insight into the world of diplomacy and power politics and the way they impact upon ordinary human lives, suggesting that it is civil society not government that ultimately stabilises countries and unearths the truth about conflict and the ill-treatment of civilians at the hand of state forces.
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ALAN TAYLOR November 2017: Appointment in Arezzo: Friendship with Muriel Spark September 2016: Glasgow: The Autobiography Who is Alan Taylor? Alan Taylor has been a journalist for over 30 years. He was deputy and managing editor at The Scotsman, and for the last 15 years has been Writer-at-Large for the Sunday Herald. He has contributed to numerous publications, including The TLS, The New Yorker and The Melbourne Age, and edited three acclaimed anthologies – The Assassin’s Cloak (2000), The Secret Annexe (2004) and The Country Dairies (2009). About Appointment in Arezzo: This book is an intimate, fond and funny memoir of one of the greatest novelists of the last century. This colourful, personal, anecdotal, indiscrete and admiring memoir charts the course of Muriel Spark’s life revealing her as she really was. Once, she commented sitting over a glass of chianti at the kitchen table, that she was upset that the academic whom she had appointed her official biographer did not appear to think that she had ever cracked a joke in her life. Alan Taylor here sets the record straight about this and many other things.
Author based: Glasgow Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: British Science Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Dundee Literary Festival, National Library of Scotland Live Literature Funded: No
With sources ranging from notebooks kept from his very first encounter with Muriel and the hundreds of letters they exchanged over the years, this is an invaluable portrait of one of Edinburgh’s premiere novelists. About Glasgow: The Autobiography: Glasgow: The Autobiography tells the story of the fabled, former Second City of the British Empire from its origins as a bucolic village on the rivers Kelvin and Clyde, through the Industrial Revolution to the dawning of the second millennium. Arranged chronologically and introduced by journalist and Glasgowphile Alan Taylor, the book includes extracts from an astonishing array of writers. Some, such as William and Dorothy Wordsworth, Dirk Bogarde and Evelyn Waugh, were visitors and left their vivid impressions as they passed through on. Many others were born and bred Glaswegians who knew the city and its inhabitants intimately. They come from every walk of life. Together they present a varied and vivid portrait of one of the world’s great cities in all its grime and glory – a place which as at once infuriating, frustrating, inspiring, beguiling, sensational and never, ever dull.
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PAUL MURTON (BBC PRESENTER) July 2017: The Hebrides Who is Paul Murton? Paul Murton is well known as a documentary film maker whose work includes BBC Grand Tours of Scotland and Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands (4 series). He grew up in rural Argyll and has been an inveterate traveller since his teenage years. About The Hebrides: Paul Murton has spent half-a lifetime exploring some of the most beautiful islands in the world – the Hebrides. He has travelled the length and breadth of the Scotland’s rugged, sixthousand-mile coast line, and sailed to over eighty islands. Author based: Aberfoyle Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
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In this book Paul visits each of the Hebridean islands in turn, introducing their myths and legends, history, culture and extraordinary natural beauty. In addition he also meets the people who live there and learns their story. He has met crofters, fishermen, tweed weavers, Gaelic singers, clan chiefs, artists, postmen and bus drivers – people from every walk of life who make the islands tick. This blend of the contemporary and the traditional creates a vivid account of the Hebrides and serves as unique guide to the less well known aspects of life among the islands.
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ANGUS ROXBURGH April 2017: Moscow Calling: Memoirs of a Foreign Correspondent Who is Angus Roxburgh? Angus Roxburgh studied Russian and German at Aberdeen University. A distinguished journalist and broadcaster, he was Sunday Times Moscow correspondent (1987-89), BBC Moscow correspondent (1991-97) and BBC Europe correspondent (1998-2005). From 2006-2009 he was media consultant to the Kremlin, and is now a freelance writer and journalist. He is the author of the acclaimed The Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the Struggle for Russia and was consultant on the award-winning BBC documentaries, The Second Russian Revolution, and Putin, Russia and the West. About Moscow Calling: In the course of the past 45 years, Angus Roxburgh has translated Tolstoy, met three successive Russian presidents and been jinxed by a Siberian shaman. He has come under fire in war zones and been arrested by Chechen thugs. He was wooed by the KGB, who then decided he would make a lousy spy and expelled him from the country.
Author based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
This is a personal and revealing perspective of Russia by the acclaimed former BBC and Sunday Times Moscow correspondent, who worked in Russia for over 30 years and who witnessed first-hand the darkest days of communism and the rise of Putin. From a unique perspective, this fascinating book features the human stories behind the big political events that have shaped Russia over the last four decades In Moscow Calling, Roxburgh presents his Russia – not the Russia of news reports, but a quirky, crazy, exasperating, beautiful, tumultuous world that in forty years has changed completely, and yet not at all. From the dark, fearful days of communism and his adventures as a correspondent as the Soviet Union collapsed into chaos, to his frustrating work as a media consultant in Putin’s Kremlin, this is a unique, fascinating and often hilarious insight into a country that today, more than ever, is of global political significance.
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CHARLES E. MCGARRY July 2017: The Ghost of Helen Addison Also available: The Road to Lisbon (2016) Who is Charles E. McGarry? Charles E. McGarry lives in Glasgow where he was born and bred, although he spent several years living in London and Edinburgh. He has played in bands, is widely travelled and graduated from Glasgow University in 1994 with an honours degree in History and Politics. He currently works as a newspaper page designer and sub-editor, having formerly been a business analyst for British Telecom. He is the co-author of The Road to Lisbon (Arena Sport, 2016). Author based: Glasgow Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
About The Ghost of Helen Addison: Leo Moran is not your average private detective. An avowed gourmet and wine connoisseur, he enjoys the pleasures of life to the hilt in the splendid isolation of his West End apartment. Ordinarily, his most pressing concerns involve which vintage of wine to pair with the finest organic steak, but at times he has more unsettling concerns: visions of violent crimes. After the ritualistic murder of a young woman in rural Argyll, Leo decides to help the police. He arrives at a brooding, majestic landscape in the grip of winter and meets a host of strange and colourful characters who congregate in and around the Loch Dhonn Hotel – including the ghost of the victim. Frustrated by forces of evil summoned up by the killer, at first Leo fails to make headway, and his intemperance wears thin the patience of his allies and the police. Cast out and close to despair, Leo must draw on all his powers to unmask the murderer before he himself becomes the next victim.
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KEVIN MACNEIL October 2017: The Diary of Archie the Alpaca March 2016: The Brilliant & Forever Also available: A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll & Hyde (2011) Who is Kevin MacNeil? Kevin MacNeil was born and raised in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Novelist, poet, playwright, editor, aphorist and lyricist, his books include The Brilliant & Forever, A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde, The Stornoway Way, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides and Be Wise, Be Otherwise. He is also an international creative writing tutor, and has vast experience teaching workshops, leading residential writing retreats, lecturing on creative writing courses at university level (Edinburgh, Uppsala, Kingston), and mentoring debut novelists from obscurity to award-winning prominence. About The Diary of Archie the Alpaca: If you haven’t yet met Archie the Alpaca now’s your chance. Prolific writer, social observer, grassiccino drinker, occasional dancer and loyal friend, Archie sees the world like no-one else. Gathered here are his thoughts, feelings, loves, hates and everything in between. From his remarks on the volume of phone conversations to friendship with cats, tributes to great art and artists, and the joy of being Salvador Dali, his diary will teach you to think about everything you know just a little bit differently.
Author based: Stirling Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small Recent events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, Aye Write (Glasgow), WordPlay (Shetland) Live Literature Funded: No
About The Brilliant & Forever: On an island like no other, populated by writers, the annual Brilliant & Forever Festival is a much anticipated event; its participants a story away from either glory or infamy. This year, three best friends – two human, one alpaca – are chosen to compete, so victory is not only about reward. This is a novel like no other; a wonderful, provocative tussle, a whip-cracking, energetic, laugh-out-loud satire on what we value in culture, and in our lives. And yet, written with exquisite warmth and empathy, it’s also a moving exploration of integrity, friendship and belonging. It’ll split your sides and break your heart. Praise for The Brilliant & Forever and Kevin MacNeil: ‘Kevin MacNeil is a writer prepared to take his chances’ – The Scotsman Ultimately, this is a book about how everyone has a story worth telling, and one worth hearing too. Terrific stuff’ – Independent ‘It is a joy to read such an engaging, luminous novel’ – The Guardian
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DENZIL MEYRICK September 2017: One Last Dram Before Midnight April 2017: Well of the Winds Also available: Rat Stone Serenade, Dark Suits and Sad Songs, The Last Witness and Whisky from Small Glasses.
Author based: West Dunbartonshire Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small Recent events: Spirit of Moray Book Festival, Tidelines Book Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Granite Noir Live Literature Funded: No
Who is Denzil Meyrick? Denzil Meyrick served in Strathclyde Police Force in Glasgow during the 1990s, when the Scottish city was the murder capital of Europe. He encountered the violence and danger of Glasgow’s criminal underworld first-hand, and after leaving the police, used his experience to inform his gripping DCI Daley thriller series. His books have sold over 145,000 copies worldwide, and he is in increasing demand at book festivals and book shop events across the country. About One Last Dram Before Midnight: Bringing together six short stories – two of which are previously unpublished – One Last Dram Before Midnight is the perfect Christmas gift for fans of Denzil Meyrick. These tales take us from Jim Daley’s early days pounding the beat in Glasgow as a young constable to a light-hearted whisky smuggling romp involving Hamish and some ghostly pipers. Includes four previously eBook exclusive stories: Single End, Two One Three, Dalintober Moon and Empty Nets and Promises. About Well of the Winds: As WWII nears its end, a man is stabbed to death on the shoreline of Kinloch, in the shadow of the great warships in the harbour. Many years later, the postman on Gairsay, a tiny island off the coast of Kintyre, discovers that the Bremner family are missing from their farm. There’s a pot on the stove and food on the table, but of the Bremners there is no sign. When DCI Daley comes into possession of a journal written by his wartime predecessor in Kinloch, Inspector William Urquhart, he soon realises that the Isle of Gairsay has many secrets. About Rat Stone Serenade: It’s December, and the Shannon family are returning home to their clifftop mansion near Kinloch for their annual AGM. Shannon International is one of the world’s biggest private companies, and it has brought untold wealth and privilege to the family. However, a century ago Archibald Shannon stole the land upon which he built their home – and his descendants have been cursed ever since. When heavy snow cuts off Kintyre, DCI Jim Daley and DS Brian Scott are assigned to protect their illustrious visitors. As the curse decrees, death is coming – but for whom and from what?
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About Dark Suits and Sad Songs: When a senior Edinburgh civil servant spectacularly takes his own life in Kinloch harbour, DCI Jim Daley comes face to face with the murky world of politics. To add to his woes, two local drug dealers lie dead, ritually assassinated. With his boss under investigation, his marriage hanging on by a thread, and his sidekick DS Scott wrestling with his own demons, Daley’s world is in meltdown. When strange lights appear in the sky over Kinloch, it becomes clear that the townsfolk are not the only people at risk. The fate of nations is at stake. Jim Daley must face his worst fears as tragedy strikes. This is not just about a successful investigation, it’s about survival. About The Last Witness: James Machie was a man with a genius for violence, his criminal empire spreading beyond Glasgow into the UK and mainland Europe. Fortunately, James Machie is dead, assassinated in the back of a prison ambulance following his trial and conviction. But now, five years later, he is apparently back from the grave, set on avenging himself on those who brought him down. Top of his list is his previous associate, Frank MacDougall, who unbeknownst to D.C.I. Jim Daley, is living under protection on his lochside patch, the small Scottish town of Kinloch. Daley knows that, having been the key to Machie’s conviction, his old friend and colleague D.S. Scott is almost as big a target. And nothing, not even death, has ever stood in James Machie’s way . . . About Whisky from Small Glasses: When the body of a young woman is washed up on an idyllic beach on the west coast of Scotland, D.C.I. Jim Daley is despatched from Glasgow to lead the investigation. Far from home, and his troubled marriage, it seems that Daley’s biggest obstacle will be managing the difficult local police chief; but when the prime suspect is gruesomely murdered, the inquiry begins to stall. As the body count rises, Daley uncovers a network of secrets and corruption in the closeknit community of Kinloch, thrusting him and his loved ones into the centre of a case more deadly than he had ever imagined. The first novel in the D.C.I. Daley Thriller series, Whisky from Small Glasses is a truly compelling crime novel, shot through with dark humour and menace. Praise for the DCI Daley series: ‘Tartan noir continues to flourish . . . just the right amount of authenticity . . . gritty writing . . . most memorable’ – The Herald ‘simultaneously dark and funny’ – Scottish Field ‘Touches of dark humour, multi-layered and compelling’ – Daily Record
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MALACHY TALLACK Oct 2016: The Un-discovered Islands June 2016: Sixty Degrees North: Around the World in Search of Home (pbk) Who is Malachy Tallack? Malachy Tallack is a writer and musician who has recently been awarded the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, and the New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust. As a singer-songwriter he has released four albums and an EP, and performed in venues across the UK. Malachy has spent most of his life in Shetland, but has also travelled and lived in many places around the world, including several years on Fair Isle. Malachy is frequently invited to literary festivals and book events across the UK. His events often include a musical element, ranging from A Capella singing in Shetland dialect, to country & western songs on the guitar.
Author based: Glasgow Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Wigtown Book Festival, Dundee Literary Festival, multiple bookshop events Live Literature Funded: Yes
Praise for Malachy Tallack & Un-Discovered Islands: ‘Tallack is one of a burgeoning group of young travel writers... who have reinvigorated their increasingly tired genre with elements of psychogeography: the study of how places make us feel.’ – Will Self, The Guardian ‘This is a splendid and wistful book’ – The Spectator ‘One of the best new travel books’ – The Guardian
3. Sarah Ann Island
1. Atlantis
4. Lemuria or
Kumari Kandam
2. The Island of Buss
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About The Un-discovered Islands: The oceans of the world are filled with places seen once and then never again; places born in myth and mystery. These islands have not been lost to rising seas or earthquakes. These islands are human in origin, the products of imagination and error- phantoms, fakes and legends. Gathered in the book are two dozen islands once believed to be real but no longer on the map. These are the products of imagination, deception and simple human error. They are phantoms and fakes: an archipelago of ex-isles and forgotten lands. From the well-known story of Atlantis to more obscure tales from around the globe; from ancient history right up to the present day. This is an atlas of legend and wonder, of places discovered and then un-discovered. About Sixty Degrees North: The sixtieth parallel marks the border between North and South. Malachy explores the places that share this latitude, beginning and ending in Shetland, where he has spent most of his life. Sixty Degrees North is also a deeply personal book, which begins with the author’s loss of his father and his troubled relationship with Shetland. Informed by the journeys travelled it moves towards a kind of resolution: an acceptance of loss, and ultimately a love of the place Tallack calls ‘home’.
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LIZ LOCHHEAD
SCOTLAND’S MAKAR 2011-2016 May 2016: Fugitive Colours (NEW COLLECTION) Also available: A Choosing: The Selected Poems of Liz Lochhead (2011); The Colour of Black and White (2005); Dreaming Frankenstein and Collected Poems (2003); True Confessions and New Cliches (2003)
Author based Glasgow Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small Recent events: Edinburgh International Book Festival; Hay Festival; international festivals Live Literature Funded: Yes
Who is Liz Lochhead? Scottish poet and playwright Liz Lochhead was born in Motherwell in 1947. She is a Fellow of Glasgow School of Art, an Honorary Doctor of Letters of Glasgow University, a Fellow of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and of Glasgow Institute of Art, and is an Honorary President of the Scottish Poetry Library. Her poetry collections include Dreaming Frankenstein (Polygon, 1984), True Confessions and New Clichés (Polygon, 1985), Bagpipe Muzak (Penguin, 1991), and The Colour of Black and White: Poems 1984– 2003 (Polygon, 2003). Her plays include Tartuffe (Polygon, 1986), Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (Penguin, 1989) and the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award-winning Medea (Nick Hern Books, 2000). Liz Lochhead lives in Glasgow. About Fugitive Colours: This stunning new collection features never-before published work along with poems written during her time as Scots Makar, and marks the end of her term as Scotland’s Poet Laureate (2011-2016). Whether commissioned works, such as ‘Connecting Cultures’, written for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 or more personal works, ‘Favourite Place’, about holidays in the west coast with her late husband, this collection is beautiful, sensitive and brilliant. Throughout her career Liz Lochhead has been described variously as a poet, feminist-playwright, translator and broadcaster but has said that ‘when somebody asks me what I do I usually say writer. The most precious thing to me is to be a poet. If I were a playwright, I’d like to be a poet in the theatre.’ Praise for Liz Lochhead: ‘Human relationships, especially as seen from a woman’s point of view, are central: attraction, pain, acceptance, loss, triumphs and deceptions, habits and surprises; always made immediate through a storyteller’s concrete detail of place or voice or object or colour remembered or imagined’ – Edwin Morgan ‘Dreaming Frankenstein is a rare thing: a book of poems which sparkles’ – The Scotsman
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ROBERT J. HARRIS October 2017: The Thirty-One Kings Who is Robert J. Harris? Robert J. Harris was born in Dundee and studied at the University of St. Andrews where he graduated with a first class honours degree in Latin. He is the designer of the bestselling fantasy board game Talisman and has written numerous books, including Leonardo and the Death Machine, Will Shakespeare and the Pirate’s Fire, the popular World Goes Loki children’s series and most recently The Gravedigger’s Club (2017), first in a new series of mysteries starring a young Arthur Conan Doyle. He lives in St. Andrews with his wife, Debbie. About The Thirty One-Kings: Towards the end of John Buchan’s last novel Sick Heart River, Edward Leithen reflects that, with the outbreak of a second world war, all his companions of old will be called to action once more. In The Thirty-One Kings the tale of their adventures is finally told. This brand new escapade featuring John Buchan’s perennial hero Richard Hannay is an exciting, page-turning adventure, packed with sinister spies, breathless escapes, exotic characters and cliff-hangers galore!
Authors based: St Andrews Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: Wigtown Book Festival Live Literature Funded: Yes
June 1940. As German troops pour across France, the veteran soldier and adventurer Richard Hannay is called back into service. In Paris an individual code named ‘Roland’ has disappeared and is assumed to be in the hands of Nazi agents. Only he knows the secret of the Thirty-One Kings, one upon which the future of Europe depends. Hannay is dispatched to Paris to find Roland before the Germans overrun the city. On a hazardous journey across the battlefields of France Hannay is joined by old friends and new allies as he confronts a ruthless foe who will stop at nothing to destroy him.
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NICK PERRY October 2017: Escape to Ikaria: All at Sea in the Aegean October 2016: Peaks & Troughs BBC RADIO 2 FACT NOT FICTION BOOKCLUB AUTUMN 2016
Author based: Wiltshire Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Live Literature Funded: No
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Who is Nick Perry? Nick Perry spent his childhood in Dorset, out in the countryside daydreaming most of the time. He was educated at Parkstone Sea Training School before leaving for London where he worked for ATV Television. He travelled around Europe moving from job to job until he came into money. On impulse he bought a hill farm in North Wales, some experiences of which form the backdrop to Peaks and Troughs. He lives with his wife Arabella in the Wiltshire countryside where he spends his time writing, walking and listening to classical music. About Escape to Ikaria: Leaving their Welsh hill farm behind, Nick, Ros and their children arrive on the little-known island of Ikaria in 1978, having impulsively boarded the first ferry leaving Athens. Escape to Ikaria tells the story of how they become involved with the islanders and their way of life. Nick tries his hand at anything to get by: night fishing out in the Aegean, unloading the potato boats from Samos, mixing cement for wayward house-builder Datsun Jim, and tending the gardens of the old monastery where a solitary nun, Sister Ulita, controls the village’s water supply. About Peaks &Troughs: The Good Life meets Withnail and I in this funny nostalgic memoir. As 1970 dawns Jack, brother Nick and his family set off from swinging London to fulfil their dream of living off the land in the wild unforgiving hills of North Wales. They know nothing of farming or what battles lie ahead with the weather and their neighbours, or the ingenuity needed to survive. But armed with the Farmer’s Weekly and protected by their youthful idealism and sense of the ridiculous they begin their adventure. Peaks and Troughs is a warm-hearted, humorous and inspirational tale of life in all its drama – birth, death, tragedy, comedy, disappointment and hope – with the star player being one Rattlerow King David the 57th, a prize boar whose prodigious sex drive literally saves Nick’s bacon. Will appeal to readers of Peter Mayle, James Herriot and shepherd James Rebanks. ‘This is Bill Bryson with muck under his fingernails and without the urge to squeeze a laugh out of everything’ – The National
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CHRISTOPHER FLEET, CHARLES WITHERS & MARGARET WILKES October 2016: Scotland: Mapping the Islands Also available: Edinburgh: Mapping the City (2014); Scotland: Mapping the Nation (2011) Who are the authors? Chris Fleet is Senior Map Curator at the National Library of Scotland. In 2010 he was awarded both the Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and its Bartholomew Globe for excellence in the assembly, delivery and application of geographical information through cartography, GIS and related techniques. Professor Charles Withers is the Geographer Royal for Scotland, and the Ogilvie Chair of Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests centre on the historical geography of science, in the Enlightenment and in the nineteenth century, in travel and exploration, the history of cartography, and the history of the book. Margaret Wilkes is Convener of the Collections Committee of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and one of its Board of Directors. About Scotland: Mapping the Islands: Scotland’s many islands hold an extraordinary fascination, not least for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who land on them each year. Maps too fascinate, as objects of visual delight and historical importance, and as a means to represent and understand landscapes.
Authors based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bespoke events, bookstore events and festivals Recent Events: British Science Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Dundee Literary Festival, National Library of Scotland, Wigtown Book Festival Live Literature Funded: No
This stimulating and informative book reproduces some of the most beautiful and historically significant maps from the National Library of Scotland’s magnificent collection in order to explore the many dimensions of island life and how this has changed over time. Arranged thematically and covering topics such as population, place-names, defence, civic improvement, natural resources, navigation, and leisure and tourism, Scotland: Mapping the Islands presents the rich and diverse story of Scottish islands from the earliest maps to the most up-todate techniques of digital mapping in a unique and imaginative way. Praise for Scotland: Mapping the Nation: ‘Some books are simply so magnificent in their scope and execution you know they are destined to become classics from the moment you open the cover and begin to turn the pages. Scotland: Mapping the Nation is one of those books’ – Undiscovered Scotland
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KIDS
JOAN LENNON June 2017: Walking Mountain (age 10+) June 2015: Silver Skin (age 14+) Who is Joan Lennon? Joan Lennon was born in Canada but has lived in Scotland since 1978. She has written a large number of children’s books, including a number of successful series – The Wickit Chronicles, Tales from the Keep and the Slightly Jones series. Her books have been translated into numerous languages.
Author based: Fife Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK and beyond Happy to do: Bookstore and external events, festivals large and small, schools and libraries Recent events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, Learning Across the Arts Festival, numerous school and library events Live Literature Funded: Yes
About Walking Mountain: Pema lives in the shadow of the Walking Mountain, and for as long as he’s known the mountain has been moving north. Singay is a young member of the White Sisters, an order of priestesses worshipping the way of the mountain, who craves adventure. For both, their idyllic existence is about to be turned upside down. After hundreds of years it looks like the mountain has started walking backwards. It falls to Pema and Singay to prove something that no-one wants to believe. Everything is changing, and the world they know is teetering on the brink of disaster. Delving into the heart of the Walking Mountain, the reluctant heroes find something inside that neither could have imagined. Pema and Singay find themselves in a race against time, and are hurled into an epic adventure across a continent of wonders. Praise for Joan Lennon and Walking Mountain: ‘Joan Lennon spins a damn good yarn.’ – Electric Eclectic ‘Walking Mountain was exciting, adventurous, tense and sad. You won’t regret reading it’ – Serene Daly, Love Reading 4 Kids Editorial Expert ‘When I say I love this book, I really mean it – it’s now my favourite book and I’m looking out for other books by this author’ – Rose Hopkins, Love Reading 4 Kids Editorial Expert
Shortlisted for the Scottish Teenage Book Prize 2017
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About Silver Skin : Skara Brae, Orkney, during the Neolithic period. The sun is dying, crops are failing and the local inhabitants fear that the end of the world is near. When a strange boy appears from nowhere, dressed in an odd silver suit – his ‘silver skin’ – the community is thrown into confusion. Who is he, where is he from, and why has he come? Is he a selkie or seal person, a mythical being believed to have magical powers? For Cait, herself an outsider in the community, the boy, Rab, arouses a strange fascination as she finds herself strangely drawn towards him. For Voy, the Old Woman, Rab represents the only hope for the sun’s regeneration, but only if his silver skin is burnt in a huge sacrificial blaze. As the pyre is built, Rab must fight for his life if he is ever to be able to return to his own time. And if he succeeds, what will be the fate of the islanders he will leave behind? Praise for Silver Skin: ‘Refreshingly original’ , ‘Fascinating, absorbing and exciting to read’ , ‘This story mixes sci-fi and historical fiction to spectacular effect’ , ‘It’s original. It’s interesting. It’s imaginative. It’s beautifully written.’ – The Bookbag ‘This isn’t just a GOOD book – it’s a VERY GOOD book. I’m quite certain of this, because I’ve read it twice. This really is a book which satisfies on a great many levels.’ – Sue Purkiss
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RON BUTLIN May 2017: Steve and FranDan Take On The World (age 11+)
Author based: Edinburgh Willing to travel: Anywhere in the UK & beyond Happy to do: Readings, discussion events, creative writing workshops in schools, libraries, bookshops and festivals. Recent events: Edinburgh International Book Festival, multiple bookshop and schools events Live Literature Funded: Yes
Who is Ron Butlin? With an international reputation as a prizewinning novelist, Ron Butlin is also one of Scotland’s leading poets and a former Edinburgh Makar/ Poet Laureate. At various times he has been a lyricist with a pop band, a footman, male model and barnacle scraper. He was made Edinburgh University’s first Honorary Writing Fellow, together with Ian Rankin. His work has won many prizes and been translated into over a dozen languages. Ron is a highly experienced reader and teacher. He has given 100s of creative writing workshops for primary and secondary schools as well as readings in festivals worldwide – from a one-room school in Shetland to an Arab tent in the Middle East, from a standing-room-only event in Edinburgh’s Queens Hall to the House of Lords in London! With musicians, he is a regular performer on the Edinburgh Fringe. About Steve and FranDan Take On The World: Steve has had enough – enough of cyber-bullies, enough of adults messing up the world. Sharp witted Fran and her brother worry-wart Dan feel exactly the same. And so, along with his dog Nessie, Steve and the FranDan twins leave town in the dead of night to start on the biggest adventure of their lives . . . But if things were bad before, they soon get worse. Much, much worse. Some seriously bad men show up. Why have Steve and Dan been overpowered and led away as prisoners? Why are they kept tied up in the barn of a disused farm? Having managed to escape, and with no way to call for help, Fran knows it’s up to her to mount a one-woman rescue. Praise for Ron Butlin: ‘Butlin is the best, the most productive Scottish poet of his generation’ – Douglas Dunn ‘One of our finest contemporary poets’ – Alexander McCall Smith
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RON BUTLIN & JAMES HUTCHESON August 2017: Day of the Trolls (ages 3-7) October 2015: Here Come the Trolls! (ages 3-7) Who is James Hutcheson? James Hutcheson is Creative Director at Birlinn. He has been designing books, book jackets and album covers for many years. About Day of the Trolls: Mischief and mess, making folk mad, smashing things, crashing things, making folk sad – we love being bad! . . . and we know where to go to be baddest of all. You want to join in? Then come to the mall! It’s the Day of the Trolls: Fart-Fart and all the trolls are back! Join them in the shopping mall where they go wild, causing havoc as they overrun the place. But when they follow sign saying All Trolls – This Way, things turn out very differently to what Flycatcher, Bumscratcher, SnotFace, Squeer and the rest of them expected . . . About Here Come the Trolls!: Through gaps in the roof we didn’t repair, Through cracks in the walls we pretend aren’t there . . . . . . the trolls have come creeping while we were all sleeping. Trolls on your chair, trolls in your bed – is anything worse than a troll on your head? What happens when your house is invaded by trolls – mischievous creatures who do nothing but cause havoc and mayhem? Find out in this zany and charming book which tells you how to get rid of them for good and make your house a troll-free zone! Praise for Here Come The Trolls ‘This has a retro feel that seems to evoke both Dr Seuss and Maurice Sendak at the same time’ – The Herald
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