Stories, comics, cakes, walking, music, poetry, tapestry, eagles, bears & much more‌
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Festival at a glance All events, unless otherwise stated will take place in the Bonar Hall, Park Place.
Saturday 18th october 6pm: Jung Chang
Wednesday 22nd OCTOBER 6pm: Bernard MacLaverty & James Robertson 7.30pm: Joseph Lee, War Poet 7.30pm for 8.30pm: Bright Club
Thursday 23rd october 9am: Living well: Creative writing workshop 11am: Pitch live! 12pm: Elisa Segrave: Life writing 1pm: Michael Schmidt: Poem & a Piece 2pm: Kevin Barry 2pm: Creative writing students 1-2-1 3pm: Future media: panel 4pm: Michael Schmidt: The Novel, a Biography 5.30pm: Writing showcase: MLitt Creative Writers 7pm: Ian Buxton: A Taste of Liquid Treasures
Friday 24th october 10am: Winner of the Dundee International Book Prize + Nicola White + Neil Broadfoot 11am: Seaside Donkey 11am: Bounce & Tickle 11.30am: Richard Gordon: A World Cup Adventure 12pm: A Poem in an Hour! Workshop 1pm: Dundee Women’s Aid @ 40: Prose & a Piece 2.30pm: Laura Bates: Everyday Sexism 4pm: Uuganaa Ramsay: Mongol 4.30pm: Festival bookclub Social: Frankenstein 5pm: Ian Sansom: Norfolk Mysteries 5.30pm: Writing showcase: Scottish Book Trust New Writers 6.30pm: Doctors in books, books for doctors 7.30pm: Viv Albertine 8.30pm: Culture Laser Live 2 / DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2014
Saturday 25th october 9.30am – 12pm: Kids! 10am: Daily Briefing: The Day Today 10am: Whaleback City Walking Tour 10am: Festival bookclub: lecture 11am: Brian Taylor: The Book That Changed My Life 11.30am: ‘Different sorts of truth’: Jenny Brown, Gavin Francis, Stuart Kelly 12pm: Teen thrillers: Roy Gill & Lari Don 12pm: Jim Crumley: The Eagle’s Way 1pm: Tom Pow & Brian Johnstone: Poem & a Piece 2pm: Reading & the Mind 2.30pm: Sue Peebles & Ron Butlin 3.30pm: Michel Faber 5pm: Kirsty Logan & Carys Bray 5.30pm: Writing showcase: Nethergate writers 6pm: Anne Donovan 7pm: Read Yourself Fitter: Andy Miller 7.30pm: STV Dundee 9pm: New Portsound
Sunday 26th october
All day: Comics Day 10am: Walking tour: Heroes & Villains: An Almost Entirely Fictitious Walk 10am-3pm: Ex Libris Book Fair 11am: Sunday Read: 100 years of the Sunday Post 11.30am: Humans of Dundee 12pm: Bamse and Wojtek 1pm: Kei Miller: Poem & a Piece 2pm: Alan Rowan: Moonwalker 2pm: At Maldon: J O Morgan and Ishbel McFarlane 3pm: Chiew-Siah Tei 4.30pm: Great Tapestry of Scotland 5.30pm: Translation slam 6.30pm: Grant Hill & Barry Phillips 7pm: James Naughtie 7.30pm: Scran salon 9pm: Pub quiz / closing party
Thursday 6th november 6pm Jodi Picoult
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‘So many books, so little time’ – Frank Zappa 4 / DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2014
introduction Welcome to the 2014 Dundee Literary Festival, five days of words, writing, debate, discussion – and the odd slice of cake. With a massive 60 events, we’ve managed to pack in something for every taste, whether you want to hear sporting stars, debut voices, translation tales or stories from world famous authors. Tea (and freshly baked scones) will be served at our festival café, music will be played and you can buy copies of books by each of the authors – and get them signed – at our festival bookshop, courtesy of Waterstones. Enjoy the best writers in the world, in Dundee.
Anna Day Director, Literary Dundee
Festivals should contain words and ideas, stories and songs, people who want to talk, and to listen, and best-selling authors alongside new faces that will be the names of the future. Festivals also need you: brilliant and enthusiastic audiences who are willing to take a risk, to discover something new and to celebrate these writers with us. Here’s hoping you get as much delight from our festival programme as we did in putting it all together! We can’t wait to see you in Dundee in October.
Peggy Hughes Programme Manager, Dundee Literary Festival
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SATURDAY 18TH October SATURDAY EVENING
LECTURE SERIES
In partnership with Saturday Evening Lecture series
6PM: JUNG CHANG
EMPRESS DOWAGER CIXI: THE CONCUBINE WHO LAUNCHED MODERN CHINA Jung Chang is the bestselling author of the thought-provoking books, Wild Swans and Mao: The Unknown Story. Her books have been translated into 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside mainland China. She was born in China in 1952, and came to Britain in 1978. In this lecture, Jung Chang will discuss her new book, Empress Dowager Cixi, which tells a dramatic story of rebellions, battles, plotting, rivalry, foreign invasion, punishment and forbidden love. This ground-breaking biography vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to China. Free / Dalhousie Building
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Wednesday 22nd October 6PM: BERNARD MACLAVERTY & JAMES ROBERTSON FESTIVAL LAUNCH We can’t think of a finer way to open the 2014 festival than with stories from two masters of the craft. Bernard MacLaverty, a writer of great compassion, insight and humanity, reads from his Collected Stories. James Robertson will unveil his innovative 365: 365 stories, written one per day, each 365 words apiece, in one volume. No strangers to the Dundee Literary Festival, we are delighted to welcome them back to the stage together. Please join us! £3/2 (A free wine reception will follow)
7.30pm: Joseph Lee, War Poet BOOK LAUNCH WWI poet Joseph Lee was famous in his own lifetime, but the Dundonian has since been forgotten. A new anthology of his work will bring him back to public attention. Free
Doors 7.30pm for 8.30PM: BRIGHT CLUB
We’ve assembled a bunch of interesting comedians and combined them with fascinating people who work for some of the UK’s best Universities and we’re putting them in front of an attractive and intelligent public audience (YOU)! A special, bookish festival edition of Dundee’s popular Bright Club! £5 / tickets avalible from www.wegottickets.com / Braes pub, Perth Road 7
THURSday 23RD October WRITING PRACTICE AND STUDY DAY AT THE DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL: CURATED BY PROF KIRSTY GUNN, DIRECTOR OF WRITING PRACTICE AND STUDY AND LITERARY ADVISOR TO DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL Sample the University of Dundee’s acclaimed writing programme at a special all-day event. Kirsty Gunn curates a day of writers on writing. Writers can take advantage of this exciting opportunity to find out more about writing studies at the University, while the rest of us can enjoy the brilliant authors, hear stories being told and browse our festival book shop. If you’re an author or a poet, meet the team from Writing Studies, write your own stories, get feedback on your work in special one-on-one sessions and hear writers talk about their experience publishing all kinds of books... In one day you’ll gain vital inside knowledge as to how to improve your writing and find out what makes studying creative writing at Dundee so special.
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9AM: LIVING WELL: CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP The Writing Practice and Study team, headed up by award-winning writer Prof Kirsty Gunn, lead this workshop in writing for wellness and being well in your writing. Free
10AM - 12Pm: PITCH LIVE BOOK PITCHING SESSION - KIRSTY GUNN AND LINDSAY MACGREGOR Award-winning author Kirsty Gunn and Lindsay MacGregor will be giving advice on pitching your book to publishers, agents and the wider public. A rare and exciting chance to work with experts to hone your pitch before taking your work out into the world and finding it a home. Free / please book in advance
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12pm: ELISA SEGRAVE LIFE WRITING In this conversation with Kirsty Gunn, Elisa Segrave discusses her latest book, The Girl From Station X, the result of an uncovered cache of wartime diaries written by her mother which revealed a character utterly different from the troubled woman who had become so reliant on her daughter. Elisa Segrave is the author of The Diary of a Breast, about her battle with cancer, and the novel Ten Men (both published by Faber). She writes for many newspapers and magazines, including the London Review of Books, The Guardian, and The Independent. This promises to be a fascinating exploration of the ‘I’ in non-fiction. £3/2 / #nonfiction
1pm: MICHAEL SCHMIDT POEM AND A PIECE Born in Mexico in 1947, Michael Schmidt was educated at Harvard and Wadham College, Oxford. He is editorial and managing director of Carcanet Press Limited, the literary publishing house dealing in particular with poetry, and he is general editor of PN Review, the literary journal now in its fourth decade. Michael has also written two novels and, as a literary historian, several books charting the lives of writers. He’ll tell us more about his latest book The Novel: A Biography later today (p13) but for now it’s all about his own poems, and a fascinating and diverse life with words, in conversation with Maggie McKernan. £5 (includes lunch)
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2pm: ONE to ONE TUTORIALS - Writing practice GRADUATES Are you suffering from writers’ block? Got a book inside you, trying to get out? Come along and get some advice from the graduates of the University of Dundee’s Creative Writing MLitt programme. They’ll be available to do 1-2-1 sessions with authors, poets and anyone trying to get their writing into shape. Free / please book in advance
OPEN DESK - KIRSTY GUNN Acclaimed author Kirsty Gunn is available for consultation! She’ll be on hand to help you iron out those plot twists, develop your characters or just listen to your writing woes. Free / drop in
CLASSIC SHORT STORY READINGS - Writing Practice Students and GRADUATES Spend your afternoon with a cup of tea and listen to classic short stories read by students from the Writing Practice Studies, University of Dundee. Expect to hear tales from your favourites plus a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Free / drop in
2pm: KEVIN BARRY TOUR DE FORCE Kevin Barry is from Limerick city, on the west coast of Ireland. He has published two short story collections (most recently Dark Lies the Island) and City of Bohane, a novel. He has scooped many prizes for his books, including the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award for ‘Beer Trip to Llandudno’ in 2012. He is a tour de force. Don’t miss. £3/2 11
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3pm: PUBLISHING PANEL: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? CHAIRED BY DAVID FINKELSTEIN Mandy Stewart of The Crack (www.thecrackmagazine.com) joins Creative Dundee’s Gillian Easson to discuss and debate the future of independent publishing. What’s next for the media? £3/2
4pm: MICHAEL SCHMIDT THE NOVEL: A BIOGRAPHY Literary historian, publisher and editor Michael Schmidt (see p10) talks to Kirsty Gunn about his latest work of literary criticism, The Novel: A Biography. This discussion might cover the 13 year process of writing the book, the social function of the novel, an appalling misprint involving Martin Amis and favourite reads old and new. Don’t miss. £3/2
5.30pm: MLITT SHOWCASE The first of our festival showcases of exciting new voices in literature! Check page 20 for full details. #debuts
7pm: IAN BUXTON A TASTE OF LIQUID TREASURES Consultant, commentator and whisky writer Ian Buxton returns to Dundee with 101 Legendary Whiskies You’re Dying to Try But (Possibly) Never Will. Exploring the finest and rarest whiskies in the world, 101 Whiskies assembles for the first time drams that may be extraordinarily hard to find, impossible to buy or literally the sole survivor of a long-lost distillery. Expect an evening of whisky and convivial company. £5/3 13
FRIday 24th October 10AM: WINNER OF THE DUNDEE INTERNATIONAL BOOK PRIZE WITH NICOLA WHITE & NEIL BROADFOOT NEW VOICES, OUT LOUD Now a festival tradition, we invite the winner of the 2014 Dundee International Book Prize (who will be revealed on Thursday 23rd October!) to tell us more about themselves, their work and their path to publication. They’ll be joined by 2013 winner and author of In the Rosary Garden, Nicola White and finalist Neil Broadfoot, whose shortlisted book Falling Fast has been published this year by Saraband Books. Free / in partnership with Dundee City Council & Cargo Publishing / @dundeecity & @cargopublishing / #debut
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11AM: SEASIDE DONKEY: TERRIFIC TALES WITH HANNAH ENGELKAMP A TINY TALE WRIT LARGE Starting in May 2013, journalist Hannah Engelkamp headed off around Wales, with Chico the eccentric donkey for company. The 1000-mile perimeter took five-and-a-half months to walk, and now – thanks to a hugely successful Kickstarter funding campaign – a book and film of their adventures will be out later this year. Join us for an uplifting and unorthodox story of the great outdoors, human kindness, one woman and a donkey. £3/2 / Blackness Library / @hannahengelkamp / #debut (attend all our debut events for just £12, see page 20)
11am: BOUNCE AND TICKLE Rhyme, songs and stories for little ones aged 0-12 months. Come parents, come carers, come babies and join our wee party! Free
11.30am: Richard Gordon A WORLD CUP ADVENTURE Scotland ‘74 is a bitter-sweet celebration of the closest Scotland has ever got to World Cup glory - so far, at least - when a team of superstars managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the dying seconds. BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound presenter and life-long Aberdeen FC fan Richard Gordon joins us to relate the story of that big adventure. £3/2
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12PM: A POEM IN AN HOUR! WORKSHOP WITH SANDRA IRELAND & LINDSAY MACGREGOR Finding that elusive starting point is often the hardest part of writing poetry. So many ideas, so little time! Join MLitt students Sandra and Lindsay for a fun, informal poem-making session. Crafty creative exercises will help you come up with the raw ingredients for your own poem in less than an hour. Free / in collaboration with For Books Sake @forbookssake
1PM: PROSE AND A PIECE DUNDEE WOMEN’S AID @ 40 Dundee Women’s Aid held their first meeting in the Tower building here at the University of Dundee with an aim to provide ‘refuge for battered women’. A refuge was set up in 1976 with donations from the public and it housed ten families: it was full within 3 days of opening. Today Prof Sue Black, Janice Aitken and Eddie Small reflect on 40 years, and tell us more about the book they’ve co-produced to mark the occasion. £5 (includes lunch) / @DundeeWomensAid
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2.30PM: LAURA BATES EVERYDAY SEXISM Everyday Sexism was established on Twitter as a means to catalogue instances of sexism experienced by women on a daily basis, serious or minor, outrageously offensive or niggling and normalised. Laura Bates, creator and Cosmopolitan’s Ultimate Woman of the Year Awardee 2013, talks to novelist Zoe Venditozzi about Everyday Sexism the book: a manifesto for change, a ground breaking, anecdotal examination of sexism in modern day society. £3/2 / #debut (attend all our debut events for just £12, see page 20)
4pm: MONGOL: UUGANAA RAMSAY A JOURNEY FROM LOSS AND PREJUDICE TO BELONGING Mongol [mong-gohl], noun, 1. a member of a pastoral people now living chiefly in Mongolia. 2. (offensive) a person with Down’s Syndrome. Uuganaa is a Mongol living in Britain, far from the world she grew up in; when her new-born son Billy is diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome, she finds herself facing bigotry and taboo as well as heartbreak. Uuganaa, winner of the Scottish Asian Women’s Award For Achievement Against All Odds, joins us today to share her extraordinary journey. £3/2 / #debut (attend all our debut events for £12, see page 20)
4.30pm: FESTIVAL BOOKCLUB SOCIAL: FRANKENSTEIN Grab yourself a copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, at a bookshop, Dundee Libraries or Project Gutenberg. Read it. Join us at the George Orwell Public House for a festival social (and for our festival lecture on Saturday 25th, 11am, page 24). Free / George Orwell Pub Public House, Perth Road
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5pm: IAN SANSOM: NORFOLK MYSTERIES A GOOD OLD FASHIONED MYSTERY Love Miss Marple? Adore Holmes and Watson? Professor Morley’s guide to Norfolk is a story of bygone England; quaint villages, eccentric locals – and murder! And Belfast based author & critic Ian Sansom is some of the best company we know. ‘A brilliant first outing that leaves you looking forward to the next maniacal mystery tour’ - Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard £3/2
5.30pm: WRITING SHOWCASE: SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST The second of our festival showcases of exciting new voices in literature! Check page 20 for full details. Free / #debuts
6.30pm: BOOKS FOR DOCTORS AND DOCTORS IN BOOKS PROF SIR KENNETH CALMAN, DIANA HENDRY, & LESLEY MORRISON, CHAIRED BY DR JOHN GILLIES Doctors and illness lie at the heart of many great stories, from Irvine Welsh to Robert Burns, and their connection goes deeper than just the page. Examining the link between words and medicine are the hugely influential Sir Kenneth Calman, who uncovers this relationship in his new book, A Doctor’s Line. Tools of the Trade is an anthology of poetry published by the Scottish Poetry Library and issued to every graduating medic in Scotland in 2014, introduced today by poet Diana Hendry and Lesley Morrison. Please join us! £3/2 (free wine reception will follow) In partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library / @byleaveswelive
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7.30pm: VIV ALBERTINE CLOTHES CLOTHES CLOTHES MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC BOYS BOYS BOYS Viv Albertine is one of a handful of original punks who changed music, and the discourse around it, forever. In Clothes ... Music ... Boys a story hitherto dominated by male voices is recast through the eyes of one of the most glamorous, uncompromising and iconic figures of the time. From Madonna to Lady Gaga, Viv Albertine has influenced a range of exceptional artists. Here, before and beyond the break-up of The Slits in 1982, is the full story of a life lived unscripted, with foolishness, bravery and great emotional honesty. ÂŁ5/3
8.30pm: Culture Laser Live
Weekly podcast series, The Multi-Coloured Culture Laser, enters the festival fray for a night of performance, discussion, drinking, and hilarious October action. Host Ryan Van Winkle, poet and cultural behemoth from the United States of America via Auld Reekie, welcomes a selection of guests to take to the sofa with him for some beautiful bookish chat. A podcast experience for your ears & your hearts – done live and before your very eyes. Free
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NEW WRITERS SHOWCASE, THURSDAY 23RD, FRIDAY 24TH AND SATURDAY 25TH! We’re delighted to be showcasing the names of the future at this year’s festival. 5.30pm in our festival café, free, everyone welcome. Just pop in!
Thursday: MLitt Creative Writers – the cream of the University of Dundee’s MLitt crop strut their stuff.
Friday: Scottish Book Trust’s New Writer Awardees – Edinburgh-
based poet Andrew Sclater; Edinburgh-based novelist Lynsey May, Dundee’s own Rob Currie, and Lucy Ribchester, whose debut novel The Hourglass Factory will be published in 2015 by Simon & Schuster.
Saturday:
Nethergate writers – a longstanding creative writing group who meet regularly under the auspices of the University of Dundee’s Continuing Education Department, will read from their latest anthology of new work, Watermarks. Free / in Ms Battenberg’s Tea Room / #debut In partnership with Scottish Book Trust @scottishbktrust
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debut discount! Come to all of our debut author events for just ÂŁ12
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KIDS events! saturday 25th October Storytelling, face painting, colouring in and other fun activities! Something for all ages! All free / drop in 9.30am-12pm: FAMILY FUN MORNING! A drop in morning for all the family, with hands-on activities and crafts. Bring your picnic and your teddy bear for our festival Teddy Bears Picnic! Design a cover for your favourite book for our festival gallery! The events with Emily Dodd, Pamela Butchart, and Lari Don & Roy Gill are free, but you do need to book a ticket. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
10am: Emily Dodd - Cameron the capercaillie thinks he’s the worst dancer in
the Scottish Cairngorms but maybe with the help of his new friend, Hazel the squirrel, he’ll be able to dance after all! Fun guaranteed with storyteller, scientist and poet Emily Dodd with her first picturebook! Recommended for ages 3-6
11am: Pamela Butchart
- One day Izzy and her friends are surprised to find that their teacher, Miss Jones, is actually being nice to them. There can only be one conclusion: she’s been taken over by aliens, and now she wants to make them all aliens too! Pamela Butchart, author of Baby Aliens Got My Teacher, invites you to laugh out loud with stories and activities! Recommended for 7+
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saturday 25th October 10am: Daily Briefing: The Day Today Wake up your brain cells with our very own festival chat show! Hosted by Literary Dundee’s Anna Day, this free event will feature festival guests and others on topics - bookish and otherwise - of the day.
10am: WHALEBACK CITY WALKING TOUR Dundee’s first Makar (poet laureate for the city) W.N. (Bill) Herbert invites you on a tour of Dundee by poetry. Co-editor of Whaleback City, Bill will take you on a tour of our city of Discovery in verse in this illuminating morning in the company of the city’s finest wordsmiths, present, past and lang deid. £3/2 (includes cup of tea before setting off) / meet at Bonar Hall
10am: FESTIVAL BOOKCLUB: LECTURE: CHRIS MURRAY & DANIEL COOK Learn more about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein with Dr Chris Murray and Dr Daniel Cook. Did you know Shelley’s mother Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin lived on Dundee’s South Baffin Street? That Frankenstein has inspired more than 130 films? That the novel resulted from a competition between Mary, her future husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and the writer John Polidori to see who could write the best horror story? This, and more! (More info on festival bookclub page 44) Free / #festbookclub
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11am: Brian Taylor THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE Brian Taylor, BBC Political editor, Scotland, has been a journalist since 1977. He covers politics in all of its guises - UK, European but mostly Scottish. He is a proud, patriotic Dundonian and fanatical supporter of Dundee United Football Club, losing no opportunity to trumpet their many glories. We’re delighted to welcome him to Coldside Library today, to tell us about the books and writers he loves most. Free / please note this event will take place at Coldside Library
11am: NAWE panel: non-fiction - Jenny Brown, Gavin Francis, Stuart Kelly DIFFERENT SORTS OF TRUTH Novelist and non-fiction writer Chuck Palahniuk said ‘You can tell a more over-the-top incredible story if you use a non-fiction form.’ Today we invite leading agent Jenny Brown, Gavin Francis – winner of the Scottish Book of the Year Award 2013 for his memoir Empire Antarctica – and author and critic Stuart Kelly to talk about non-fiction books - their dominance of the book market, their appeal and to share some of their favourites with us.
£3/2 / in partnership with NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education)
12pm: Roy Gill & Lari Don TEEN THRILLERS Mind Blind is Lari Don’s first book for teen readers - a thriller, with death, crime, a bit of swearing, betrayal and chases! Ciaran Bane is a criminal with a very useful talent: he can read minds. But his skill comes at a price... In Werewolf Parallel, the fur-raising sequel to dark supernatural fantasy Daemon Parallel, Roy Gill delves into the void between the human and demon worlds populated by demons and werewolves. Can Cameron save it? This event, for ages 11-14 especially, is set to be a real treat. Free 25
12pM: The Eagle’s Way: Jim Crumley NATURE’S NEW FRONTIER IN A NORTHERN LANDSCAPE Jim Crumley is a widely published journalist, regular columnist in The Courier and occasional broadcaster on both radio and television. The Eagle’s Way combines passion, beautifully descriptive prose and the writer’s twenty-five years of living, breathing and writing the landscape. In light of the reintroduction of sea eagles to the Tay Estuary, this is a timely exploration of these majestic birds. £3/2
1pm: Tom Pow & Brian Johnstone POEM AND A PIECE Tom Pow’s six months as writer in residence at the National Library of Scotland Map Library in Edinburgh inspired his latest collection, Concerning the Atlas of Scotland: one for map lovers as well as poetry fans. Brian Johnstone’s third full collection, Dry Stone Work, is personal and exploratory, full of rural landscapes, music, movies, Europe and the distant past. A lunchtime adventure guaranteed from the comfort of the Bonar Hall. £5 (includes lunch)
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2pM: Escape from reality, or food for the soul? READING AND THE MIND: IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DOROTHY DUNNETT SOCIETY We take our starting point from the rich historical worlds created by Dorothy Dunnett, and consider others, including those of George R R Martin, Walter Scott and J R R Tolkien, and the pleasure they bring readers. With Prof Trevor Harley, Professor of Cognitive Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Dundee, Stuart Kelly, critic and author of Scott-Land, and the Dorothy Dunnett Society’s Julia Hart, we’ll delve into the effects reading has on mental health, cognition and memory. £3/2
2.30pm: Ron Butlin & Sue Peebles TOP DRAWER FICTION Set mostly in post-war Britain and inspired by a real-life story, poet, novelist and librettist Ron Butlin’s Ghost Moon is a tale of secrets, adversity and dementia, narrated with humour and compassion. Snake Road is Sue Peebles’ second novel. In this tale of loss and hope told through the unblinking eye of Aggie, a family history is revealed that breaks and heals in equal measure. £3/2
3.30pm: Michel Faber THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS We’re delighted to welcome world renowned author Michel Faber to the festival. Fresh from massive screen hits with Under The Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson, and The Crimson Petal and the White, which starred Chris O’Dowd, Michel reads from his brand new novel, The Book of Strange New Things. A compelling and bold new story, The Book of Strange New Things opens with a man setting out on a perilous journey as a Christian missionary, and is an unexpected and wildly original novel about adventure, faith and the ties that might hold two people together when they are worlds apart. £5/3 27
5pm: Carys Bray & Kirsty Logan NEW VOICES, OUT LOUD Carys Bray and Kirsty Logan are both recipients of Salt Publishing’s Scott Prize, resulting in the publication of debut short story collections: Carys’ Sweet Home (2012) and Kirsty’s The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales (2014). Today, Carys presents her debut novel, A Song for Issy Bradley, and Kirsty anticipates hers, The Gracekeepers, due in 2015. Don’t miss these incredible new voices in literature. £3/2 / #debuts (attend all our debut events for just £12, see page 20)
5.30pm: Writing showcase: Nethergate writers The third of our festival showcases of exciting new voices in literature! Check page 20 for full details. Free / #debuts
6pm: Anne Donovan GONE ARE THE LEAVES Full of wonder and intrigue, and told with the grace and charm for which Anne Donovan is so beloved, Gone Are the Leaves is the enchanting story of one boy’s lost past and his uncertain future. Author of the novel Emily, short-story collection Hieroglyphics and Buddha Da, shortlisted for the Orange Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Scottish Book of the Year Award, and International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award nominee, Anne is one of the most distinguished writers in the Scots canon, and an hour in her company promises to be a treat indeed. £3/2
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7pm: ANDY MILLER READ YOURSELF FITTER Prepare yourself for Andy Miller’s entertaining whistle-stop tour of the fifty novels he read for his book The Year of Reading Dangerously, from Middlemarch to Catch 22. ‘Designed for those who love literature but have somehow lost their way… A rewarding mixture of literary talk, motivational lecture and stand-up comedy routine.’ Time Literary Supplement £3/2 / @i_am_mill_i_am
7.30pm: STV PRIZE
Come along to the inaugural STV Dundee Digital Spark Award to see how Scotland’s brightest and best creative talents are using social media to transform language and literature. Watch as the top five short-listed candidates pitch their innovative and quirky ideas to a panel of industry experts in a bid to win a four-figure cash prize and prove the web is the ideal place to explore and enrich language. Audience votes count too so have your phones at the ready. Free / #STVspark / @STVDundee
9pm: NEW PORTSOUND New Portsound has been running for six years in the far-off outpost of Newport on Tay. Dedicated to bringing quality new Scottish independent music to an appreciative and intimate crowd, New Portsound is delighted to host a night as part of the Dundee Literary Festival. The enthralling line up will be announced soon, but expect an exciting combination of music, spoken word and visuals. £4/3
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sunday 26th October 10am: HEROES & VILLAINS: AN ALMOST ENTIRELY FICTITIOUS WALK WITH EDDIE SMALL & OLLIE LANGMEAD Dundee has had more than its fair share of heroes and villains – real and imagined – and this tour will take you around the haunts of some of the best and worst of them. You will hear peculiar fictions and odd facts from our esteemed experts, as you visit the places where they lived, the streets where they died, and the haunts where they might still lie. £3/2 (includes cup of tea before setting off) / meet at Bonar Hall
11am: 100 YEARS OF THE SUNDAY POST “A THOROUGHLY DECENT READ” We mark the Sunday Post’s centenary with a fascinating wander down memory lane with Steve Finan. Steve is the Sunday Post’s Production Editor, charged with ensuring every word in the newspaper is ship shape, the grammar is graceful and the headlines irresistible. He has worked in the newspaper trade since 1979 as a compositor, reporter, football writer, columnist, sub-editor, chief sub-editor, news editor, TV critic — and all the jobs in between — from the archaic days of hot metal to the modern digital newsroom. Who better to tell us more about Francis Gay, the Honest Truth and other Sunday favourites? £3/2 (includes tea and birthday cake)
11.30am: HUMANS OF DUNDEE DUNDEE, ONE STORY AT A TIME Inspired by the original Humans of New York (‘New York City, one story at a time’), Dylan Drummond and Tammy Lyn Shaw started a photo census of the people of Dundee and the surrounding area. 9 months and several hundred photographs later, the Humans of Dundee Facebook page has over 8,000 fans and is growing every day. Dylan and Tammy will tell us the story of our city through the people that live, work and visit here. Free
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12pm: BAMSE AND WOJTEK MAN’S BEST FRIENDS Bamse was a huge St. Bernard dog, owned by Captain Hafto of the Norwegian Navy during WW2. He went to sea on the minesweeper Thorodd and achieved legendary status in Montrose. Wojtek was one of WW2’s most unusual combatants - a 500-pound cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking brown bear. Mascot of the Polish army, Wojtek took on a more practical role, carrying heavy mortar rounds for the troops and going on to play his part as a fully enlisted ‘soldier’. Andrew Orr and Angus Whitson (Sea Dog Bamse: World War II Canine Hero) and Aileen Orr (Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero) tell us more about these inspiring animals. £3/2
1pm: KEI MILLER POETRY AND A PIECE Kei Miller, born in Jamaica in 1978, writes across a range of genres: poetry, novels, books of short stories and essays. His poetry has been shortlisted for awards such as John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Scottish Book of the Year. An unforgettable performer, today Kei will read from his 2014 collection, The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion, which was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2014. A wonderful performer. £5 (includes lunch) / in partnership with the Department of Geography
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2pm: Alan Rowan MOONWALKER: ADVENTURES OF A MIDNIGHT MOUNTAINEER Alan Rowan was a journalist for nearly 40 years, working in Dundee, Aberdeen and on a variety of national newspapers in Glasgow. He is also a mountain fanatic, having climbed the Munros twice, the Corbetts and all the 3000-foot peaks in England, Ireland and Wales, many of them during the wee, small hours. Moonwalker is his first book, a funny, touching and unique tale about midnight mountaineering, both deeply personal memoir and riotous travelogue. £3/2 / #debuts (attend all our debut events for £12, see page 20)
2pm: J.O Morgan and Ishbel Mcfarlane It begins with crows, black flecks against the blue, ‘J. O. Morgan’s At Maldon is a riff on the Old English poem: inventive, striking and memorable. And a reminder that Morgan is one of the most original poets around.’ – Andrew Motion. Come hear the whole glorious poem out loud, co-performed for the first time in full with actor Ishbel McFarlane. £3/2 / (1hour 30 minutes)
3pm: Chiew-Siah Tei MASTERFUL STORYTELLING Chiew-Siah Tei’s second novel, The Mouse Deer Kingdom, is a tale of love and betrayal against the backdrop of a troubled time when hundreds of thousands of Chinese people fled poverty and the Qing Empire for Southeast Asia, where their arrival unsettled the native lives in their new home. This promises to be a riveting conversation between Malaysian-born Chiew and Scottish PEN’s Rosemary Burnett, and a fine precursor to our Translation Slam at 5.30pm (see page 34). £3/2
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4.30pm: GREAT TAPESTRY OF SCOTLAND ICE AGE TO PRESENT DAY, IN STITCHES More than 1,000 volunteer stitchers, led by stitch coordinator Dorie Wilkie, worked for 55,000 hours using 300 miles of wool to create the 160 panels of The Great Tapestry of Scotland. Join Dorie, artist (and DJCAD graduate) Andrew Crummy and Eleanor Updale to hear more about this extraordinary work of art, a remarkable people’s story created by men, women and youngsters from every corner of the country. £3/2
5.30pm: TRANSLATION SLAM ONE TEXT, TWO TRANSLATIONS, LIVE It’s a duel, Jim, but not as we know it. Translators Esther Tyldesley and Yueshi Gu will pit their linguistic wits against one another, offering rival interpretations of Chiew-Siah Tei’s Chinese text. Prepare yourself for a fascinating insight into the process and challenges of translation, chaired by Rosemary Burnett. £3/2 / In partnership with Scottish PEN @scottishpen
6.30pm: Grant Hill & Barry Phillips BEER & BANTER A hilarious satire on the “Coldplayfication” of the beautiful game, The Tartan Special One, is Barry Phillips’ first novel, a love letter to Scottish football delivered in an inimitably anarchic style. Clubbed to Death is Grant Hill’s debut, a tale of Club Quantum, where mind-melting music expands horizons like a cross between the Hacienda and Haight-Ashbury, Dundee-style. An evening of laughs with two titles from Dundee’s smallest and newest publisher, Teckle Books. Free / George Orwell Public House, Perth Road
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7pm: James Naughtie LOYALTY, SURVIVAL AND FAMILY RIVALRIES DEEP IN THE COLD WAR James Naughtie is now entering his 20th year on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, where over 7 million people wake up to his voice. The Madness of July is his debut novel. It is a sweltering July in mid-1970s London, and for foreign office minister Will Flemyng the temperature is rising with each passing hour. A mysterious death has exposed secret passions within the government, bringing on a political crisis that will draw him back into a familiar world of danger and deceit. For Flemyng has a past. He was trained as a spy for a life behind enemy lines in the Cold War and now he is compelled to go back. Over the course of one long hot weekend he must question all his loyalties – to his friends, his enemies, and even his own two brothers… £5/3
8pm: Scran salon LOVE FOOD? LOVE BOOKS? THIS ONE IS FOR YOU. Scran Salon, launched in February 2014 in Edinburgh, is a monthly food shindig bringing together business owners, chefs, producers, writers, promoters, and enthusiastic eaters from across the food scene to share an evening of foodie-related chat. Tonight it comes to Dundee with a bookish flavour, with local guests Emily Dewhurst of Kitchen Press, Morris Heggie on Maw Broon’s Cookbook, and more! Free / @scransalon
9pm: Pub quiz! LET’S GET QUIZZICAL Do you know your Harry from your Beatrix and your Chicken Licken from your Dickens? Prove your bookish mettle at our festival-finishing pub quiz! Prizes, larks and music guaranteed. Teams of up to 6 players. £5 per team, all proceeds to Literacy Trust
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Dundee Comics Day 2014 Comics Day 2014 will celebrate comics and their relationship to other media, including literature, film, television, theatre, games, and the internet. There will be a workshop on creating comics for under 15s on Saturday 25th October, as well as a talk by the creators of Saltire. The events on Sunday 26th October will start with the opening of the Ex Libris Book Fair in the Bonar Hall, which will involve a series of talks and workshops alongside stalls featuring comics, zines and small presses. The Comics Day talks will start at 1pm in the Tower Building (which is very close to the Bonar Hall just across the way). Join us for Dundee Comics Day 2014 as we explore the diversity of the comics medium, and its relationship with other media.
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Saturday 25th October 11.00am - 12.45pm Creating Comics Workshop, DCA Activity Room £5 3.00pm - 4.30pm Antboy (Dir. Ask Hasselbalch, 2013). 12-year-old Pelle is bitten by an ant and develops superpowers. Screening at DCA. Tickets booked via DCA 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Creating Saltire - Scotland’s First Superhero, with John Ferguson, Baxter 1.36, Tower Building Free
Sunday 26th October 10.00am Opening of Ex Libris Book Fair, Bonar Hall 1.00pm Opening of Comics Day talks, Tower Building 1.10pm Leah Moore and John Reppion 2.00pm Questions 2.10pm Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal 3.00pm Questions 3.10pm Break and Signings 4.00pm Will Simpson 4.50pm Questions 5.00pm Break / Wine 5.30pm Announcement of Dundee Comics Prize 5.45pm Roundtable discussion 6.30pm End All £15
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John Ferguson
is the creator and writer of Saltire, a comic about Scotland’s first superhero which is published by his own company, Diamondsteel Comics, based in Dundee. Two graphic novels have been published so far, Saltire: Invasion (2013) and Saltire: Annihilation Part One (2014), with more on the way. He will be joined by some of the creative team behind Saltire.
Leah Moore
John Reppion
and are a writing team who have worked on Albion (with Alan Moore) and Witchblade, both with Wildstorm, Doctor Who for IDW, Dracula and Sherlock Holmes for Dynamite Comics, and many other titles. They recently wrote a Tales from the Black Museum story for Rebellion, publishers of 2000AD. in early 2014 they announced that they were working with Alan Moore on an AHRC funded research project looking into the narrative possibilities of digital comics. The project is called Electric Comics.
Will Simpson started his career drawing comics in the early
1980s, with celebrated runs on Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper and Tyranny Rex for 2000AD, as well as DC/Vertigo’s Hellblazer, Aliens for Dark Horse, and many others. In recent years he has moved into film and TV storyboarding and concept design, notably for the hugely popular and critically acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones.
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Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal are a
creative team who have worked on several comics together, including The Master and Margarita, Jekyll and Hyde, and Robot, all published by Self Made Hero. Klimowski is Professor of Illustration at the Royal College of Art, London and has exhibited internationally, with work collected by museums in Europe and the United States. He has designed film and theatre posters and covers for publishers such as Penguin, Faber & Faber, Everyman Library and Oberon Books. He has directed short animated films and his graphic novels The Depository and The Secret have been published by Faber, who also published his book Horace Dorlan. Danusia Schejbal has exhibited paintings across Europe and has designed sets and costumes for various theatres.
check out comics lab page 43 39
THURSDAY 6TH november SATURDAY EVENING
LECTURE SERIES
In partnership with Saturday Evening Lecture series
6PM: JODI PICOULT
LEAVING TIME World famous author, Jodi Picoult, is coming to Dundee – one of only two stops on her UK tour - to read from and talk about her brilliant new book, Leaving Time, the story of a disappearance and a beautiful portrait of a mother’s love for her child and a child’s need for a mother. It is about the staying power of love and how three broken souls might just mend each other by being brought together. Her previous novels include Nineteen Minutes, My Sister’s Keeper, which was made into a major motion picture, and bestseller The Storyteller. Free / Dalhousie Building / A book signing and drinks reception will follow. 40 / DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2014
BOOK FESTIVAL EXTRAS! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
40 YEARS SUPPORTING PUBLISHERS IN SCOTLAND In this, their 40th birthday year, Publishing Scotland has been looking through its archives to come up with items that give a flavour of the past four decades in Scottish Publishing. While firmly focused on the present and future, it is a great opportunity to look back on what publishers have achieved and the changes they’ve gone through. In partnership with Publishing Scotland / @publishscotland
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MS BATTENBERG’S TRAVELLING TEA ROOM
EVERY DAY / KEEPING DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL WELL FED AND WATERED SINCE 2013… We’re delighted to welcome Ms Battenberg back for a second year in a row, bringing her many delights - lovely tea, quality coffee, refreshing juices and incredible edibles. Step into her extraordinary tea room, bedecked with vintage linens, china tea sets, flowers and tea cosies with giant pom poms! @msbattenberg
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SATURDAY 25TH & SUNDAY 26TH OCTOBER COMICS LAB Dundee Literary Festival are pleased to announce the launch of the Comics Lab 2014, in partnership with Scottish Book Trust and The Scottish Centre for Comics Studies (SCCS). This exciting short course will offer writers, artists and cartoonists in Scotland the chance to deepen their skills and broaden their practical knowledge. The Lab will combine sessions about the artistic and literary craft of creating comics with practical advice on how to find new opportunities, develop your work and pitch to publishers.
Led by Metaphrog and featuring a range of guest speakers made up of comics creators and industry professionals, the lab will be a hugely valuable opportunity for people who already have some experience and are looking to take the next step in the world of comics and graphic novels. It will also be demanding and participants will be expected to create new work. Participation on the lab is by application only. Please check the Scottish Book Trust website for details of how to apply: www.scottishbooktrust.com Deadline for applications: 12 September. In partnership with Scottish Book Trust / @scottishbktrust 43
EX LIBRIS BOOK FAIR SUNDAY 26TH OCTOBER 10AM-3PM: Ess Publications and Generator Publications are proud to present Ex Libris Book Fair as a new event during Dundee Literary Festival 2014! Featuring small presses, indie comic creators, and artist book makers, Ex Libris celebrates talented artists working in book formats. Ex Libris will also feature free talks throughout the day from some of our exhibitors. In partnership with Ess Publications and Generator Publications / @Generatorproj
FESTIVAL BOOKCLUB: FRANKENSTEIN BY MARY SHELLEY Festival Bookclub is a new part of this year’s festival, a festive book group for festival attendees and those a bit further flung too. We’ve chosen Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (available from Waterstones, or for free from Dundee City Libraries or Project Gutenberg) because of Shelley’s historic link to Dundee. Read the book, and join us for our book group get together (page 17) and festival lecture (page 24), both free. And for those on Twitter: #festbookclub
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’THE STARS ARE THE MAP I UNROLL…’/‘COUPIT’ (FILM, SILENT, APPROX 6 MINS) Original British Sign Language poem about round-the-world sailor Gerry Hughes, by Gary Quinn (English-language translation title as ‘The stars are the map I unroll..’; with English translation in kinetic titles) ‘Coupit’, Shetlandic poem about navigating the country’s future, by Christine De Luca, Edinburgh Makar, translated into a BSL piece by Mark MacQueen (with original Shetlandic and English translation in titles) We’re delighted to present this collaboration between BSL (British Sign Language) poets and Edinburgh’s Makar Christine de Luca writing in Shetlandic and English, commissioned specially to find new audiences for both poems. The short film explores setting a course in difficult waters, building on history, dreams, achievement and finding a new voice. Timely, given the proposed BSL Bill at the Scottish Parliament which seeks to increase awareness of BSL throughout Scottish society and assist in breaking down the barriers facing Scotland’s Deaf population with the Scottish Poetry Library.
In partnership with the Scottish Poetry Library This short film will be shown on a loop in the Festival foyer
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Dundee Science Festival Saturday 8th Novermber 6PM: Behind Helix: with DR Adam Rutherford, Daniel Locke and David Blandy in partnership with the College of Life Sciences. Helix is a collaborative digital graphic novel created by artist David Blandy, scientist and writer Dr Adam Rutherford and illustrator Daniel Locke, telling the history of DNA from the perspective of a 500-year-old man kept alive by genetic therapy, with a story spanning 40,000 years. Adam, David and Daniel are currently working on an expansion of the original project into a full length graphic novel, once again for the Wellcome Trust, so there’s no better time to take a step inside this fascinating project. Free / Dalhousie Building
Image from Helix, a collaborative digital graphic novel created by artist David Blandy, scientist and writer Adam Rutherford and illustrator Daniel Locke.
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Monday 10th November 5PM: Festival bookclub: 1984 revisited Join us for a trip back in time to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. One of the greatest and most enduring science fiction novels, Orwell’s masterpiece has unsettling resonance for the way we live today. This is an opportunity to get together with fellow book lovers for a chat about dystopia, Big Brother, and more. Free / George Orwell Public House
Wednesday 12th November 7PM: Electric Bookshop presents... Pressed for Time Electric Bookshop invites you to consider the future of books through their publishing time machine, Pressed for Time. Expect unexpected and immersive experiences for intrepid book readers, chat from the creators and words from the shelves of the internet… Free / Roseangle Arts Café, 132 Perth Road
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FAQs Where All of our events are in the Bonar Hall, unless otherwise stated. The Bonar Hall is situated just off the Nethergate, on Park Place, a right turn just after Tonic Bar Café. Entrance to the Bonar Hall is free, and each event is priced individually in this programme. Our ticket desk is on the upper level and our pop up café on the lower. This year some events will take place outwith the Bonar Hall, and these will be clearly advertised in the programme. Pop along for a bun and a browse!
How The Bonar Hall is a 15 minute walk from Dundee Train Station.
Tickets All events, unless otherwise stated will take place in the Bonar Hall. The Bonar Hall is located on the corner of Nethergate and Park Place. Tickets are available: • • • • • • •
online at www.literarydundee.co.uk by calling 01382 384413 or emailing literarydundee@gmail.com in person on the 6th Floor, Tower Building at the University Waterstones, Commercial Street The Overgate Shopping Centre ticket booth, ground floor Dundee Contemporary Arts, Nethergate
Latecomers We are happy to admit latecomers where possible; if the event has started we’ll try to sneak you in and ask you to deploy church mouse mode, so as not to disturb the event.
bookshop Thank you to our friends at Waterstones for our festival bookshop. 48 / DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2014
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If you can’t join us in person, get involved from afar… www.dundee.ac.uk/literarydundee facebook.com/dundeebooks @literarydundee #dundeelitfest
illustrations by Jen Collins / www.hellojenuine.com 50 / DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2014
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Viv Albertine James Naughtie Laura Bates Kevin Barry Anne Donovan Bernard MacLaverty Jung Chang James Robertson Jodi Picoult & much more Stories, of all kinds. 52 / DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2014
@literarydundee #dundeelitfest