Appropriately for our 2024 curtain-raiser, David is Artistic Director of the Lyceum Theatre.  Columba’s Bones is set on Iona in the year 825 and begins with a Viking raid on the monastery in search of the sarcophagus containing the sacred remains of Saint Columba, the revered missionary who brought Christianity to Scotland. 

Following a night of rampage, one Viking wakes up to find himself alone except for his hangover.  He can’t swim and his sword has gone.  With only his wits he must survive long enough to find the location of the relics and rejoin his comrades.

Derek, one of the original Simple Minds, is known for iconic, spine-rattling, bass riffs, and writing and co-writing many of the band’s earliest classics.  He is also well known on the international stage as songwriter and bassist for Big Country and Propaganda and has recorded with Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Dave Gilmour, and Kirsty MacColl.

A Very Simple Mind: On Tour is Derek’s story of the early days of Simple Minds, where a band of working-class lads from Glasgow took on the world.  

Derek writes as well as he plays – maybe at less volume but equally full-on.

Stan Kulik was a man who dodged death.  After the Russian invasion of Poland, Stan’s family were forced on a train to a Gulag in Siberia.  Stan survived, and travelled through Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to join the Polish Army.

Stan then travelled to Iraq and India, from where he was taken by ship to Scotland.  He joined the Polish Parachute Brigade and was dropped at the Battle of Arnhem, to find himself trapped behind enemy lines; narrowly evading capture thanks to the Dutch resistance.

Stan’s grandson, Nicholas, relates an early life that plays out like an epic wartime film.

Billy gaes back tae his linguistic an cultural ruits an scrieves vieve memoirs o growin up: working-class life in a loving environment; cold winters in a council house; what they ate and drank; how children passed their time; the richness of their Scots-speaking world; the influence of American culture; the strong sense of community in a still-living mining tradition; the football heights and the gambling lows; Scots songs, and the poets who gave the people an identity; local religious observation and sectarian nonsense.

Billy maks fowk awaur o the pouer an beauty o their guid Scots tongue, an gies it its richtfu place at the hert o the national culture.

Allan’s career took him to Iraq and Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War, after which he reported on the break-up of Yugoslavia; the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, and the overthrow of President Mobutu.  He witnessed the changes in eastern Europe: the overthrow of communism and the transition to democracy; the chaos of Boris Yeltsin’s tenure.  Stints in Africa and Paris led to a role as Special Correspondent reporting on devolution and the Scottish independence referendum. 

Allan now follows his personal interests – one of which is chairing the Edinburgh International Book Festival – but continues to apply his deep knowledge and experience to closely study the state of the world.

Marsali’s first Shetland-set crime novel starring quick-witted, practical, sailor Cass Lynch and Inverness DI Gavin Macrae was published in 2013.  Marsali, herself a qualified dinghy instructor, enjoys sailing Shetland waters in her 8m keelboat.  Her books are rooted in the natural world and seasons of Shetland, but also include issues important to remote communities.  Many involve a folklore element.  

Marsali’s latest in the series is entitled Death at a Shetland Festival.  According to Ann Cleeves, “This series is a must-read for anyone who loves the sea, or islands, or joyous intricate storytelling”.

Linda Cracknell’s book Doubling Back: Paths trodden in memory is reissued with new material this year.  Don’t be surprised if she walks here: she’s renowned for her long walks, about which she writes in her other recent book Writing Landscape: Taking Note, Making Notes.

Linda says her work – whether fiction or non-fiction – is inspired by place and is often developed with her boots on.  In Doubling Back, she follows writers and relatives and re-treads ways formerly trodden by drovers, saints and adventurers.  Each walk reawakens connections, beliefs and memories.

David Ford

David is currently completing his debut novel.  He has good experience in writing and publishing short stories, as well as being a creative writing educator.  He will discuss his short story collection and give tips for writing gripping short stories.

Stef Lyons

Time, place, and an interesting dinner party. Three things all crime fiction needs. Join Stef as they talk about how a real-life haunted house, a fascination with the past, and a love of food helped create their historical crime novel, Coppers End.

Neil Price

Neil’s obsession with family history inspired this, his first book.  Dickens’s Favourite Blacking Factory is the extraordinary story of Charles Day, a self-made boot-blacking entrepreneur, the dispute over whose will led Dickens to create the case ‘Jarndyce and Jarndyce’ in Bleak House.  

Maria Chamberlain

Maria is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors.  Born in Kraków, Poland, she emigrated with her parents to settle in Edinburgh.  Her book, Never Tell Anyone You’re Jewish, is about family history: a testimony and a tribute to those that survived, and those that did not.

Lewine Mair

Lewine’s late husband, Norman Mair, played rugby and cricket for Scotland and covered rugby and golf for the Scotsman.  Lewine’s book, Tapping Feet, describes Norman’s dementia – in particular his last two years in a local care home. 

Lin is an author and screen writer whose Rhona MacLeod novels, Paths of the Dead and Follow the Dead were shortlisted for Scottish Crime Book of the Year, and whose Driftnet was a Scottish No.1 bestseller.  Her latest book is entitled Whispers of the Dead.  She has a second series featuring private investigator Patrick de Courvoisier, set in Cannes.

Lin has recently co-written a children’s book, The Magic Flag Mystery, and one non-fiction book: Braveheart – From Hollywood to Holyrood, telling the story of the making of the Braveheart movie.  She is an award-winning scriptwriter, with her work broadcast internationally, receiving a Celtic Film Festival ‘best drama’ award for her River Child film.

Limited to twenty places. Book yours by phoning Liz Beevers, 0131 453 4115. PLEASE NOTE EVENTBRITE IS NOT BEING USED FOR THIS EVENT.

Visit the Library and Archive of the RCPE: one of the world’s largest collections of medical history.  The College was founded by Royal Charter in 1681 and remains one of the three institutions setting the standards for physicians in the UK.

Robert Sibbald, one of the RCPE’s founders, was also founder of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh: the close connection between medicine and botany was central to early practice.  Indeed, Sibbald was among the first donors to the Library founded in 1682, while later donations were made by William Cullen – a pillar of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Expect to see early medical books covering topics from herbal medicines to anatomical illustrations, medical cannibalism and Burke and Hare.

Limited to twenty places. Book yours by phoning Liz Beevers, 0131 453 4115. PLEASE NOTE EVENTBRITE IS NOT BEING USED FOR THIS EVENT.

Graeme started his working life with a series of unfulfilling jobs but gradually realised that his love of exploring Scotland, together with his knowledge of Scottish culture and stories, could be moulded into a career.  

Graeme doesn’t so much research a book as live it.  When not writing or blogging he is travelling  – visiting openings of distilleries or museums; or learning the myths and legends of standing stones; finding the best walks through and around Glencoe; or exploring Barra or the east coast of Fife.

Graeme takes groups on bespoke tours of Scotland, but our tour will be in the comfort of Currie Library, fuelled by oratory rather than diesel.

Growing up in Edinburgh, Kate became fascinated by its history.  Her first novel, The Maiden, a feminist revisionist take on the legend of The White Lady of Corstorphine, won the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year in 2023.

In her second, The King’s Witches, Princess Anna of Denmark is betrothed to King James VI but must pass a trial period.  By her side is Kirsten Sorenson, her loyal and pious lady-in-waiting, who has her own secrets.  Meanwhile, in North Berwick, Jura practises her healing.  On realising she is no longer safe, she escapes to Edinburgh, to be caught up in the witchcraft mania gripping the capital.

The King’s Witches gives voices to the women at the heart of the real-life witch trials.

In this third and final instalment of what is now The Moira Trilogy, Falkirk’s hardest woman, Moira Bell, faces her toughest challenge yet: surviving a pandemic with only vodka, fags and her BFF, Babs, on Zoom. Take that, Bear Grylls!

Journey through the highs and lows of lockdown with writer-performer Alan Bissett, returning for the last time as Moira, as she lusts after Joe Wicks, rages at the government, and grows her own weed (might as well, seeing as the f**kin world’s ending, eh Babs?). How will she cope!

“Heart-stoppingly funny, and heart-warming, Alan Bissett has created nothing less than an hour of storytelling perfection.” 5***** – The QR

“An absolute classic of Scottish working-class comedy.” 4**** – Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman