Pentlands Book Festival: 26 Oct – 25 Nov 2026

Saturday 7 November 2026, 1pm.  Colinton Library, 14 Thorburn Road, Colinton, EH13 0BB

Kate Mayor: Stories of Belonging and Finding Ourselves

In her debut novel, All the Parts It Takes, Kate Mayor follows one woman’s journey through chance encounters, hidden truths, and choices that change the course of her life, back towards herself.  Rich in hope, humour, and humanity, the novel explores the many parts it takes to become whole.

Kate has worked as a therapist for the past decade and is fascinated by what happens when people begin to listen to themselves more deeply, question the stories they’ve inherited, and make decisions from a place of greater honesty and courage.  These ideas have shaped both her professional work and her fiction.

in this talk, Kate will share the inspiration behind the novel and explore the themes that lie at the heart of her writing: belonging, possibility, identity, and the surprising ways life invites us to grow.  She will reflect on the creative process, the relationship between psychology and storytelling, and why fiction has the power not only to entertain us but also to help us recognise ourselves—and perhaps imagine new possibilities for who we might yet become.

Jonathan Findlay: Stuff – A Poetic Tale of Hoarding

Tbc

Jonathan Findlay, a Scottish author, is the former editor of a bilingual cultural magazine, and a keen poet.  Some of his work has been set to film and presented to festival audiences.   Jonathan has learnt to create stories with plenty of unexpected yet intriguing twists and turns when challenged over the years with requests for spontaneous, imaginary, bedtime stories.

Stuff is Jonathan’s first adventure into the world of children’s story-writing.  It is a visually rich, fun, adventure, set to rhyme and in a Scottish castle, that revolves around the lives of Lord and Lady McStash and their daughter, Flora, each with a very different attitude towards accumulating stuff.  Like a roller-coaster, the story has plenty of unexpected twists and turns while it explores multiple themes – the ups and downs of hoarding clutter; the resourcefulness of children; entrepreneurship; the value of experiences over materialism; the natural environment, and, not least, the power of love!

Stuff offers heaps of humour, piles of progressive vocabulary, stacks of mental stimulation and layers of lovely intrigue.  Fun for adults and children alike.  More stuff here https://www.more-stuff.com/