Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 October, Port Ellen Primary School
Adult Authors
Adult Authors
Shirley McKay
Shirley McKay will discuss the pleasures and pitfalls of researching and writing historical crime fiction, and explain what is, for her, the enduring allure of the past.
She will read from her latest novel, Queen & Country, an intriguing, human story of conflict and collusion set in 1587, in shadow of the death of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Shirley McKay was born in Tynemouth, moving to Dalkeith, Scotland, at the age of eight. She studied English and Linguistics at the University of St Andrews before attending Durham University for postgraduate study in Romantic and seventeenth century prose. She now lives in Crail, on the north east coast of Fife, where she is currently working on Black Drop, a new murder mystery set in early 19th century Edinburgh. Her interest in the manners and the language of antiquity has helped to shape her work.
Queen & Country is the fifth of the Hew Cullan series of murder mysteries, set in and around St Andrews in the late 16th century, featuring academic lawyer Hew Cullan, and following the progress of the young King James VI. An outline for the first book, Hue & Cry, 'a complex tale of passion and duplicity,' was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association debut dagger, establishing Shirley in her life of crime, and allowing Hew to follow in pursuit of ancient wrongs.
Andrew Crummy
The Great Tapestry of Scotland is an outstanding celebration of Scottish history and achievement from the end of the Ice Age to the 21st century. More than 1,000 volunteer stitchers worked for 55,000 hours using 300 miles of wool to create the 160 panels of this extraordinary work of art.
We are lucky enough to have Andrew Crummy whose artwork has been translated into a colourful and skilful depiction of the history of Scotland. He will tell us about how a suggestion from the author Alexander McCall Smith led him to team up with Alistair Moffat, who was a memorable and popular contributor to an earlier Islay Book Festival, to design the panels for this remarkable story of the people of Scotland. An eminent artist in his own right, Andrew Crummie's wonderful pictures have brought him international fame.
Chris Brookmyre
Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning featuring Jack Parlabane (also adapted as an ITV drama). Brookmyre's Parlabane novels also include Country Of The Blind, Boiling A Frog, Be My Enemy and Attack Of The Unsinkable Rubber Ducks. His writing has won various awards including the Critics' First Blood Award, the Crime Writers' Association Macallan Short Story Dagger and the Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. His recent crime fiction includes Where The Bodies Are Buried, When The Devil Drives and Flesh Wounds. He lives in Glasgow.
R J Mitchell
R J will be talking about the inspiration behind his award nominated Glasgow based Thoroughgood Crime series, and how he uses experiences, characters and 'situations' from his twelve years as a Glasgow cop to inject a unique level of realism to his writing.
Having just signed a new four book deal with acclaimed English Independent publishers McNidder & Grace, Mitchell will give a sneak preview of the fourth book in the Thoroughgood series, a prequel set in 1989 and based on his shocking experiences as a rookie cop that year, interwoven with a fictionalised account of the Ice Cream Wars and the Northern Ireland troubles spilling over into the city, which is due out in February 2016.
RJ will also be talking about a new stand alone series he is currently working on based on the life and times of a cashiered ex-SAS trooper Ludovic Graham, who finds himself in Barlinnie, where he is made an offer he can't refuse... with the first in this new series, 'Heist', pencilled in for a late 2016 release.
Konrad Borkowski
Konrad, who lives on Jura, is well known locally as an artist and photographer. He has stunning books on Jura and The Distilleries. He will be showing some of his pictures and explaining how he captures his favourite images.