SUNDAY 9th OCTOBER 

FAMILY SAGAS, FAMILY SECRETS   11.00am-12.30pm      LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Debut authors Mairi Wilson, Ursula’s Secret, and Shelley Day, The Confession of Stella Moon, talk about their different approaches to creating vivid and exhilarating explorations of the impact of secrets which span generations in a family. They discuss what is said and what is left unsaid as mysteries are uncovered. The authors will be in conversation with Anne Loughnane, whose second novel, A Clarewoman’s Journey, has been published recently.

 

THE OSCAR OF MOUNTAINEERING  12.15-1.45pm    LIBRARY

In Some Lost Place by Sandy Allan, who hails from Newtonmore, is an exhilarating and harrowing account of his ascent with Rick Allen of one of the last great challenges of Himalayan mountaineering: Nanga Parbet’s Mazeno Ridge. Both climbers were awarded the 2013 Piolet d’Or, the Oscar of mountaineering, for their unique achievement.

Chair: Larry Foster

TSUNAMI: SCOTLAND’S DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION  12.45-1.45pm  LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Acclaimed political writer, Iain Macwhirter, examines the shifting political landscape in Scotland in the light of the events of the past couple of years. Where are we now and what does the future hold?

THE LOCKERBIE BOMBING: THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE  2-3pm LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Kenny MacAskill discusses his latest book which details his decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, on compassionate grounds. He sets it in the context of the commercial and security interests that have overshadowed events in the decades both before and after.

Chair: Alastair Cameron

MEET THE AUTHOR – JAMES ROBERTSON  3.15-4.15pm    LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

In James Robertson’s latest novel To Be Continued…., Douglas Findhorn Elder is in a sorry state. He has just turned fifty, split up with his partner and jumped (before he was pushed) from his job at an ailing Edinburgh newspaper. On the night of his birthday, he makes an unexpected new friend: a talking toad. When a new work opportunity takes the man from the city to the Highlands, the toad goes with him…….

Chair: Jim Gilchrist

 

PLAYING DIRTY  4.30-6.00pm    LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Competitive sports have recently come into international disrepute over accusations of doping, bullying and corruption. Richard Moore, journalist, author and former racing cyclist, Alan Bissett, novelist, playwright and Rangers fan, and Maddie Breeze, sociologist and author on women’s roller derby, discuss the state of sport in the contemporary world.

Chair: John Kelly