SLAVES AND HIGHLANDERS: SILENCED HISTORIES OF SCOTLAND AND THE CARIBBEAN
10.30-11.30am LIBRARY UPSTAIRS
David Alston’s book, which has been described as “necessary reading for our moment”, exposes and explores the prominent role of Highland Scots in the exploitation of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the cotton, sugar and coffee plantations of the 18th and 19th centuries. This legacy, entwined with so many of our contemporary institutions, must be reckoned with.
Chair: Lisa Williams, Founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and Honorary Fellow, University of Edinburgh
BOOK BUG
11.00-11.30am LIBRARY DOWNSTAIRS
BOOK BUG returns to the Book Festival for fun, songs and rhymes.
TRUDY & ME
12.00-1.00pm LIBRARY DOWNSTAIRS
Bridget Campbell, author and illustrator, discusses her latest project Trudy & Me, a rhyming children’s picture book set in Portobello. Sharing the perspective of Patrick (4) big brother to Trudy (2) who has Down’s Syndrome, it is a joyful book about siblings and about accepting and celebrating difference. Lauren Eliott Lockhart, Patrick and Trudy’s mum, joins Bridget for the session which includes a reading of the book, a discussion of how it was produced, a chance to see original artwork as well as activities for children.
A MATTER OF TIME
12.00-1.00pm LIBRARY UPSTAIRS
Very different eras of history feature in the novels of both Mary Paulson-Ellis (20th century Portobello in Emily Noble’s Disgrace) and Sue Lawrence (16th century Scotland in The Green Lady). Join them as they discuss their books, how they make their historical settings authentic and just why we find the past so fascinating.
Chair: Joanne Baird
Tickets for all events are available from Portobello Library
Books available from The Portobello Bookshop
Portobello Book Festival 