A TALE of gangland crime in a car wash, the true story of Whisky Galore and how we can heal ourselves through the wild weeds growing under our feet – these are just some of the stories being shared at Helensburgh’s book festival next month.
The Reading Minds programme features top Scottish authors for both adults and children.
Among them are Callum McSorley, whose debut novel Squeaky Clean scooped the Scottish Crime Novel of the Year 2023, and award-winning writer and journalist Roger Hutchinson whose book Polly, The True Story Behind Whisky Galore comes out next month.
Reading Minds is a partnership between Helensburgh Community Hub, Jean’s Bothy and Helensburgh and Lomond Carers Centre and takes place from March 22-24 across the three organisation venues.
Other events include Glasgow-based author Kirsty Logan appearing with the co-host of the irTeenage Scream podcast Heather Parry, and the National Library of Scotland’s former Scots Scriever writer-in-residence Shane Strachan will host a poetry workshop.
Ex-police officer Karen Campbell will be talking about her latest book Paper Cup and the finale on Sunday afternoon features three of Scotland’s most exciting writers – Kirstin Innes, Rachelle Atalla and Eleanor Thom – chatting about their work to date and what’s in store for the future.
This year’s Reading Minds festival is building on the success of a pilot event in 2023, which was funded through the Scottish Government Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund.
Hub development manager Gill Simpson said: “We were thrilled that more than 200 people came to the festival last year and we had such positive feedback that we knew we should make it an annual event for the town.
“This year we are really delighted to have won Live Literature funding from the Scottish Book Trust. They said we have an exciting range of events planned, which we certainly do!
“We have tried to create a programme with different styles of events and authors including a couple of sessions in local schools, small workshops and bigger events with some of Scotland’s most exciting new authors, so we hope there will be something for everyone.
“The festival is also about connecting our community and we are repeating one of the events that did that really well last year, which was the very lively What’s Hot session where we had an author, a bookseller and a librarian discussing their favourite reads over tea and cake.
Many of the events are free while the rest cost no more than £5 – and the ticket price will always include some kind of refreshment, whether it’s a cuppa or a glass of something stronger in the evening.
There will also be a free bus operating throughout the weekend with pick-ups around town.
In addition this year there will be a session all about pitching and publishing, which includes a friendly Dragon’s Den to give local writers the chance to pitch their stories to a panel of experts including authors, publishers and the arts organisation Cove Park.
Local writers will also be featured with the launch of the third publication by the Jean’s Bothy writing group.
Jean’s Bothy development manager Katrina Sayer said: “We’ve been running a book club at Jean’s Bothy for over four years and the confidence it gives someone by reading regularly and sharing their thoughts with others has been brilliant.
“To share the love of reading with others in the local community is something we were keen to get involved in and after the success of last year’s book festival it’s very exciting to be part of this year’s again.”
Tickets for the events are available through Eventbrite – search for ‘Helensburgh Book Festival’ or contact Helensburgh Community Hub on 01436 678088 for more information.
The full programme is here: Helensburgh RM2 Festival Programme Final Version
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