Festival at a glance Key We’ve got several strands running throughout this year’s programme so here’s a handy key code to help you navigate things a little more easily Comics Events (in partnership with the University of Dundee’s Comics Studies course and the new Dundee Comics Creative Space, a social enterprise and comics studio project funded in conjunction with the University of Dundee, Place Partnership and the Rank Foundation to encourage creative learning through comics)
All events, unless otherwise stated will take place in the Bonar Hall, Park Place.
Wednesday 7th October 7PM Jeanette Winterson: The Gap of Time Dalhousie Building
Wednesday 21st October
Free events suitable for children. Children must be accompanied by an adult
4PM Dave Gibbons: lecture
L unchbox Talks – a new series of talks starring the bright minds from the University of Dundee. Tickets are £5 and include lunch
5PM Meet Mary Paulson-Ellis South Tay Superstore
T o mark Dundee’s recent UNESCO City of Design status, we wanted to explore book production and design in a little more depth
6PM Janice Galloway
These events star fantastic emerging writers worth discovering
7PM Weaving a poem with Lindsay Macgregor Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
illustrations by Jen Collins | www.hellojenuine.com University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design graduate Design by Angela Dunphy | University of Dundee 2 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
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Thursday 22nd October
Friday 23rd October
Saturday 24th October
Sunday 25th October
9AM Intro to Writing Practice and Study with Kirsty Gunn
10AM Bookbug!
10AM Pamela Butchart
11AM-3PM Ex Libris Book Fair
11AM Make a Book with Natalie Russell
10.30AM 60 Degrees North – Malachy Tallack
11AM Andrew Nicoll
11.30AM Literary Cooties: Publishing and Prejudice
D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum
11.30AM Stories at Verdant
10AM First Writes: a writing workshop 11AM Creating Comics: workshop with Dave Gibbons Dundee Comics Creative Space, Vision Building
12NOON Pitchin’! 12.15PM And the Winner is… 1PM Lunchbox Talks - Annie Tindlay 2PM Getting Started, Getting Published Sandra Ireland and Elisabeth Gifford 3PM Art & Words 4PM Another Kind of Writing - Peter Davidson 5PM MLitt Showcase 6.30PM Dark Star 8-10PM Heard It. Seen It. Done It.
1PM Lunchbox Talks - Mike Press & Holly Scanlan 2PM Caroline Criado-Perez 2.30PM Mike Collins & Tom Foster 4PM Aftershock - Matthew Green 5.30PM The Shock of the New – William Goldsmith & Catherine Simpson 6.30PM Reasons to Stay Alive with Matt Haig, Jo Clifford, Rachel Sermanni & Linda Irvine 7PM The Four Marys (play) Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
8PM The Boy from Nowhere: Gregor Fisher & Melanie Reid
11AM Storybot with Chae Strathie
Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
12NOON Future Book – with Reif Larsen & Dominic Smith
12.30PM Mother Tongue - Colette Bryce & Jen Hadfield
12NOON Dundee 1 2 3
2PM Ladybirds at 100 – Lawrence Zeegen
1PM Lunchbox Talks – Tim Newman
3PM Living Landscapes - Derek Robertson
2.15PM Adventures in Design
4PM Frances Quinn – tea party!
3.30PM Human Being – Gavin Francis & Sue Black
5.30PM Clavel: a screening + festival finale
4PM The Cover Story
7PM The Four Marys
5PM Jackie Kay
Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
6.30PM Comics vs Freedom Sepideh Jodeyri & Karrie Fransman 6.30PM: Suffragettes: Fact & Fiction – Lucy Ribchester Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
8PM Nick Frost: Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies 9PM Rally & Broad – cabaret
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Introduction
Wednesday 7th October
Welcome to five days of adventures in books in Dundee. We hope you’ll find this programme to be a little like Platform 9 ¾ to Hogwarts, or the wardrobe in C.S Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – a surprising portal to new ideas, new stories and new discoveries. This year we invite you to hear from famous faces with incredible debut books, like Nick Frost and Gregor Fisher. We say don’t miss iconic, award-winning Scottish writers Jackie Kay and Janice Galloway. We urge you to dive into our events with new voices, such as Lucy Ribchester, Malachy Tallack, Catherine Simpson and William Goldsmith. We want you to bring the whole family along – we have events for kids, for comics fans and talks for the curious, whatever you’re curious about, whether that’s the human body, Ladybird books, censorship or suffragettes. Come for the books and stay for the music, with Rachel Sermanni and at Rally & Broad. Come for the cakes in our pop up café and stay for tips from Great British Bake Off champion Frances Quinn. Come try your hand at one of our writing workshops, and take away some tips to get published yourself. Join us this October and be entertained and provoked, absorbed and captivated, by books. We can’t wait to see you.
Peggy Hughes| Literary Dundee | University of Dundee
PRE-FESTIVAL SPECIAL
7PM
JEANETTE WINTERSON
In The Gap of Time, Jeanette Winterson’s cover version of The Winter’s Tale, we move from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crisis, to a storm-ravaged American city called New Bohemia. Her story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, technology and the elliptical nature of time. Written with the energy and wit we would expect of the award-winning writer of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Sexing the Cherry and Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, this is a story of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and redemption and the enduring love of a lost child on the other. It’s a very great treat to welcome the tour de force that is Jeanette Winterson to Dundee.
The Gap in Time is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare project, reimagining Shakespeare for 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. Free, but please book a ticket Literary Dundee is a University of Dundee-led initiative which brings together books, readers and writers and celebrates the joy of words 6 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
Book signing and wine reception will follow This event will take place at the Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee on the Old Hawkhill
WEDNESDAY 7TH OCTOBER | 7
Wednesday 21st October 4PM
6PM
A sparkling and powerful new collection from Janice Galloway is cause for celebration. In this event, Janice will read from and discuss Jellyfish - a long-awaited collection of short stories about love, not-love, sex and raising children - and the sometimes dramatically unexpected fallout of each in everyday life.
DAVE GIBBONS
In partnership with Dundee Comics Creative Space, a new social enterprise and comics studio project funded in conjunction with the University of Dundee and the Rank Foundation to encourage creative learning through comics Dave Gibbons, an Honorary Graduate from the University of Dundee, is one of the most famous comics artists in the world, best known as the co-creator of Watchmen, the ground-breaking graphic novel written by Alan Moore. Dave was appointed Comics Laureate in October 2014, the first in the UK, a champion and advocate for the power of comics in improving children’s literacy. One year in the role, we’re delighted to welcome him back to Dundee for a special lecture to mark the opening of Dundee Comics Creative Space, to reflect on his career, visual literacy and learning through creativity. Free, but please book a ticket
JANICE GALLOWAY
in conversation with Zoe Venditozzi
Janice Galloway studied at Glasgow University and worked as a teacher. Her awards include: MIND/Allan Lane Award for The Trick is to Keep Breathing, the McVitie’s Prize for Foreign Parts, the E.M. Forster Award (presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters), the Creative Scotland Award, Saltire Scottish Book of the Year for Clara and the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust non-fiction Book of the Year for This is not about Me.
‘In Galloway’s best work, nothing is ordinary... she makes the surreal flicker like a blue flame from the edge of the everyday.’ Times Literary Supplement £5 / £3
5PM MEET MARY PAULSON-ELLIS PICADOR AND PROOFS PARTY In this special book club with a twist, we invite an intimate band of readers to get their mitts on a proof copy of a much anticipated debut, and join us to meet the author over snacks. You’ll be among the very first to read The Other Mrs Walker, winner of the Literature Works First Page Prize, the debut novel of Edinburgh-based writer Mary PaulsonEllis, published by Picador in spring 2016. The Other Mrs Walker is a detective story with no detective - a beautiful, beguiling and intensely moving debut, perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson and Catherine O’ Flynn. Info: tickets for this event are limited. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance. Ticket bearers will be issued with a proof copy of the book by September 30th, and are encouraged to read the book in advance of the event.
WEAVING A POEM WITH LINDSAY MACGREGOR 7PM
In partnership with Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works Crafty creative exercises will help you come up with the raw ingredients for your own Verdant-inspired poem in less than an hour. Join us for a glass of wine and fun, informal poem-making session led by University of Dundee Writing Practice and Study graduate and Scottish Book Trust New Writer Awardee poet Lindsay Macgregor. Free, but please book a ticket
Shrink to Fit, South Tay Street
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WEDNESDAY 21ST OCTOBER | 9
Thursday 22nd October Sample the world of the University of Dundee’s Writing Practice and Study MLitt and celebrate fantastic debut writers with this day of free workshops, advice and showcases of student and alumni work. Meet the people behind creative writing at the University of Dundee, including course director and award-winning writer, Professor Kirsty Gunn. If you love to write, need a little inspiration, seek professional advice on next steps, then today at the festival is for you. Writers of all levels of experience - and readers who love discovering new voices - welcome!
9 – 9.45AM WELCOME PROF KIRSTY GUNN
& WORKSHOP:
Discover what the day has in store with this introductory chat with course director and award-winning writer Kirsty Gunn. Kirsty will share insights into the Writing Practice and Study MLitt at the University of Dundee, and lead a short workshop to inspire some creative thinking for the day of writing ahead. Free, but please book a ticket
10 – 11.30AM FIRST WRITES: WORKSHOP WITH LINDSAY MACGREGOR AND EDDIE SMALL A taster to creative writing and performing Write a poem and get some tips on performing it in just 90 minutes, in this whistle-stop creative taster. University of Dundee Writing Practice and Study graduate and Scottish Book Trust New Writer Awardee, poet Lindsay Macgregor, will take you from blank page to poem in the first hour, and writer Eddie Small will guide you through performance to a lively finish. Free, but please book a ticket
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THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER | 11
12–1PM
PITCHIN’
Expert advice, 1-2-1 Emerging writers, this is your chance to sit down with Prof Kirsty Gunn and/or literary agent Ed Wilson for 5 minutes of 1-2-1 advice and answers to questions you have about your writing. Be prepared to outline your project in a brief and concentrated fashion to make the most of this opportunity so that Kirsty and Ed can give you the best possible support.
11AM DAVE GIBBONS: CREATING COMICS
Places are limited and each ticket admits one person to one 5 minute discussion. If you wish to speak with both, please book two separate tickets. Tickets are free but are only available via our website, so that you can receive an allocated time slot.
in partnership with Dundee Comics Creative Space, a new social enterprise and comics studio project funded in conjunction with the University of Dundee and the Rank Foundation to encourage creative learning through comics
Meet the winner of this year’s Dundee International Book Prize!
12.15-1PM
AND THE WINNER IS…
Dave Gibbons, an Honorary Graduate from the University of Dundee, is one of the most famous comics artists in the world, best known as the co-creator of Watchmen, the ground-breaking graphic novel written by Alan Moore. Today he leads a ‘Creating Comics’ workshop for 14-17 year olds – a brilliant opportunity to learn more about Dave’s methods in producing comic art, to use his expertise to produce your own, and to explore Dundee’s new comics space.
Drawn from four continents and almost 500 entries, the winner of this year’s Dundee International Book Prize saw off incredibly stiff competition to take the prize of £10,000 and publication deal with Cargo Publishing. Come and meet our winner today over tea and cake, hear about their journey to publication, and get a taster of the fantastic winning title (revealed on Wednesday 21st October).
Free, but please book a ticket This event will take place at the new Dundee Comics Creative Space at the Vision Building
In partnership with Dundee’s One City, Many Discoveries Campaign
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Free, but please book a ticket
THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER | 13
1-1.45PM LUNCHBOX TALKS: ‘A STATE OF NATURE’? LANDSCAPE, OWNERSHIP AND CONFLICT IN NORTHERN SCOTLAND, C. 1790-1920, WITH ANNIE TINDLAY Dr Annie Tindlay, Historian in the School of Humanities , University of Dundee, and enthusiastic collaborator with the Writing Practice and Study team, will look at the varying and sometimes conflicting perception of land and landscape in northern Scotland from the dawn of the age of ‘Improvement’, through the clearances and rural protest from the late nineteenth century. Land Reform is once more top of the legislative agenda in Scotland, but who decides what the landscape is for and who has access to it, both in practical and imaginary senses? This talk will explore the issues around authenticity, archives and research (historical, literary) and Scotland’s remote and rural landscapes. £5, includes lunch
WORD INTO ART, ART ON WORDS: GRAHAM DOMKE & 3-3.45PM
Thought-provoking short talks every day of the festival by great minds from the University of Dundee
BETH MCDONOUGH (DCA) AND KIRSTY GUNN
GETTING STARTED, GETTING PUBLISHED:
How does art inspire the world of words? What is the history of interplay between them, and which exciting places might the rich relationship between them take us and our imaginations next? Graham Domke, Exhibitions Curator at Dundee Contemporary Arts and Beth McDonough, Writing Practice & Study Graduate and DCA’s Writer-inResidence, consider the possibilities, in conversation with Kirsty Gunn.
2-2.45PM
ELISABETH GIFFORD IN CONVERSATION WITH RECENT WRITING PRACTICE & STUDY GRADUATE SANDRA IRELAND How do you make the leap from student of writing to published author? What are the skills required to be a 21st century writer, and which pitfalls should be avoided? Writer Elisabeth Gifford has a background in journalism and is the author of novels Secrets of the Sea House and Return to Fourwinds and non-fiction The House of Hope, while Sandra Ireland has recently completed her first novel and has been taken on by one of Scotland’s top literary agents. This promises to be a fascinating conversation between two talented writers at different stages of their careers. Free, but please book a ticket
Free, but please book a ticket
ANOTHER KIND OF WRITING: PETER DAVIDSON 4-4.45PM
IN CONVERSATION WITH KIRSTY GUNN Peter Davidson is one of literature’s polymaths: author, editor, essayist and currently Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Aberdeen. His latest book, Distance and Memory (Carcanet, 2013), is a memoir of places observed in solitude, of the texture of life through the quiet course of the seasons in the far north of Scotland. In these painterly essays Davidson reflects on art, place, history and landscape, the lost and the forgotten in this ‘gloriously unclassifiable book’ (Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman). Kirsty Gunn talks to Peter about the trajectory of his work, his academic practice, poetry, translation, and his groundbreaking first book of non-fiction, The Idea of North. Free, but please book a ticket
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THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER | 15
Unique Creative Writing programme at the University of Dundee
Mlitt IN Writing Practice & Study
5-6PM
SHOWCASE!
A chance to hear from the current crop of the Writing Practice & Study MLitt class at the University of Dundee: poetry, prose, essays, performance, and any and all points in between! Free, no need to book
Director: Professor Kirsty Gunn
Full time Part time Individual Modules www.dundee.ac.uk /english/creative For more information please contact: Graduate Secretary, School of Humanities, University of Dundee, Perth Road, Dundee. DD1 4HN. Or email: enquiryhumanities@dundee. ac.uk for an information pack. Please note: a first degree in English or Creative Writing is not necessarily a pre-requisite for study.
6.30PM DARK OLIVER LANGMEAD
STAR:
‘Noir detective thrillers and science fiction are fairly natural bedfellows; add epic poetry to the mix too, however, and you end up with something far more unusual…’- StrangeHorizons.com Oliver Langmead and his unique debut, Dark Star, bring our celebration of all things Writing Practice and Study to a close. Oliver was born in Edinburgh, now lives in Dundee and is occasionally seen shouting into a microphone in the name of music. Tonight he appears before us to tell the story of the city of Vox, a city that survives in darkness, under a sun that burns without light… Compelling and deft wordplay, blending the familiar and the strange led to Dark Star being shortlisted for the Guardian’s Not the Booker: Oliver is one to watch and tonight’s the night to do it. Free, but please book a ticket
THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER | 17
Kevin Williamson & Michael Pedersen, Neu! Reekie!
8-10PM
HEARD IT. SEEN IT. DONE IT.
Heard It. Seen It. Done It. is a one-off cultural showcase of live music, spoken word, animation and film that explores the possibilities of sound and voice in art; both internal and external. The event is conceived, curated and performed by voice hearers from The HaVeN, Dundee, plus surprise guests and hosted by Neu! Reekie! Come along with an open mind and expect the unexpected!
The HaVeN is a service user-led charity based in the Hilltown, which seeks to create acceptance that hearing voices is a valid experience. For more information visit www.hearingvoicesnetwork.com Heard It. Seen It. Done It. is an Edinburgh International Book Festival Booked! project, in partnership with Neu! Reekie! and in conjunction with the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and the Dundee Literary Festival. Booked! is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. £5
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FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER | 19
11.30AM-12.30PM LITERARY PUBLISHING AND PREJUDICE
Friday 23rd October 10-10.45AM
COOTIES:
One of the hottest literary topics of 2015 has been the growing body of evidence that writing by and about women is still subject to prejudice - as data is gathered and writers speak out about their experiences, we wanted to convene an all-female panel for an impassioned discussion of this burning issue. Claire Stewart, Zoe Venditozzi and Hannah McGill discuss the gender issues at play in today’s book industry, and share their thoughts on what should be done to correct the imbalance. Free, but please book a ticket
BOOKBUG SESSION!
Rhyme, songs and stories for little ones aged 0-3 years old. A great way for babies, parents and carers to enjoy familiar and new rhymes and stories in an informal setting. Come parents, come carers, come babies and bigger siblings - join our wee party! Free, but please book a ticket More about Bookbug in Dundee: www.leisureandculturedundee.com/library/bookbug
11-12PM MAKE WITH NATALIE RUSSELL
A BOOK!
Fancy making and illustrating your very own book? In this session with Dundee based author, illustrator, and printmaker Natalie Russell, you will! Natalie’s picture books for children include Hamish the Highland Cow, Home Sweet Hamish, Donkey’s Busy Day, Moon Rabbit and Brown Rabbit in the City. This fun, hands-on workshop session is suitable for 5 – 8 year olds. £2 (includes materials & juice) Children should not be left unattended
1-1.45PM LUNCHBOX TALKS: MIKE PRESS & HOLLY SCANLAN Professor Mike Press, University of Dundee, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design has written and researched widely on design, innovation, contemporary craft and the management of creativity, and an extensive publishing record includes three books, including The Design Agenda: a guide to successful design management. Today, Mike will discuss creative ways of writing, sharing and designing stories with Holly Scanlan, Dundee born hairstylist and author of popular lifestyle blog GGBOBSHERHAIR. £5, includes lunch Thought-provoking short talks every day of the festival by great minds from the University of Dundee
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FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER | 21
Storm Warning © 2015 Rebellion A/S. All rights reserved | www.2000ADonline.com | Tom Foster
2PM DO IT LIKE A WOMAN: CAROLINE CRIADO-PEREZ From the woman who took on the Bank of England, Twitter and the criminal justice system, Do It Like A Woman is a timely and necessary celebration of women’s rights activists around the world and a call to arms for doing it like a woman... Today, Caroline Criado-Perez, one of the most vocal and tenacious campaigners of her generation, tells her story of campaigning for women’s rights and dealing with cyber backlash as well as introducing us to some of the most pioneering women campaigners across the globe. From the female fighter pilot in Afghanistan who escaped from the Taliban to the anti-FGM campaigners in the UK as well as across the world, Do It Like A Woman is a celebration of private heroisms and public triumphs, and is an inspiring manifesto for women everywhere. £3 / 2 22 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
MIKE COLLINS & TOM FOSTER 2.30PM
Mike Collins is an English comic book artist and writer, working in comics since the mid-1980s, having written and drawn strips for Marvel Comics United Kingdom division, amongst them; Spider-Man, Transformers, Doctor Who, and Zoids. He also worked on the celebrated UK weekly comic 2000 AD drawing Judge Dredd, Sláine and Rogue Trooper, as well as writing various Future Shocks. Tom Foster is a recent addition to the creative team at 2000AD. He is best known for his art on the series ‘Storm Warning’, penned by Leah Moore and John Reppion, in the Judge Dredd Megazine and has previously produced work for Disconnected Press, Amnesty International, and The BBC. Today Mike and Tom are in conversation with Dr Chris Murray, talking about the comics scene today, how it’s changed and what the future might hold. Free, but please book a ticket FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER | 23
Storm Warning Š 2015 Rebellion A/S. All rights reserved | www.2000ADonline.com | Tom Foster
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6.30PM FOR 7PM-8PM THE
FOUR MARYS – A PLAY, AN EXCLUSIVE
4PM
AFTERSHOCK: MATTHEW GREEN
in association with Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival Over the last decade, we have sent thousands of people to fight on our behalf and called it heroism. But what happens when the heroes come back home, having lost their friends and killed their enemies, having seen and done things that have no place in civilian life? Aftershock looks beyond the labels of shell shock and PTSD to get to the heart of today’s post-conflict experience, pursuing the question that the military are so reluctant to ask: why do people who are trained to thrive within the theatre of war so often find themselves ill-prepared for peace? Writer, reporter and video journalist Matthew Green tells a hard-hitting, nuanced and powerfully compelling account of the hidden cost of conflict from the frontline of combat to the reality of return. £3 / £2
In partnership with Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works As the dawn rises on 2015, Dundee emerges from its industrial past to a new era. Four iconic Marys - Slessor, Brooksbank, Walker and Baxter each helped shape the city in their different ways. Meeting in a disused jute mill, they discuss the Dundee spread out before them and each other’s role in forcing change. The good, the bad and the ugly truth of Dundee’s history will be revealed in this new play, developed by Eddie Small for the Mary Slessor Centenary. We’re delighted to premiere The Four Marys as part of this year’s festival, in the atmospheric new High Mill. £5 / £3
6.30PM REASONS TO STAY ALIVE, WITH MATT HAIG, JO CLIFFORD, RACHEL SERMANNI & LINDA IRVINE in partnership with Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival and Canongate Books
5.30PM THE SHOCK OF THE NEW: WILLIAM GOLDSMITH & CATHERINE SIMPSON with the support of Scottish Book Trust William Goldsmith is a writer and illustrator based in Glasgow. His second graphic novel, The Bind, is a book about books, centred on brothers Victor and Guy Egret, running and ruining the family business, a prestigious bookbinding firm in Edwardian London. Truestory, Scottish Book Trust New Writer Awardee Catherine Simpson’s blackly comic debut, explores the shattering effect of isolation and scrutinises how we create our lives in the small windows of freedom available to us, through Alice, struggling to raise her son on the isolated farm he refuses to leave. Today William and Catherine talk about their wonderful books and their paths to publication. Free, but please book a ticket 26 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
We’ve teamed up with the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival and Canongate Books to explore Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, a brilliant and unique memoir from the author of The Humans. A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how to live better, love better and feel more alive, Reasons to Stay Alive is more than a memoir of Matt’s own experience with depression: it is a book about making the most of your time on earth. Matt will be joined by playwright Jo Clifford, musician Rachel Sermanni and Linda Irvine from NHS Lothian to celebrate Reasons to Stay Alive with a night of music and conversation exploring mental and physical health.
‘Matt Haig uses words like a tin-opener. We are the tin’ – Jeanette Winterson £5 / £3
FRIDAY 23RD OCTOBER | 27
Saturday 24th October
10AM PAMELA BUTCHART: SPIES AND VAMPIRE RATS! Dundee’s Pamela Butchart, Blue Peter Book Award 2015 Winner for Best Story, introduces her brilliant, funny books My Head Teacher is a Vampire Rat and The Spy Who Loved School Dinners in this lively event involving games, treasure hunts, arts, crafts and more!
8PM THE BOY FROM NOWHERE: GREGOR FISHER & MELANIE REID
Suitable for ages 7-10 years old Free, but please book a ticket
From the squalor of industrial Coatbridge after WW1 to his own 1950s Glasgow childhood, via a love letter found in the wallet of a dead man and meeting his sister outside lost luggage at Glasgow Central, Gregor Fisher’s family story, co-written with Melanie Reid, is told with warmth and blunt Scottish humour.
10.30AM 60 DEGREES MALACHY TALLACK
Growing up in the Glasgow suburbs, Gregor , best-known for his role as Rab C Nesbitt, was 14 when he asked where he was christened and was told that he was adopted. But it wasn’t quite that simple. And so began an unfolding of truths, half-truths and polite cover-ups from his various families. In 2014 Gregor approached Times columnist Melanie to help him tell his story. Together they travelled through the mining villages of central Scotland to uncover the mystery of his birth and early life. What emerged was a story of secrets, deception, tragic accidents and early death, and what results is this warm, funny memoir.
NORTH:
Malachy Tallack is a writer, editor and singer-songwriter from Shetland, currently based in Glasgow. 60 Degrees North, a BBC Radio 4 ‘Book of the Week’, is his first book. Beginning with the loss of his father and his own troubled relationship with Shetland, confronting themes of wildness and community, isolation and engagement, exile and memory, 60 Degrees North concludes with an embrace – ultimately a love – of the place he calls home. Free, but please book a ticket D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum
£5 / £3 28 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER | 29
11AM STORIES AND SILLINESS WITH CHAE STRATHIE Robots, loons on the moon and jumblebums in this hilarious hour with writer and storyteller Chae Strathie. Chae’s books include The Fabulous Flapdoodles and Robo-Robbie, and in this hour long event your little readers should expect to join in with singing and making up a book character of their own!
Suitable for ages 3-5 years old Free, but please book a ticket Reif Larsen
12PM
FUTURE BOOK
In partnership with Electric Bookshop The future of books appears to be more books—books on Kindles, books on iPads, books on laptops, books made of paper (still), books as podcasts, books as apps, books as blogs, books as books. Today Reif Larsen, author of a new digital book that uses Google Street View, will join Dominic Smith and Electric Bookshop’s Claire Stewart to discuss his view of the future of the book. Larsen’s new project is one of the new titles to be released as Editions at Play: a new website for books that cannot be printed, developed in partnership between Google Creative Lab and Visual Editions. What does the future hold for text, storytelling and for us as readers? Reif Larsen is the author of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet and I Am Radar Dominic Smith is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Dundee. £3 / £2
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SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER | 31
1PM LUNCHBOX TALKS: ‘CAN THE STORIES WE WRITE HELP US UNDERSTAND THE STORY THAT WROTE US?’ WITH TIM NEWMAN Writing a novel is the creation of networks – of characters, of plots, of words and of thoughts. The more complex the novel, the deeper and more entangled the networks. Likewise, biology, argues University of Dundee biophysicist Prof Tim Newman, is rife with networks, e.g. an ecosystem of different interacting species, an embryo of different interacting cells, or a cell containing many different interacting proteins. Scientists are searching for new ways to understand and characterise these networks, akin to writers searching for the next plot twist or character development. Using the novels of Nobel Laureate Patrick White, Tim will explore how networks connect literature and biology, and ask what the two disciplines can learn from each other? Indeed, could literature shed light on the biggest and oldest story ever told – life itself? £5, includes lunch Thought-provoking short talks every day of the festival by great minds from the University of Dundee
ADVENTURES IN DESIGN 2.15PM
in partnership with V&A Dundee
12PM
DUNDEE 1 2 3
Take your kids on a journey through Dundee as we explore this lovely little counting book, with actions, songs and lots of giggles along the way.
Join comic illustrator Will Morris and graphic designer/illustrator David Mackenzie, the dynamic duo behind V&A Dundee’s comic strip hoardings, as they discuss comics, graphic novels and the eternal hunt for inspiration. Free, but please book a ticket
Suitable for ages 3-5 years old free, but please book a ticket
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SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER | 33
3.30PM HUMAN BEING, WITH GAVIN FRANCIS AND PROF SUE BLACK A Grand Tour From the Cranium to the Calcaneum We have a lifetime’s association with our bodies, but for many of us they remain uncharted territory. In Adventures in Human Being, GP and writer Gavin Francis leads the reader through a cultural map of the body, taking in health and illness, and offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the secret workings of the heart and the womb, from the pulse of life at the wrist to the unique engineering of the foot. Today Gavin will be joined in conversation by Prof Sue Black leading forensic anthropologist and the director of the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee in what promises to be a fascinating journey, both familiar and unfamiliar. £5 / £3
4PM THE COVER STORY: THE ART OF BOOK COVERS in association with the Dorothy Dunnett Society We’re joined by University of Dundee book historian Dr Gail Low, designer Adrian Searle and the Dorothy Dunnett Society for a closer look at the art of book covers, from first beginnings to the present digital moment. What do ebooks mean for the art of the cover? What makes good design, what bad, and just why do we readers judge books by their covers?
5PM
JACKIE KAY
An hour of pure pleasure with multi-talented poet, playwright, novelist, storywriter, children’s author and broadcaster, Jackie Kay. Her first collection of poetry, The Adoption Papers (1991), was inspired by her experience of being adopted by and growing up with a white family in Glasgow. The collection won both a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and the Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award. She has since gone on to win numerous other awards for her writing including the 1998 Guardian Fiction Prize for her first novel Trumpet and the 2008 CLPE Poetry Award for Red, Cherry Red, a collection of poetry for children. In 2006, Jackie Kay was awarded an MBE for services to literature. Jackie will read from and discuss her work, which includes recent collection of short stories Reality, Reality, poetry pamphlet The Empathetic Store and a suite of poems giving voice to Dundee’s most famous matriarch, Maw Broon. £5 / £3
£3 / £2
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SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER | 35
6.30PM SUFFRAGETTES: FACT & FICTION In partnership with Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works Join debut novelist, Lucy Ribchester and St Andrews University lecturers Prof Gill Plain and Dr Clare Gill as they discuss Lucy’s fantastic novel The Hourglass Factory. Set in 1912 and taking in the suffragette movement, the sinking of the Titanic and the Jack the Ripper murders, Lucy’s cracking whodunnit follows the case of missing trapeze artist Ebony Diamond. In this conversation, in the atmospheric Victorian High Mill at Verdant Works, Lucy, Gill and Clare will delve into the fiction and fact behind this inspiring movement. Lucy Ribchester was born in Edinburgh in 1982. In 2013 she received a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award for the opening chapters of The Hourglass Factory. Her short fiction has been published in journals in the UK and US, and she writes about dance and circus for several magazines and websites including The List, Fest and Dance Tabs. The Hourglass Factory is her first novel. Prof Gill Plain teaches twentieth century literature, crime fiction and war writing, and has been director of the MLitt in Women Writing and Gender at the University of St Andrews.
6.30PM SCOTTISH PEN: COMICS VS FREEDOM, WITH SEPIDEH JODEYRI & KARRIE FRANSMAN Join poet, literary critic and translator Sepideh Jodeyri and graphic novel and comic artist Karrie Fransman in a conversation with Canan Marasligil about free speech, LGBTQ rights and the power of comics to transcend cultural boundaries. Last year, Karrie Fransman’s comic Over Under Sideways Down detailing an Iranian refugee’s story was published, a powerful example of the impact of illustrations and words. When Sepideh Jodeyri translated a graphic novel herself, Julie Maroh’s Blue is the Warmest Colour, she became the target of the conservative press of Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by 100 lashes or, at worst, death. £5 / £3
Dr Clare Gill Clare works in late-Victorian literature and culture, book history, and nineteenth-century periodical cultures at the University of St Andrews. £5 / £3 36 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
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8PM
NICK FROST IN CONVERSATION
Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies Nick Frost is an actor and writer who first hit the small screen in cult hit Spaced. Now most famed for the Cornetto trilogy films, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End, Nick Frost has also written the blockbuster film Paul and made his name in Hollywood starring in films like Cuban Fury and Snow White and the Huntsman. Nick comes to Dundee to share his incredible memoir, Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies. A warts and all account of a difficult family life blighted by alcoholism, illness and sudden misfortune, Nick’s book charts his journey from job to job dogged by his own personal demons, to the extraordinary talent we know and love today. Moving, dark and yet often very funny, Nick will tell his own story in his own inimitable and vivid way.
9PM-10.30PM RALLY FESTIVAL SPECIAL!
& BROAD:
Rally & Broad is a magnificent cabaret of lyrical delight, with regular homes in Edinburgh and Glasgow, hosted by poets and performers Jenny Lindsay (‘Rally’) and Rachel McCrum (‘Broad’). Tonight, for one sweet festival night only, they do Dundee, with a line up of words and sounds that’ll knock your socks off.
‘A beacon of brilliance on the live lit scene.’ – The List Magazine £3 / £2
£5 / £3
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SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER | 39
Sunday 25th October 11AM THE SECRET LIFE AND CURIOUS DEATH OF MISS JEAN MILNE: ANDREW NICOLL A dead body is found in a locked house, violently murdered in the quiet seaside town of Broughty Ferry. Yet nothing is missing: money and valuables remain untouched. Who could have murdered an old woman in such a horrifying way? And why? Andrew Nicoll author of The Good Mayor and If You’re Reading This I’m Already Dead sets out to investigate in this novel of secrets and passion, based on the real-life murder of wealthy spinster Jean Milne in 1912, taking us on a troublesome and gripping investigation: will they ever unravel the secret life and curious death of Miss Jean Milne?
“A mystery that touches the heart, with characters caught in a world that’s harsh but trembles with tender emotions. A beautiful story.” – James Naughtie, BBC Radio 4 £3 / £2
11:30AM (AGES 0-5), 1:30 AND 3PM (AGES 6+)
SPINNING A YARNSTORYTELLING IN THE MILL In partnership with Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
Get swept away with the magic of interactive storytelling with Robbie Fotheringham. Expect amusing stories and stories with a twist in the tale, stories from all over the world and stories of all shapes and sizes, starring animals and fairies, finger puppets and songs. Included in museum ticket price Drop in, no need to book (each session will last 40 minutes) Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works
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11AM - 3PM EX
LIBRIS BOOK FAIR
In partnership with Ess Publications Ess Publications are proud to (re)present Ex Libris Book Fair as part of Dundee Literary Festival 2015! Featuring small presses, indie comic creators, and artist book makers, Ex Libris celebrates talented artists working in book formats. Free & drop in
12.30PM MOTHER TONGUE: COLETTE BRYCE & JEN HADFIELD Colette Bryce is one of the most widely acclaimed poets of the postHeaney generation, and The Whole & Rain-domed Universe is her most directly personal and compelling work to date, an extraordinarily cleareyed, vivid and sometimes disturbing account of growing up in Derry during the Troubles. Named for the strong fibres that a mussel uses to anchor itself to the seabed, Jen Hadfield’s Byssus is an unsurprisingly rich and various collection – praise poems, love poems, charms and fables but a book first and foremost about home, and what it takes to find and forge one. £3 / £2
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2PM LADYBIRD LAWRENCE ZEEGEN
BY DESIGN:
Lawrence Zeegen’s timely Ladybird by Design investigates the cultural significance and educational and social impact of these wonderful little books in their centenary year. This celebration of Ladybirds explores their editorial and production origins, their ethos and aesthetics and their place in an evolving society, capturing their lushly illustrated utopian world. Unpacking the emotional, cultural and iconic power of a unique slice of Britain’s visual history, Lawrence will reveal how Ladybirds captured a sense of a very British childhood for generations of readers. £3 / £2
3PM LIVING LANDSCAPES: DEREK ROBERTSON Derek Robertson’s Living Landscapes portrays an intimate, artist’s-eye view of explorations of the countryside and encounters with enchanting and dramatic wild creatures, capturing the exhilarating experience of watching the wildlife that he finds in his travels. Years of patience and study, and an extraordinary sensitivity for the subjects he portrays are distilled into this collection of fine paintings, sketches and writing, seen for the first time at this special festival launch event. Free, but please book a ticket
4PM QUINTESSENTIAL BAKING A TEA PARTY WITH FRANCES QUINN Frances Quinn, winner of the Great British Bake Off 2013, invites you to a tea party! Come and join her for a cup of tea, a sample of some fantastic bakes and to hear all about her beautiful book, Quintessential Baking. Frances’ book is as attentive to design as her own showstoppers were during the competition - not surprising as she studied textile design at Nottingham Trent University before working at design companies in London and Vancouver. Now her design flair is channelled into her baking, providing a treasure trove of inspirational ideas to bring a spark of creativity and a teaspoon of wonder into your kitchen. £5 / £3
‘Frances captures all the fun and magic of baking in this book’ – Heston Blumenthal
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Clavel
6.30PM FOR 7PM-8PM THE 5.30PM CLAVEL – A SCREENING, WITH SHORT INTRODUCTION BY FILMMAKER SHONA MAIN
A LITTLE TASTE OF SHETLAND, IN DUNDEE Shetland crofter James Robert Sinclair was born in the croft house at Clavel in 1930 and lived there all his life and after his parents died, on his own. A familiar sight in his blue boiler suit and yellow boots, James Robert has always been on the go, in all weathers: feeding his sheep, checking them, moving them on. When he was in his seventies, the crofthouse fell into disrepair. Following a hospital stay, James Robert finally heeded the concerns of friends and the social services and reluctantly moved into sheltered housing in the nearby village of Bigton. However, it became obvious that as warm and dry as his new home was, James Robert needs to be at Clavel to be happy.
FOUR MARYS – A PLAY, AN EXCLUSIVE
In partnership with Scotland’s Jute Museum @ Verdant Works As the dawn rises on 2015, Dundee emerges from its industrial past to a new era. Four iconic Marys - Slessor, Brooksbank, Walker and Baxter each helped shape the city in their different ways. Meeting in a disused jute mill, they discuss the Dundee spread out before them and each other’s role in forcing change. The good, the bad and the ugly truth of Dundee’s history will be revealed in this new play, developed by Eddie Small for the Mary Slessor Centenary. A second chance to enjoy The Four Marys as part of this year’s festival, in the atmospheric new High Mill. £5 / £3
Shona Main, Dundee-based writer-turned-film-maker, followed James Robert through the sheep year – from lambing to wintertime – resulting in this wonderful study of a man, his way of life and those around him who help him live it. We’re delighted to present this special screening of Clavel. £5 / £3 44 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
SUNDAY 25TH OCTOBER | 45
If you can’t join us in person, get involved from afar… www.dundee.ac.uk/literarydundee facebook.com/dundeebooks @literarydundee #dundeelitfest
Around the Festival This year’s festival coincides with the launch of Dundee Comics Creative Space - a new social enterprise and comics studio project funded in conjunction with the University of Dundee and the Rank Foundation to encourage creative learning through comics. We’re honoured to mark this special launch with a lecture by UK Comics Laureate Dave Gibbons, and a workshop, in the newly opened space at the Vision Building, for 14-17 year olds. Find out more about Comics Studies at the University of Dundee: www.dundee.ac.uk/ study/pg/comics-studies
Haiku Bot You’re invited to join us in exploring the history and future of publishing, typography, illustration, and the innovative ways in which digital engagement allows us to play with text creation and storytelling, in In partnership with our friends at NEoN. Keep your eyes peeled @weareneon | northeastofnorth.com for full info!
Ms Battenberg’s Travelling Tea Room EVERY DAY / KEEPING DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL WELL FED AND WATERED SINCE 2013… We’re delighted to welcome Ms Battenberg back for a third year in a row, bringing her many delights - lovely tea, quality coffee, refreshing juices and incredible edibles. Step into her extraordinary tea room, bedecked with vintage linens, china tea sets, flowers and tea cosies with giant pom poms! facebook.com/msbattenberg
Exhibition: FINDING FORM IN LIFE WRITING Explore our festival titles in our pop up library. Pop up library
Illustrators in Residence University of Dundee animation students Jules Valera and Rebecca Horner return to illustrate the festival!
illustrations by Jen Collins / www.hellojenuine.com 46 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
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An exhibition of a series of mood boards and associated text from life writing projects - memoir, personal essay and biography - being undertaken by students in the University of Dundee’s Courses for All. Free, drop in, Bonar Hall | 47
FAQs
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Where All of our events are in the Bonar Hall at the University of Dundee, unless otherwise stated. The Bonar Hall is situated just off the Nethergate, on Park Place, a right turn just after Tonic Bar Café. Entrance to the Bonar Hall is free, and each event is priced individually in this programme. Our ticket desk is on the upper level and our pop up café on the lower. This year some events will take place outwith the Bonar Hall, and these will be clearly advertised in the programme. Pop along for a bun and a browse!
The Bonar Hall is a 15 minute walk from Dundee Train Station.
Landmarks
1. Tower Building 2. Bonar Hall 3. Scotland’s Jute Musuem @ Verdant Works 4. Vision Building 5. D’Arcy Thompson
A. Train station B. Dundee Contemporary Arts C. Caird Hall D. The McManus
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Tickets All events, unless otherwise stated will take place in the Bonar Hall. The Bonar Hall is located on the corner of Nethergate and Park Place.
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Tickets are available, from 14th September:
ABERTAY UNIVERSITY
• online at www.literarydundee.co.uk • by calling 01382 386995 • or emailing literarydundee@gmail.com • in person from the Tower Building at the University of Dundee • Waterstones, Commercial Street • Dundee Contemporary Arts, Nethergate
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Thank you to our friends at Waterstones for our festival bookshop. 48 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
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Latecomers Please arrive on time for all events, but if you are late, we will try to sneak you in and ask you to deploy church mouse mode. However, that won’t always be possible, so punctuality means you’ll never be disappointed.
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Sponsors & Supporters Dundee Literary Festival 2015 wouldn’t be possible without the support and partnership of many organisations and friends, in Dundee and elsewhere. Many thanks to the following:
apexhotels.co.uk
APEX HOTELS Canongate Books
Dorothy Dunnett Society
Electric Bookshop
Neu! Reekie!
Comics Studies
50 | DUNDEE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2015
Ex Libris
Stylish hotels delivering excellent service in London, Edinburgh and Dundee: • Eight hotels in city centre locations • Great Short Break rates and offers • Best rate guarantee • Award winning restaurants
Book online at apexhotels.co.uk or call 0845 365 0000
APEX HOTELS DATE | 51 LONDON | EDINBURGH | DUNDEE
Join us for 5 days of book events in the heart of Dundee Nick Frost Gregor Fisher Frances Quinn Jackie Kay Janice Galloway Matt Haig Jeanette Winterson comics new voices family events & much more
@literarydundee #dundeelitfest www.literarydundee.co.uk