Winter Words 2012

GET TOGETHER WITH GREAT MINDS 27th JAN - 5th FEB 2012

Winter Words is eight years old in 2012! Now firmly established as Scotland’s leading festival of the written and spoken word, Winter Words offers “stimulation of the literary kind which always goes well with a visually stunning setting” (The Guardian, 2011).

This year’s programme features a huge variety of authors, wordsmiths, adventurers and broadcasters including: Neil Oliver, Sir Chris Bonington, Alistair Darling, Janice Galloway, Sue Lawrence, Dennis Canavan, Liz Lochhead, Mairi Hedderwick, Simon Watt, Sara Sheridan, Tom Devine, Alison Weir, Alex Gray. . .

Across all ten days, there are events to entertain, engage and stimulate: from history, food, fiction, poetry and memoirs, to stories of places and people, of travel and exploration. A number of themes wind their way through the Festival every year – rural life, Scottish history and culture, wilderness, the natural world – through which our host of entertaining writers and raconteurs will be charting very different paths. hiper once again brings a great selection of child-friendly and family entertainment to this year’s Festival. From the irrepressible Adam Hart-Davis to Lilian Ross’s Yokie Tonsils - A Puckle a Sangs an’ Rhymes for Bairns,

there’s something to suit every age. The Festival is rounded off in style with a great family event, as the hiper Youth Theatre lead you through the twists and turns of a comical whodunit mystery.

Our ever-popular Writing Workshops offer opportunities to develop and expand your own creative skills, with inspiring sessions from Zoe Venditozzi as well as Bloodlines, our three day crime writing course with tutor Caro Ramsay. Songlines - a new 2 day lyric writing workshop - makes its debut this year’s Festival. Take a look at page 22 for full details.

As thousands of happy literature lovers have already discovered, Winter Words provides the perfect antidote to those post-Christmas, midwinter blues. And thanks to our friends at the Atholl Palace Hotel, we have a very special accommodation offer for you this year (see the back page of this brochure for details). So book your Winter Words tickets now and get together with great minds this coming January and February. We look forward to seeing you!

WHERE SCOTLAND’S LITERARY YEAR GETS INTO GEAR The Scotsman

01796 484626

TICKETS £2.50 - £22.50 Ways To Book:

Concessions:

Phone: 01796 484626 Online: www.PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com In Person: at the Theatre Box Office or at Just The Ticket!, our shop and Box Office on Atholl Road, Pitlochry.

• Friends: 10% off Winter Words tickets • Student & Under 18: Half Price • Registered Unemployed: Half Price • Disabled badge holders: Half Price • Groups (10 or more): £2.00 off per ticket Half Price Concessions exclude Literary Lunches.

All concessions are subject to availability.

Scan this to book tickets online now!

BOOK FAIR! The Winter Words bookstall is organised by Yeadon’s Booksellers, who will be selling signed books by guest authors throughout the Festival. Yeadons have two shops in Elgin and Banchory, both of which are beautifully decorated and stocked with carefully chosen, eclectic selections of books. Well worth a visit (or three!), their staff are all professional booksellers, dedicated, enthusiastic knowledgeable, who will also be around throughout the Festival to help and advise.

The unique Pitlochry Station Bookshop will be running a second hand bookstall in the Theatre foyer throughout the Festival.

The Station Bookshop sells a wide range of donated books to raise money for many different charities. Bestsellers, children’s classics and interesting antiquary gems are waiting to be enjoyed – and not just by train travellers!

www.yeadons.co.uk Pitlochry’s secondhand & antiquarian book specialist WE SELL BOOKS • COME AND BROWSE • WE BUY BOOKS

Contact us for a Free Valuation Scotland’s Largest Choice of Hillwalking, Mountaineering, Scottish, Polar, Travel & Miscellaneous Books

GLACIER

BOOKS

Ard-Darach, Strathview Terr., Pitlochry, PH16 5AT 01796 470056 • chris@glacierbooks.com

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

Diary

02

Friday 27th January

Sunday 29st January

1o.30am

Patrick Richardson Reports from Beyond

10.30am

11.45am

Anne Barker Remembered Remedies

11.45am

1.00pm

Literary Lunch with Colin Liddell

1.00pm

Literary Lunch with Dennis Canavan

3.00pm

Women & Crime Alex Gray & Caro Ramsay

3.00pm

Sue Lawrence Eating In

4.30pm

Men & Crime G. J. Moffat & Craig Robertson

4.30pm

Tom Devine To the Ends of the Earth

7.30pm

An Evening With Simon Watt

9.30pm

Fearie Tales

Saturday 28th January 10.30am

Mairi Hedderwick Island Stories

10.30am

David Rae Living Collection

11.45am

Jim Crumley The Ancient Forest of Caledon

1.00pm

Literary Lunch with Mairi Hedderwick

2.00pm

Poetry Please Free Event

3.00pm

Stuart Clark The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth

4.30pm

High Light Colin Prior

7.30pm

An Evening With Sir Chris Bonington

9.30pm

Fearie Tales

Gary Sutherland Golf on the Rocks Andy Wightman The Poor Had No Lawyers

BLOODLINES

3 Day Creative Crime Writing Course Tues 31st Jan to Thur 2nd Feb (See page 23 for details)

Tuesday 31st January 1.30pm

V Campbell Viking Gold

Wednesday 1st February 1.30pm

Debi Gliori The Scariest Thing of All

Thursday 2nd February 1.30pm

Lilian Ross Yokie Tonsils

Sir Chris Bonington

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Diary

03

Saturday 4th February

Adam Hart-Davis

Friday 3rd February 10.30am

Alastair Scott Eccentric Wealth

11.45am

Liz Lochhead A Choosing: Selected Poems

1.00pm

Literary Lunch with Janice Galloway

3.00pm

Sue Black Cold Cases and History

4.30pm

Adam Hart-Davis The Book of Time

7.30pm

An Evening With Alistair Darling

9.30pm

Fearie Tales

BOOK FAIR! From 9.00am - 5.00pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday

9.15am

Zoe Venditozzi Between The Lines

10.30am

Sara Sheridan Secret of the Sands

11.45am

Dr. Roger Cartwright Titanic - Myths & Legacy

1.00pm

Literary Lunch with Ann Lindsay

2.00pm

Poetry Please Free Event

3.00pm

Alison Weir Mary Boleyn

4.30pm

26 Treasures A New Voice for History

7.30pm

An Evening With Neil Oliver

9.30pm

Fearie Tales

Neil Oliver

Sunday 5th February 3.30pm

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

hiper Words There’s Been A Murder?

Friday 27th January

04

Patrick Richardson

Reports from Beyond - A Journey Through Life to Remote Places 10.30am to 11.30am Offering a glimpse into a colourful and adventurous personality, Patrick Richardson’s extraordinary travel memoir recalls a lifetime of unusual journeys to remote and fascinating cultures. His accounts range from the highly dramatic - falling through the ice in Lake Baikal; being attacked by a pack of dogs in Vanuatu in the Pacific - to the more descriptive and lyrical depictions of travelling up the

Anne Barker

£6.50

Amazon, climbing the sacred Mount Emei in western China, and sailing down the River Niger to Timbucktu.

Luring the reader into a rich sensory world of foreign sights, sounds and smells, reflecting his desire for adventure both in his life and his travels, Patrick takes his audience on a journey in this opening event - and goes ‘beyond’ . . .

Remembered Remedies

Sponsored by The Highland Soap Company® Anne Barker has travelled the length and breadth of Scotland to gather insights into the way plants have featured in our lives for generations.

Based on the recollections of hundreds of people from every corner of Scotland, Remembered Remedies is a fascinating insight into the way plants have featured in Scottish life - from collecting seaweed from island shores and bottling cordials,

01796 484626

11.45am to 12.45pm

£6.50

to making heather beds and chaff mattresses and using plants for medicinal purposes.

Anne’s talk will be beautifully illustrated with images of the many plants she remembers from her journey.

Anne is an author, a part-time lecturer in ethnobotany at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, and a member of Council of the Botanical Society of Scotland.

Friday 27th January

05

Literary Lunch with

Colin Liddell

In Celebration of a Diamond Jubilee!

1.00pm to 2.15pm £22.50

includes a 3 course lunch and a glass of wine

£15.00 for Festival Circle and John Stewart Society members The fascinating history of Scotland’s Theatre in the Hills is told by local historian Colin Liddell, the third member of his family to be a Trustee of the Theatre.

This special Anniversary lunch begins with a ‘Hot Smoked’ Salmon Salad with asparagus spears and a sun blushed tomato dressing, followed by Beef Stroganoff with jasmine rice.

Make sure you save room for Apple & Bramble crumble and custard, then Coffee and Mints!

This event will offer a unique opportunity to see rare and unusual images from recent and bygone days, including well-kent faces from the Pitlochry stage, the erection of the tented structure before the first season opening in 1951, the Queen Mother’s visit in 1960 and Prince Charles’s visits in 1981 and 2002 – and that’s in addition to hearing the intriguing stories of the directors and designers, actors and managers, and sixty years of plays!

Colin’s enthralling narrative will be interspersed with a host of interesting PFT facts, such as the top ten most performed playwrights at PFT and the most often performed plays, together with a roll call of the actors who have appeared most often on the renowned Pitlochry stage.

Colin will be joined by PFT favourite (and veteran of 10 Summer Seasons) Dougal Lee.

Alex Gray & Caro Ramsay Two of Scotland’s top crime writers come together to discuss their work, their lives and how they find the inspiration for their dark, disturbing books.

Women and Crime 3.00pm to 4.00pm

Caro started writing when an unexplained spinal injury left her bedridden for a year. Her first two books, Atonement and Singing To The Dead propelled her from relative obscurity to one of the top 20 crime writers of 2010.

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

£8.50

Alex has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing. Her previous novels include Five Ways to Kill a Man, Glasgow Kiss, Pitch Black, The Riverman and Never Somewhere Else.

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Friday 27th January

G. J. Moffat & Craig Robertson

Men & Crime

4.30pm to 5.30pm

£8.50

Scottish crime isn’t all about the ladies - the men of Caledonia have produced some stonking crime fiction, too. Robertson and Moffat are coming to read from their work, convincing us that they can outwrite their female literary counterparts any day!

Blindside, by Moffat, is the third in his series of dark, explosive novels set in Scotland and Denver, and is set to be another bestseller.

Robertson has spent 20 years as a journalist, covering 9/11, Dunblane, and the Omagh bombing amongst other significant events. His first novel, Random, was shortlisted for the 2010 Moffat says he has always had the urge to write CWA New Blood Dagger and longlisted for thrillers, to portray the good guys and the bad the 2011 Crime Novel of the Year. His second guys in glorious technicolour. novel, Snapshot, is released in paperback in February 2012 and his third novel will be published in June.

Spend an afternoon in the company of two great crime writers for the price of one!

26 Treasures Exhibition Across Scotland and beyond, writers from the 26 collective have explored ways of bringing 26 objects from the National Museum of Scotland to life in words - after all, a museum is a treasure chest not just of objects but of stories!

The Winter Words Festival 2012 offers the first opportunity in Scotland for some of the results of this collaboration to be viewed and be explored.

26 Treasures will come to life at regular intervals throughout the Festival via a short audio-visual loop located in the Theatre foyer, where visitors can hear and see the powerful results of this unique collaboration.

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A panel of writers will also discuss how, by tapping into the rich story of Scotland’s past through objects, we can connect them not only to social, political, cultural and religious history, but to the powerful emotions of people who lived at the time.

For full event details see page 20.

Friday 27th January

07

An Evening with

Simon Watt

Inside Nature’s Giants

Simon Watt sprang onto our TV screens in the Bafta-winning Channel 4 series, Inside Nature’s Giants, which gets under the skin of the largest animals on the planet. Most wildlife documentaries show how animals behave, but by exploring their anatomy, Inside Nature’s Giants reveals how these creatures really work.

Simon, an evolutionary biologist, takes us behind the scenes of the programme to examine some of the worlds most fascinating animals. What is a dinosaur bird and where can you find one? How did the shell of a turtle develop? And why do whale carcasses explode?

Simon will even bring along some previously unseen footage that didn’t make it to screen!

7.30pm

£14.00

Simon’s unusual career path hasn’t always pointed towards TV. Though he has spent the vast majority of his working life as an educator in one form or another, he has always favoured jobs which allow him to dress up funny and flit through the centuries with reckless abandon. To date, he has pretended professionally to be a plague victim, a World War One soldier, a Viking slave trader, a medieval monk, a Tudor rake and a Victorian scamp . . .

Funny, fascinating and thrilling, don’t miss this opportunity to go behind the scenes of a hit TV show!

9.30pm to 10.30pm

Free

Gather together in the cosy, informal atmosphere of the the chills at bay . . .

Ben-y-Vrackie Bar, as we once again round off the day’s Every one of this year’s tales of the events with tales of the macabre and the supernatural, ghostly and the mysterious will be an read by some familiar faces from the Pitlochry stage. entirely new story, created just for Hear original tales that recount unnerving Winter Words by writers eager to co-incidences, strange encounters at remote lochs, take part in our annual Fearie Tales chance sightings on remote hillsides, before plunging Competition. If you think you’ve got into the depths of black, dank woods or taking flight what it takes to write a Fearie Tale, into the “other” world of phantoms, bogles and wraiths. then why not turn to page 25 for full details of the 2012 competition.

Each evening will feature a selection of different hairraising tales, but a dram (or two) should help to keep

Go on. Get writing. Scare us – and yourself. If you dare . . .

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

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Saturday 28th January

Mairi Hedderwick 10.30am to 11.30am

Island Stories £5.00 adult, £3.00 child, £12 Family Katie Morag and her friends in their magical Hebridean home!

Mairi will also introduce her new picture book character, a wee mischievous little boy - Peedie Peebles!

This promises to be a new favourite and is, as ever, beautifully illustrated.

Come and meet sensational Scottish children’s author and illustrator Mairi Hedderwick, who will bring to life her much loved stories about

These stories are perfect for sharing and reading aloud. What can you expect? A few tales of mischievous behaviour and cheeky happenings of course!

Family event for 4-8 year olds.

Dr. David Rae

The Living Collection

sponsored by Explorers and The Scottish Rock Garden Club Like priceless objects in a national museum or library, the plants growing in the four gardens of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) form a great collection: a dynamic display of living specimens held in safekeeping for all to enjoy.

Here are nature’s works of art gathered from across the world, carefully curated, meticulously maintained and beautifully presented. But there is much more to the collection than the beauty that meets the eye . . .

01796 484626

10.30am to 11.30am

£6.50

Join Dr David Rae, Director of Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, for an illustrated journey behind the scenes at the Botanic Garden and an explanation of the skilled work involved in caring for a world-famous Living Collection and why this work matters.

The Scottish Rock Garden Club

Saturday 28th January

Jim Crumley

09

The Ancient Forest of Caledon

The Great Wood of Caledon is the historic native forest of Highland Scotland: an impassable place, a Highlands-wide jungle, infested by wolf, lynx, bear and beaver – and painted men. Or was it?

Jim Crumley, author and documentary maker, threads a path among relict strongholds of native woodland, beginning with a soliloquy by the Fortingall Yew, the one tree in Scotland that can say of the hey-day of the Great Wood 5,000 years ago: “I was there”.

Enriched by vivid wildlife encounters, this is a passionate and poetic account that binds the slow dereliction of the past to an optimistic future.

11.45am to 12.45pm

£6.50

Described by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as ‘the best nature writer working in Britain today’, Jim Crumley (born and bred in Dundee) has written 23 books to date and has made numerous documentaries for BBC Radio 4, Radio Scotland and Wildlife on One. Jim is a wonderful speaker, who makes a welcome return to Winter Words following last year’s very popular event.

Literary Lunch with

Mairi Hedderwick 1.00pm to 2.15pm £22.50

Shetland Rambles includes a 3 course lunch and a glass of wine

Mairi Hedderwick began her rambles in 1992 in the Highlands, combining her exquisite illustrations with the original travelogue of Victorian artist John T. Reid. She then moved on to Shetland, where she continued her love affair with Reid, with island life and with walking, by drawing the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Join Mairi, one of Scotland’s best loved authors, on a beautifully illustrated ramble through Shetland, including examples of the engravings that so drew her to Reid all those years ago.

Mairi Hedderwick is the acclaimed author of books for adults and children, including the Katie Morag series. She lives on Coll.

Lunch Menu: A special three course menu featuring Shetland Seafood Mornay served in a scallop shell, followed by Scottish Lamb Casserole with a herb dumpling and early spring vegetables, then Berry Fruit Soup with cherry sorbet, Coffee and Tablet – delicious!

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

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Saturday 28th January

Poetry Please

2.00pm to 2.30pm Free Event in Foyer Bar Share a much loved poem in this unique event. See page 24 for details!

Stuart Clark

The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth

Stuart Clark loves the stars. As well as being an acclaimed science writer and editor of Astronomy Now, Stuart has studied, gazed upon and thought about stars for all his life. Now he turns that knowledge and intensity to his first of three novels, penning fictional portraits of giants in astronomy, exploring pivotal turning points in man’s understanding of the cosmos.

Colin Prior

3.00pm to 4.00pm

£8.50

The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth is set at the dawn of the 17th century, when most believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth - yet some began to suspect otherwise. It’s the fascinating, fictionalized story of Kepler and Galileo, two men who struggled to change our world forever.

Come and hear Stuart talk about the stars, the men who formed our common knowledge of the sky and how they suffered for their beliefs.

High Light 4.30pm to 5.30pm

£10.00

Greenland offer clients unique photographic experiences in wild places, whilst fostering a strong connection with the environment.

Anyone with a passion for mountains and wild places cannot fail to have enjoyed Colin’s breathtaking panoramic images on calendars, posters and prints.

In 2006 he established the Colin Prior Photography School, which offers inspiration and tuition to a new generation of photographers, helping them to become conversant with the visual language of photography.

Trips in Scotland, Bhutan, Namibia, Pakistan and

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Colin will be talking about his work including his latest book, High Light - the culmination of the last five years work in the Scottish highlands and islands.

Saturday 28th January

11

An Evening with

Sir Chris Bonington Triumph & Tragedy on the Eiger Sponsored by Glacier Books

7.30pm

Of all the great challenges of the Alps, the North Wall of Eiger stands supreme, both for the richness of its history and the dramas, many of them all too tragic, that have taken place from the early attempts in the 1930s to the present day.

Chris Bonington experienced this directly in his various attempts and final success in making the first British ascent and in his involvement in the dramatic story of extreme climbing and the extraordinary media circus that accompanied the first ascent of the Eiger Direct in the winter of 1966 made by Dougal Haston and four German climbers.

£18.50

He has written 17 books, fronted numerous TV programmes and lectures all over the world, receiving a knighthood in 1996 for services to mountaineering.

Following a sell out appearance in 2006, Winter Words is thrilled to welcome back one of the most popular and iconic adventurers of our times.

Mountaineer, writer, photographer and lecturer, Chris Bonington started climbing at 16 in 1951 and it has been his passion ever since. He has made some of the most historic ascents of the worlds most challenging mountains: the North Wall of the Eiger, the South Face of Annapurna (the biggest and most difficult climb in the Himalaya at the time) and the first ascent of the South West face of Everest in 1975, reaching the summit himself in 1985 at the age of 50.

9.30pm to 10.30pm If the lights flicker and then dim, don’t worry - it’s just the beginning of the second night’s scare-youtainment! Huddle with other fearless souls as we bring you tales of unwelcome apparitions, unexpected visions and unnerving occurrences.

Free

And as your eyes adjust to the gloom, if you should happen to see a cowled figure with sightless eyes gliding past, don’t worry . . . the blind monk’s here every night . . .

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

12

Sunday 29th January

Gary Sutherland

Golf on the Rocks 10.30am to 11.30am

Gary Sutherland was a lapsed golfer, until he acquired his late dad’s putter.

After studying a crumpled golf map of Scotland, Gary decided to embark on a journey to play 18 rounds of golf on 18 Scottish islands in honour of his dad, a ship’s captain who, when he wasn’t at sea, was never off the golf course.

From the Northern Isles to the Outer Hebrides, playing in the Harris hail and Arran sunshine, he would

Andy Wightman

encounter an odd variety of golfing hazards, including sheep on the tees, cows on the fairways - and electric fences round the greens!

Come and hear his life-affirming tale of remembrance and discovery.

It’s about having a laugh and holding on to what’s dear. And it’s about a putter with magical properties. You can believe what you choose - but it all happened . . .

This is golf in the raw - a million miles from St Andrews!

The Poor Had No Lawyers 11.45am to 12.45pm

Who owns Scotland – and how on earth did they get it?

Andy Wightman takes us on a voyage of discovery into Scotland’s past to find out why and how landowners got hold of millions of acres of land that were once held in common. In doing so, he tells the untold story of how Scotland’s legal establishment and politicians managed to appropriate land through legal fixes.

From Robert the Bruce to Willie Ross, and from James V to Donald Dewar, land has conferred political and economic power. Have attempts to redistribute this

01796 484626

£6.50

£6.50

power more equitably made any difference and what are the full implications of the recent debtfuelled housing bubble?

For all those with an interest in urban and rural land in Scotland, this event provides a fascinating and illuminating analysis of one the most important political questions in Scotland – who owns Scotland and how did they get it?

Sunday 29th January

13

Literary Lunch with

Dennis Canavan 1.00pm to 2.15pm

Let the People Decide £22.50

includes a 3 course lunch and a glass of wine

Dennis is a much admired and hugely popular Scottish politician (he gained the highest ever majority in elections in Scotland – twice!) and is a keen supporter of devolution.

He has attracted both praise and controversy throughout his career and is recognised as one of the most colourful politicians ever to have graced Holyrood.

In this book, which covers some 30 years in politics, Dennis bares his soul about his life as a socialist orator, and how his public life was touched with the private tragedy of the early loss of three sons he loved.

Thought provoking, moving and speaking with breathtaking candour, this will be a memorable afternoon in the company of a lively and fascinating personality.

See page 24 for full (delicious!) lunch menu details.

Sue Lawrence

Eating In 3.00pm to 4.00pm

£10.00

Includes a Culinary Demonstration

Described by The Times as one of the best recipe writers in the land, TV chef Sue Lawrence is proud of the food that Scotland produces. From Ayrshire bacon to Arbroath Smokies, Scottish fare forms the raw material for her latest book, Eating In. As Scotland’s ‘squeezed middle’ finds that cooking at home is a necessary measure, Lawrence argues that we can turn austerity into a virtue. Come and see Sue make a couple of her favourite recipes live on stage and pick up some tips to make your mealtimes a more exciting place to eat!

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

Sunday 29th January

14

Tom Devine

To the Ends of the Earth

The Scots are one of the world’s greatest nations of emigrants. For centuries, untold numbers of men, women and children have sought their fortunes in every conceivable walk of life and in every imaginable climate across the British Empire, the United States and elsewhere, from finance to industry, philosophy to politics.

4.30pm to 5.30pm

£10.00

Tom Devine, one of Scotland’s foremost historians, will bring the story of these emigrants centre stage, taking many famous stories and removing layers of myth and sentiment to reveal the no less startling truth, paying particular attention to the exceptional Scottish role as traders, missionaries and soldiers.

Filled with fascinating stories and with an acute awareness of the poverty and social inequality that provoked so much emigration, To the Ends of the Earth will make you think about the world in quite a different way.

This will be a lively and fascinating afternoon of engagement and entertainment with plenty of food of thought.

Creative Writing Workshops Following the success of last year’s First Lines and Last Words creative writing course, we’re delighted to welcome author Caro Ramsay for another 3 days of intensive creative writing tuition. This year’s course, Bloodlines, will be entirely focused on the popular genre of crime writing.

On the other hand, if you have a song in your head and your heart and you’d like to learn how to get it down and make it sound like it does in your mind, then our two day Lyric Writing workshop is the one for you!

For full details about both workshops see pages 23 and 25.

01796 484626

School Events

15

Tuesday 31st January - Thursday 2nd February

V Campbell 1.30pm to 2.30pm

Tues 31 January Fascinated by history (especially the gory bits), Victoria believes everyone else should be too! She thinks the Vikings and their achievements – discovering America, for one – are hugely underrated.

Her latest book, Viking Gold, is aimed at 12-16 year olds. Whilst being a fast-paced action adventure, it also looks at a Dark Age Europe on the cusp of the early medieval renaissance, especially culture clashes (between Norse, Native American, and Christian Irish/

Viking Gold £2.50 (U-18), £4.50 for Adults

English) and the nascent rise in literacy and the material culture of the book.

Victoria will read excerpts from Viking Gold and use replica Viking arms, costumes, everyday objects and multi-media to instigate discussions about what life would be like for young people in Dark Age Europe, with audience interaction and participation, and questions on her books, on history and on her writing process.

Ideal for children in (S1-S3) and adults alike!

Debi Gliori

The Scariest Thing of All

Wed 1st February

1.30pm to 2.30pm

£2.50 (U-18), £4.50 for Adults

Everything about Pip was small except the list Winter Words is delighted to welcome of things he was afraid of. That was enormous. back much loved author Debi Gliori, writer and illustrator of many favourite books Come and find out how Pip met The Scariest for children, including the very popular Thing of All and lived to tell the tale. This is a Mr Bear series. delightfully reassuring picture book event for children with big imaginations!

Ideal for children in P1 –P3 and adults alike!

Lilian Ross

Yokie Tonsils - A Puckle a Sangs an’ Rhymes for Bairns Thur 2nd February

1.30pm to 2.30pm

Lilian is a collector and songbearer of traditional rhymes and songs of the Scots language, which she brings to life in this lively show packed with fun, games and audience interaction.

Her work is a fantastic resource for teachers of many primary age groups providing cross-curricular learning, Scots language,

£2.50 (U-18), £4.50 for Adults

social history, geography and musicality. In the songs and rhymes, we see glimmers of the people that came before us, the stories and voices that passed from lip to ear for generations. These echoes of our past can be the voices of our future.

Ideal for children in P4-P7 and adults alike!

PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

16

Friday 3rd February

Alastair Scott

Eccentric Wealth 10.30am to 11.30am

In Eccentric Wealth, Alastair Scott traces the life of Lancashire industrialist Sir George Bullough. This absorbing biography explores the family’s connection with the Hebridean island of Rum, particularly the building of Kinloch Castle, the most intact preserve of Edwardian high-living to be found in Britain.

myths and scandals which continue to make extraordinary reading more than a hundred years later.

Alastair Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1954. He now lives with his wife, Sheena, on Skye (with occasional bouts of vagrancy!), working as a photographer, writer and broadcaster.

Based on new information, the book offers a fascinating insight into the life and times of one of the great eccentrics of his age, including the Bullough

Liz Lochhead

£6.50

A Choosing: Selected Poems

Scotland’s current Makar and one of its most loved writers, Liz Lochhead will be reading and talking about her stunning new collection of selected works.

During her career, Liz has been described variously as a poet, feminist playwright, translator and broadcaster and by Carol Ann Duffy as: “ an inspirational presence in British poetry – funny, feisty, female, full of feeling, a fantastic performer of her work and a writer who has

11.45am to 12.25pm

£8.50

tirelessly brought poetry to the drama and drama into poetry.”

She is a Fellow of Glasgow School of Art, of The Royal Scottish Conservatoire, and Honarary President of The Scottish Poetry Library. Her plays include Tartuffe, Mary Queen Of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off and the Saltire award-winning Medea.

Literary Lunch with

Janice Galloway In the second volume of her memoirs, the prize-winning author Janice Galloway reveals how the awkward child introduced in This is Not About Me evolved through her teenage years, living with her stoical mother and domineering older sister.

In visceral descriptions of puberty, sex and school-room

1.00pm to 2.15pm

All Made Up £22.50

includes a 3 course lunch and a glass of wine

politics, Galloway casts her extraordinary gaze on the morals and ambitions of one small town through the stories of three generations of women. By turns absurd and tender, this is the story of a family’s secrets brought to light, revealing the bonds beneath.

One of our most celebrated writers, Janice Galloway’s previous appearances at Winter Words have been no less than personal, defiant, eloquent and entertaining – don’t miss out!

See page 24 for full mouth-watering lunch menu details.

01796 484626

Friday 3rd February

Sue Black O.B.E.

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Cold Cases and History 3.00pm to 4.00pm

Chaired by Eddie Small

£8.50

As a third year medical student, Professor Sue Black was given a corpse to examine from top to toe. She was exhilarated by the experience of “knowing what we look like on the inside”. Now a leading forensic anthropologist, Sue’s work involves dissecting human remains to the point where they can be identified or, as she describes it, “giving back a name to a nameless corpse”.

A well kent face from the gripping TV series Cold Case Histories, Sue is also a frequent consultant to top crime writers. In addition, Sue currently campaigns to raise the funds for a specialist morgue (www.millionforamorgue. com) as well as a new publication that encourages people to donate their body to science.

Adam Hart-Davis 4.30pm to 5.30pm

The Book of Time £12.50 (under 18s half price)

From water clocks to atomic chronometers, people have always tried to keep track of time, whilst wondering what it is, and why women, plants and fish have cycles linked to the Moon. Discover answers to questions such as how can a jellyfish sting you in less than a microsecond, although you won’t feel the pain for a million times longer? And does time really slow down when you are bored and speed up in emergencies? And was there a beginning of time and will there be an end?

Adam’s wonderful new The Book of Time: The Secrets of Time, How It Works and How We Measure It is fascinating, jam packed with amazing facts and observations. You’ll have the time of your life.

Suitable for adults & children age 8 and upwards!

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Friday 3rd February

An Evening with

Alistair Darling 7.30pm

£18.50

with the titans of international banking, to dealing with the massive political and economic fallout in the UK, Darling places the reader in the rooms where the destinies of millions weighed heavily on the shoulders of a few. His book is also a candid account of life in the Downing Street pressure cooker and his relationship with Gordon Brown during the last years of New Labour.

In the late summer of 2007, shares of Northern Rock went into free-fall, causing a run on a British bank the first in over 150 years. Northern Rock proved to be only the first. Twelve months later, as the world was engulfed in the worst banking crisis for more than a century, one of its largest banks, RBS, came within hours of collapse.

Back From The Brink tells the gripping story of Alistair Darling’s one thousand days in No. 11 Downing Street.

As Chancellor, he had to avert the collapse of RBS hours before the cash machines would have ceased to function; at the eleventh hour, he stopped Barclays from acquiring Lehman Brothers in order to protect UK taxpayers; he used anti-terror legislation to stop Icelandic banks from withdrawing funds from Britain.

From crisis talks in Washington, to dramatic meetings

Alistair Darling is the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West. He has held many government posts throughout his career including Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Social Security, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secretary of State for Transport, Secretary of State for Scotland, and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry before Gordon Brown promoted him to Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2007, a post he held until the change of government in May 2010.

This will be a fascinating evening in the company of one the UK’s leading politicians.

9.30pm to 10.30pm Join us for a third night of Fearie Tales – or as we like to think of them, bedtime stories for the brave! Enter the Bar after dark and you will be assailed with stories of demons, disturbances and despair. Scared? Really?

01796 484626

Free

Well, why not gather friends and family together and make a night of it – you might be glad of the company on the way home!

Saturday 4th February

Zoe Venditozzi Writer and teacher Zoe Venditozzi will take you through the basics of creating fiction, or help you develop an idea, a character, or a plot line. For anyone who writes or wants to, this is the perfect class to set you off in the right direction, with practical tips and exercises to try.

Between The Lines 9.15am to 10.15am

£6.50

Zoe has been published in several journals, was shortlisted in the Dundee International Book Prize 2010, and makes a welcome return to Winter Words.

Sara Sheridan Inspired by 3 letters found in the John Murray Archive at the National Library of Scotland, Sara Sheridan’s Secret of the Sands tells the story of British naval officer, James Raymond Wellsted, the first European to travel into the interior of Oman.

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Secret of the Sands 10.30am to 11.30am

£6.50

other side of the Peninsula.

Sara Sheridan sits on the committee of the Society of Authors and on the Board of the writers’ collective, 26.

She is also an occasional journalist, blogging recently for The Guardian and the London Review of Books and Set in 1833, the year slavery was abolished in the British Empire, Wellsted disguises himself as a Turkish appearing occasionally on From Our slaver and sets off to find out what has happened to an Own Correspondent on BBC Radio4 earlier British mission who have disappeared on the

Dr. Roger Cartwright

Titanic – The Myths and Legacy of a Disaster 100 years after the Titanic tragedy, why does it still exert such a huge fascination for so many? Titanic was not the fastest, but she was the largest Atlantic liner of her day, the press claiming even before her maiden voyage in April 1912 that she was “practically unsinkable”.

But 1,500 lives - rich, poor, young and old - perished in the icy waters of the Atlantic in what has become one of the most famous and poignant shipping disasters

11.45am to 12.45pm

£6.50

the world has ever known. What happened on that fateful night – was it fate, bad luck, incompetence, negligence, or a fatal combination of events?

Maritime historian Dr. Roger Cartwright will share his new unique insights into one of history’s most compelling legends.

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Saturday 4th February

Literary Lunch with

Ann Lindsay In Lost Perthshire, Ann Lindsay takes us on a journey through a landscape that has changed dramatically: from stone circles, Roman ditches and Pictish remains to the relatively modern controlled flooding of glens by hydro electric schemes, dam building and hospitals. And then there’s land lost to the redrawing

Lost Perthshire 1.00pm to 2.15pm

£22.50

includes a 3 course lunch and a glass of wine

of county boundries, drained bogs, ancient and new forests that have been planted, rivers diverted, and many villages and settlements which have vanished, whilst other, previously barely inhabited areas are now densely populated.

Ann is the author of a number of books, including Mystical Scotland, Seeds of Blood and Beauty, The Dried Flower Garden and Hidden Scotland. She lives near Dunkeld, Perthshire.

See page 24 for full mouth-watering lunch menu details.

Poetry Please 2.00pm to 2.30pm Free Event in Foyer Bar share a much loved poem in this unique event. see page 24 for details!

Alison Weir Mary Boleyn: ‘The Great and Infamous Whore’ This is the first historical biography of Mary Boleyn, in which Alison Weir explodes much of the mythology that surrounds her much debated reputation.

Mary Boleyn: ‘The Great and Infamous Whore’ uncovers the true facts about one of the most misunderstood figures of the Tudor age, including the true extent of Mary Boleyn’s relationships with François I of France and Henry VIII of England; the nature of Mary’s tempestuous relationship with her sister, Anne; and her true

26 Treasures

3.00pm to 4.00pm

£8.50

reputation amongst her family and those at court. Was Henry VIII the father of Mary Boleyn’s first two children?

Alison Weir is the UK’s biggest selling female historian and her books, including those on Mary Queen of Scots, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and his wives, have sold over a million copies.

A New Voice for History

Across Scotland and beyond, 26 writers have been exploring ways of bringing treasures from the National Museum of Scotland to life in words.

4.30pm to 5.30pm

£8.50

political, cultural and religious history, but to the powerful emotions of people who lived at the time.

A panel of contributing writers, including Linda Cracknell, Jamie Jauncey and Alison Weir will discuss A selection of pieces from the 26 Treasures exhibition will be on audiohow tapping into the rich story of Scotland’s past visual display during the Festival. through objects can connect them not only to social,

01796 484626

Saturday 4th February

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An Evening with

Neil Oliver

A History of Ancient Britain 7.30pm

£18.50

only way to reveal the story of its people is through the medium of the things they left behind.

Neil started his career as an archaeologist and made his television debut with Two Men in a Trench, in which Neil visited historic British battlefields and recreated events on the field of battle using state of the art archaeological techniques.

Following his sell out event at Winter Words two years ago, Neil Oliver returns to talk about his latest book and TV series, which continue Neil’s landmark exploration of how our land and its people came to be, a journey that began with A History of Scotland.

Neil’s hugely engaging style effortlessly communicates his personal sense of wonder at those early, preRoman times, an era whose history is all the more moving because none of it was written down and the

Neil then became the archaeological and social history expert on BBC TV’s Coast, eventually taking over as the main presenter, before turning his attention to the hugely successful A History of Scotland.

Born in Ayr and a graduate of Glasgow University’s highly respected archaeology department, Neil’s enthusiasm and passion have helped him to bring the excitement of archaeology and history into millions of homes.

9.30pm to 10.30pm This is it. The final instalment of Fearie Tales for 2012. Enjoy the cosy atmosphere while you can - it won’t be long before the shadows lengthen, a chill descends and a voice pierces the darkness . . . as the last clutch of this year’s ghastly, ghoulish tales are

Free

read aloud for the very first time!

Make sure you have a glass or two of something strong at hand - to toast the winners, naturally . . .

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Sunday 5th February

There’s Been A Murder?

When the drama group hired to host a whodunit weekend at Major Henry Broadwind’s stately home cancel at the last minute, the Major decides he and his family can run it themselves. But when a mismatched gang of amateur detectives descend for the weekend, things go from bad to worse and a real body is found in suspicious circumstances . . .

Join hiper Youth Theatre as they lead you through the twists and turns of this comical whodunit mystery!

Family Event

3.00pm to 4.00pm

U-18s £2.50, Adults: £4.50

PFT’s hiper Youth Theatre battled their way through Scottish History at last year’s Winter Worlds and saved the world the year before that! There was a jungle full of animal antics last Summer, whilst Vikings conquered all before them in Summer 2010. PFT’s hiper Youth Theatre have also investigated murderous nursery crimes and have the scared the pants off parents in a Halloween special Fright Night in 3D. Phew! Is there anything this lively and talented group can’t do?

Songlines - A Lyric Writing Workshop Tues 31st Jan & Wed 1st Feb

10.30am to 4.30pm

£85.00

Includes refreshments and lunch in the Festival Restaurant.

Have you got a song in your head? Do you need inspiration and guidance to find the right tune and give expression to those words?

Over the course of two full days, Roddy Johnston, accomplished singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, will introduce you to songwriting techniques such as lyric framework and structure, how to find a good melody, theme and content for your inner song. Working in small groups or pairs, you will look at how to find good ideas, what makes a good song, use of language and wordplay, exploring melody and how to fit tune to the words – assuming those come first, of course!

Accompaniment can be on keyboards or guitar and the main genres will be folk/ acoustic/roots styles. You are welcome to bring your own instruments along.

Pitlochry Festival Theatre is a Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in Scotland Number SC029243 at the below address. Scottish Charity Number SC013055 Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry, PH16 5DR • Administration: 01796 484600 • Fax: 01796 484616 • Box Office: 01796 484626 Email: boxoffice@PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com • Website: www.PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

01796 484626

Three Day Creative Writing Course

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BLOODLINES

Winter Words Creative Writing Course with Caro Ramsay

Tues 31st Jan – Thur 2nd Feb 10.30am to 4.30pm £120.00

(max 12) including lunch and refreshments

Join Caro Ramsay, a best-selling crime author, to unlock your inner evil, turning prose into brilliant crime fiction.

Crime is a popular, fascinating form and sells more than almost any other genre.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned writer looking to move into a new genre, Caro will take you through some of the tricks of the crime writing trade – plots, characters, that injection of terror, how to develop a twist and the perfect ending.

The first day will focus on making the most of your writing time and on how to get those first words out and onto the page. There will also be a mixture of discussion and writing exercises to help explore and illuminate character development, plotting, setting, and vocabulary, all in relation to crime fiction.

Day two will concentrate on reviewing your work completed on the first day, to help bring into focus ways in which to hone and shape your writing. Discussions on genre and style will follow before participants begin to develop pieces.

Over three days, you will immerse yourself On the final day, you will tackle editing skills in the wonderful underworld of crime, as well as discussing publishing options. producing work that you’ll be able to take away and develop further at home, providing that first push into the world of crime fiction.

Caro Ramsay’s first novel, Absolution, was short listed for the New Blood Dagger and her second, Singing to the Dead, was long listed for the Theakston’s Crime Book of the Year 2010.

The third in the series, Dark Water, was published on 4 August 2011.

PLUS: 5 FREE EVENTS! Sitting between the two weekends of Winter Words, participants will have the chance to take in the best of the Festival by attending any 5 daytime events for free. Participants are requested to indicate which events they would like to attend at the time of time of booking this course.

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Food, Family, Treasures and Free Verse!

Literary Lunch Menus Dennis Canavan Let the People Decide Sun 29 Jan

Janice Galloway All Made Up Fri 3 Feb

Ann Lindsay Lost Perthshire Sat 4 Feb

A hearty lunch served with a glass of wine.

A tasty, three course lunch served with a glass of wine.

King Prawns in a Garlic Butter

Prawn & Pink Grapefruit salad with figs

A three course lunch celebrating the fine food of Highland Perthshire served with a glass of wine.

Slow Cooked Belly of Pork with cider apple sauce, new potatoes & spring vegetables

Chicken Fillets with white wine, cream & mushroom sauce on a bed of tagliatelle

Poached Pear with warm chocolate sauce & real vanilla ice-cream Coffee & Tablet

Dunkeld Salmon with a lemon micro salad Wild Game Pie with roast rotatoes & a vegetable parcel

Lemon Posset with an almond tuille

Chocolate Drambuie Mousse

Coffee & Mints

Coffee & Chocolate Mints

26 Family Treasures 26 Family Treasures is an exciting creative project for school students to tell the stories in just 62 words - of treasures from their own family’s personal history through words and video.

We are asking young people to delve into their family’s past and bring out the ‘treasures’ that are special to their own history and that of those who came before them.

26 entries will be selected for the event and

the audio visual exhibition by bringing their objects to life with images and sound-bites.

The project is open to all young people aged 16 and under.

Deadline for submission of entries: Friday 20th January, 2012 For further information, please contact Drew Scott, PFT’s Community and Education Director on 01796 484600 or via email: Drew.Scott@PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

2.00pm to 2.30pm Free Event in Foyer Bar Poetry Please Share a much loved poem in this unique event.

Drop a copy of your favourite poem into the Box Office before lunchtime on each Saturday during the Festival, along with your name and perhaps the reasons why this piece of verse is special to you. Then grab a coffee and cake, sit back and enjoy as favourite poems are read aloud by our Festival readers - or even you!

01796 484626

Writing Competition

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Writing Competition 2012 This unique competition is receiving more and more submissions each year, both from wouldbe authors and more established writers. The format is simple. We choose three or four entries to be read aloud by two familiar faces from the Pitlochry stage in the cosy atmosphere of the Theatre’s Ben-y-Vrackie Bar on the Friday and Saturday evenings throughout Winter Words.

Every Fearie Tale read will be a new story, written especially for Winter Words.

How To Enter: 1. A competition entry must meet three content requirements: a)It must be a Fearie Tale! That is, a tale of the mysterious, the macabre or the supernatural... preferably all three! b)The story must contain an obvious connection with Scotland: author, location, characters, history, etc. c)It must not have been previously published, read or performed in any form whatsoever: book, newspaper, journal, broadcast media, digital media, website, blog, etc.

4. Each entry must show the story’s title and the author’s name, postal address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address (if you have one) on the front page.

5. No more than one entry per person is permitted.

6. Entries by post should be sent to: Fearie Tales Competition Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry, Perthshire, PH16 5DR Entries by e-mail should be sent to: admin@PitlochryFestivalTheatre.com

Please enter “Fearie Tales Competition” 2. Entries must be EITHER: in the subject field of your e-mail. a)Typewritten/word processed on A4 paper, 7. Entries must be received at Pitlochry Festival using 11 point type or larger, and Theatre by 12.00 noon on Friday 20th submitted by post or by hand; OR January 2012. b)Written as an MS Word document and 8. The authors of the winning entries will be submitted as an e-mail attachment. notified privately as soon as possible after this Please note: hand-written entries date. If you submit a story to the Fearie Tale will not be accepted! competition, but do not hear back from us by the time that Winter Words begins, it means 3. Each entry must be a minimum of 2,250 that, sadly, your story has not been successful words in length, up to a maximum length on this occasion. of 3,250 words.

9. As always, the judges’ decisions are final!

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