1843. On a remote Scottish island, Ivar, the sole occupant, leads a life of quiet isolation until the day he finds a man unconscious on the beach below the cliffs. Ivar takes the stranger into his home, and despite having no common language, a fragile bond begins to form between them. Back on the mainland, John's wife, Mary, anxiously awaits news of his mission, which is to evict Ivar from the island.

Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling and an exquisite short novel by a master of the form and was Waterstones Scottish and Welsh Book of the Month in March 2025

Carys Davies is the author of two other novels, The Mission House and West. Her short stories have been widely published and broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and have won The Royal Society of Literature's V S Pritchett Prize and a Northern Writers' Award, amongst others.

25 Library Terrace spans more than 100 years in the life of one house. From women’s suffrage, vegetarianism and the complicated challenges of family life, secrets are carried across decades of residents, and through it all, the house is central to the story.

The Sewing Machine begins in 1911 as Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. 100 years on, Fred discovers a treasure trove of documents and finds his family history laid out in a patchwork of handwriting and colourful seams. Fred starts to unpick the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.

Natalie Fergie has a love for social history and a particular interest in the domestic lives of women in the 20th century.  She lives on the outskirts of Edinburgh and has a growing collection of vintage sewing machines.

Renowned Scottish Journalist and political commentator James Naughtie was a sell-out guest at the Book Festival in 2022, discussing the changing world around us and the people he had met who had influenced that world.  How has the world changed since he was last here?

Join James Naughtie as he examines the chaos and contradictions of President Trump’s second term, offering his expert perspective on American politics, when predicting the future seems impossible.

James’s newspaper career began on the Press and Journal before going on to become one of the country’s best-known broadcasters, as presenter of Today on BBC Radio 4 for twenty-one years. Now a special correspondent for BBC News and host of Radio 4’s Bookclub since it began in 1998, James is also the author of several books, including three espionage novels.

Live music from award-winning Eric Bell from 6.50 pm, so please come early

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Inverness-born John Doyle is an internationally renowned theatre director who has worked on London's West End and on Broadway.  In Opening Doors, John reflects on the fifty-year theatrical journey taken by a boy from Inverness who never dreamed it could happen to him. Described as 'the saviour of the Broadway musical', the 'amazing Mr Musicals' and 'the man who changed the face of the American musical,' John’s name has become synonymous with a style of reinvention that has opened doors to what commercial musical theatre can be in the 21st Century. 

John received multiple Tony Awards thanks to revolutionary Broadway productions of Sweeney Todd and The Color Purple. Join John as he traces his rich and celebrated journey in theatre and reveals how he became one of its most important and recognised contemporary artists. Having travelled the world, John has come back north to his home in Portmahomack.

The It’s Not Where You Start live show is a powerful, uplifting, and deeply personal storytelling experience, blending theatre, autobiography and live performance with projected animation and film. It tells the true story of award-winning actor Scott Kyle’s journey from foster care to foster carer, from Glasgow’s back streets to award-winning stages and Hollywood film sets, including the rise, fall, and return of Singin’ I’m No a Billy, He’s a Tim, and the moment Scott almost turned down the chance to work with Harrison Ford. It’s Not Where You Start explores resilience, identity, second chances and the courage it takes to begin again - all delivered with warmth, humour, and emotional honesty.

★★★★★ - “If it’s only one memoir of second chances you read/see/listen to this year, I highly recommend this one” - Louise Cannon - Bookmarks and Stages.   “An amazing story, superb animations.” - Nicola McCartney, playwright and director.

In 2010, while interviewing Taliban leaders on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan,  Asad Qureshi and his driver, along with two senior members of the Inter-Services Intelligence, were ambushed and taken hostage by a group known as the “Asian Tigers”. Only Qureshi and his driver survived.

A chance meeting with director John Schlesinger led to Qureshi’s entry into the film industry. Starting as a runner, he rose to assistant director, with his directorial debut coming in documentaries such as Panorama for the BBC, news features for ITN, The Bounty Hunter for C4 and a mountaineering expedition to Mount Everest.

From British Pakistani origins, Qureshi has a reputation as an experienced film-maker and was based in Pakistan for over five years. Before being kidnapped, Qureshi had visited the same region in 2009 when he had begun making “The Battle of Swat Valley” for Panorama, charting the army action taken in Swat against the Taliban. He finished the project after his release.

In 2025, Asad had to withdraw from the Festival for personal reasons, but we are delighted he can be with us this year.

Live music from Ruairidh Gollan from 6.50 pm, so please come early

Visit Toulvaddie Distillery for an intimate, lively event from Natalie Jayne Clark, author of the bestselling novel The Malt Whisky Murders, introduced by distillery owner Heather Nelson. Natalie landed a book deal and an agent within a week of a pitching event at Bloody Scotland Book Festival. Natalie will discuss the challenge of transposing the sensory delights of whisky to the page and reveal her approach to the writing process.

Natalie Jayne Clark is a neurodivergent author, poet, producer and whisky lover based in Perth. Her bestselling debut novel The Malt Whisky Murders was shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and was the fourth bestselling title at the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival. She co-hosts a monthly poetry and prose open mic in Perth. 

Using the newly republished fiction of Neil Gunn as inspiration, novelist and Professor of Writing Practice and Study, Kirsty Gunn, will lead a friendly and productive creative workshop in which you will meet the world of The Grey Coast and discover how to use its landscape and seas to produce your own piece of creative writing and learn about the publishing process in an exciting Q&A session.

Please bring paper and pens

Jason Ubych is the Manager of Tain and District Museum and Clan Ross Centre and has been a regular contributor to the Festival from the start. He has led guided walks and delivered talks on subjects including King James IV's pilgrimages to Tain, the history of Fearn Abbey, local folklore, Tain's horrible histories, and the remarkable life of Dr Elizabeth Ross.

Now Jason turns his attention further back in time to explore the world of the Picts. Drawing on archaeology, place-names, and local traditions, he will look beyond the carved stones to examine the people who lived in Easter Ross more than a thousand years ago. The talk will explore their roots, their beliefs, the arrival of Christianity, and the changes brought by Norse and Gaelic influences, asking what became of the Picts and how much of their world still survives in the landscape and in us today?

In addition - for those who would like to, Jason is happy to meet them at The Hilton Stone directly after his talk to point out the features of the stone itself and why it is a facsimile!  Please arrange with Jason at the end of his talk. The visit to the stone will last an additional 30 minutes approx.

Kirsty Wark was Newsnight's longest-serving presenter who combined political and news coverage with a passion for arts and culture.  She has been one of Scotland’s leading independent programme makers for three decades and received a BAFTA Fellowship for journalism and presenting.

In addition to presenting on television, Kirsty also broadcasts on radio and is the host of The Reunion and Front Row on BBC Radio Four.

Kirsty has written two novels – The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle and The House by the Loch and is currently writing her third. In conversation with Kirsty Gunn, Kirsty Wark will discuss her novels and what fiction impacted on her and her audience.

Gerda Stevenson, writer, actor, director, singer/songwriter and performer, presents two of her books, Quines, poems in Tribute to Women of Scotland, and Cat Wumman-Tales O Nine Lives. 

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Quines gives voice to a host of extraordinary women whose significant contributions to Scotland have been neglected: social reformers, artists, politicians, singers, engineers and a whole women’s football team from 1881! Gerda will also sing songs associated with them.

Cat Wumman is a collection of short stories in Scots – a wheen o contemporary retellings of folk tales and ballads from around the world.

Gerda works in theatre, TV, opera, radio and film. She is the founder of Scotland’s leading women’s theatre company, Stellar Quines, and winner of a BAFTA for her performance in the feature film, Blue Black Permanent. Her play, Federer Versus Murray, toured to New York, and her writing is studied at Glasgow University and the Open University.

Live Music from Emily Stein from 6.50 pm, so please come early.  

Immerse yourself in the world of Scotland's wild grasses and the work of poet Valerie Gillies and artist Rebecca Marr, and their recently published book, When the Grass Dances. In the surroundings of Browns Gallery, with her portraits of wild grasses on the wall, Rebecca will take the audience on a journey through books that have informed the poet and artist's understanding of this remarkable and often overlooked plant family. With recordings of Valerie reading her poems and live readings from Rebecca, you will leave with a heightened appreciation of the natural world and our connection to it.

Rebecca studied photography in Edinburgh before making Orkney her home. Using photography which can be darkroom-based, camera-less, digital, or a hybrid, Rebecca's work is dominated by the natural world and in particular plants, seaweeds, sea and clouds.

For over twenty years, Rebecca has collaborated with poet Valerie Gillies, Edinburgh’s 2nd Makar, each using their own art forms to add something to what the other is saying. See www.whenthegrassdances.art

The 1936 Ross and Cromarty by-election was intended to return Malcolm MacDonald to parliament after his surprise defeat in the previous year’s General Election. Enraged by this attempt to foist a former Labour MP on them, local Liberals and Unionists both fielded independent candidates. The Unionists’ choice, Randolph Churchill, proved explosive, and so began “an odious campaign”.
 

Rob McInroy tells the story of one of the most astonishing by-elections in British history - with the death of the king, a candidate being hospitalised, the worst winter in a generation, rampaging deer, car crashes galore, and candidates coming close to being run out of town.

Rob McInroy is an award-winning short story writer and historical novelist from Perthshire where most of his work is set. Rich in historical detail, An Odious Campaign, immerses the reader in pre-war and wartime Scotland.

Rt Hon Henry McLeish began his political career in local government in 1974, before being elected as a member of the UK Parliament in 1987 where he served as Minister for Devolution and Home Affairs in the Labour Government. In the first Scottish Parliament, Henry held the office of First Minister of Scotland from 2000 to 2001.

The Scottish Question will always be ‘unfinished business.’  Each generation needs to think anew about Scotland’s external relations and the kind of Scotland it wants.  Much has been achieved since devolution, and much needs to be reflected upon.  What is next in Scotland’s journey?

Reflections and lessons on over a quarter of a century of devolution - what went right, what could be done better and why?  What should happen over the next quarter of a century?  How will Scotland’s relations with the rest of the UK evolve and how should they change?  What are the social and economic challenges and opportunities that lie ahead?    

Join the former First Minister as he juggles with these questions and more in what should be a very interesting evening.

Live music from award-winning musician Eric Bell from 6.50 pm so please come early

A physician and pathologist by training, Allan Gaw is now a full-time writer. His short stories, crime fiction, non-fiction and poetry are published widely. The next in his Dr Jack Cuthbert mystery series, The Last Gifts to the Dead, is published in September.

After working in pathology for over thirty years, Allan Gaw decided to become a full-time writer.   In this presentation, Allan will tell the story of the highs and lows of that journey from pathology to becoming a published author and of the laughs along the way. Questions will be welcome.

Sue Lawrence is the author of seven popular historical thrillers, including Lady’s Rock, and Fields of Blue Flax. She will discuss her latest historical novel, Whispers in the Glen, a tale of heartbreak, sisterhood and resilience during the two World Wars set in Glen Clova, Angus, and also in France.

Sue is one of the UK’s leading cookery writers and broadcasters. After winning BBC’s MasterChef in 1991, Sue wrote regular columns in The Sunday Times, Scotland on Sunday and many leading magazines. She has written twenty cookery books, the latest of which is New Scottish Baking.

Helen Lederer is a writer, actress and comedian. Apart from TV, stage and radio, she’s best known as Catriona, the dippy journalist in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous. More recently Helen has been starring in The West End in Fawlty Towers. Her novel, Losing It, was nominated for the PG Wodehouse comedy literary prize. In 2018, Helen set up the Comedy Women in Print Prize (CWIP) to celebrate and enable witty women writers, and has been responsible for creating many women’s writing careers.  

“Not that I’m Bitter” is Helen Lederer’s first full account of her life and in it she is in joyous flow, mixing startling self-revelation with nail-biting sharp observations. How can laughter defeat the darker moments, like her child’s anorexia, or despite enormous success, the constant self-sabotage of always feeling like a failure? Join Helen for a roller coaster evening as she chats with our own Lynsey Gilmour.

Held Together is a deeply personal memoir by Jenny Q. It is a candid account of her near-death experience, coma, sepsis survival and a life impacted by disability.

Balancing urgency, reflection, humour and wonder, the book explores sudden disability, resilience, love and transformation.

The book reading will artfully combine excerpts from Held Together with music performed by Jenny and Myshkin. 

Helen Percy, a former Church of Scotland minister, decided to change her life and become a shepherd. In her first book, Scandalous, Immoral, Improper (2011), Helen told of endurance and survival of familial and ecclesiastical abuse. Over the years, Helen has worked with victims of child rape in South Africa and donkeys in the Kalahari. Back in the Highlands, she is contracted to several eccentric farmers, often travelling in a small van with her sheepdogs, a tame duck and an epileptic hare. The stories in Skirly Crag and its sequel Whistlebare are based in Sutherland.

Helen will reflect on the similarities and the differences between her previous career as a pastor of people and the last 30 years as a shepherd. Helen will offer some top tips for dealing with awkward animals and cussed farmers. Whistlebare is nature writing, humour and the reality of living on the land rolled into one.

Join Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s Greg Kenicer as he delves into Scottish Plant Lore, looking at the many intriguing ways in which people have traditionally used plants. From the practical to the supernatural and the medical to the magical, Greg will explore just how versatile our flora is.

Dr. Gregory Kenicer is a botanist and the author of a range of popular botany books, including Scottish Plant Lore, Plant Magic and Scottish Plant Names: an A to Z. Greg joined RBGE to work on the Flora Celtica project over 25 years ago and, since then, has delved into the evolution and diversity of peas and beans and taught botany across all age groups.

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In collaboration with Tain and District Gardeners’ Club

Ronny Rehse is a local author and illustrator based near Inver in Easter Ross.
Inspired by the landscapes and communities around him, his work combines careful research with original artwork to preserve stories that might otherwise be forgotten. His books celebrate the people, history and character of the Highlands, bringing together local heritage, personal storytelling and illustration.
Echoes of the Landscape: Stories, Folklore and Hidden Places from the Cromarty Firth to Tarbat Ness is a richly illustrated exploration of Easter Ross, combining local history, archaeology, folklore and lesser-known stories from the area. The book includes themes closely connected with Tain, including the life and legacy of St Duthac, whose influence
shaped medieval Tain and whose story remains woven into the area’s identity.
Tiger, King of the Sofa is an illustrated mini-memoir celebrating the life of Tiger, a much-loved Highland cat belonging to Seaboard Villages resident Diana Wood. Through true stories, humour and original pencil drawings, it offers a warm tribute to friendship and home.

As a writer, Gary writes about whatever pops into his head.  In his words "it's a mad, crazy, million miles an hour thing and I love this process as much as the results."
Gary is not interested in the rules of others, his books are made his way and he hopes you enjoy reading them as much as he enjoyed writing them. 
Having said that, if you didn't, he genuinely doesn't care, he would rather be one person's gin and tonic than everyone's cup of tea.

Scott McGowan is a self-published author known for his diverse body of work. He has written six novels, two collections of poems and short stories, a malt whisky companion, and a book on cocktails. His latest works include three more novels, a book on literary criticism, and an Ancient Greek Theogony in creative form. McGowan is also completing his final semester of an honor’s degree in Creative Writing and plans to pursue a Master's in Comparative Literature. 

McGowan's writing is influenced by his love for storytelling, which was sparked by his father's reading of classic tales to him. His inspiration also comes from modern authors like Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. He has a keen interest in various genres and is currently working on three novels, a book on literary criticism, and an Ancient Greek Theogony. 

Scott McGowan's literary journey reflects his passion for storytelling and his commitment to exploring different forms of expression. His works are available on platforms like Goodreads and Amazon, where readers can find more about his books and follow his latest projects. 

Fran Smee is a retired teacher of physical education and history. Her Fran's Van series of children's books reflect her interest in family, in community and her native Scotland. Her debut novel “A Better End” explores the same themes but at the other end of the age range.

The landscapes of Scotland are a vital backdrop playing an important role in grounding her writing. Her characters drive her writing and are developed through dialogue,

Fran lives in the far north east of Scotland where she and her husband are renovating an original croft house, not helped by their daft terrier Millie.

Www.fransvan.co.uk

Gerda works in theatre, TV, opera, radio and film. She is the founder of Scotland’s leading women’s theatre company, Stellar Quines, and winner of a BAFTA for her performance in the feature film, Blue Black Permanent. Her play, Federer Versus Murray, toured to New York, and her writing is studied at Glasgow University and the Open University.

Scott Kyle gives a powerful, uplifting, and deeply personal storytelling experience, blending theatre, autobiography and live performance with projected animation and film.  Award-winning actor Scott Kyle’s It's Not Where You Start explores resilience, identity, second chances and the courage it takes to begin again - all delivered with warmth, humour, and emotional honesty.

Dave Smith is a local playwright living in Tain. Dave has been involved in theatre and touring shows around the Highlands since 1986, when he started working with the theatre group Clown Jewels. He has been creating plays since his first commission in 2000 and recently has been converting some of his theatre material into novels.

Rebecca studied photography in Edinburgh before making Orkney her home. Using photography which can be darkroom-based, camera-less, digital, or a hybrid, Rebecca's work is dominated by the natural world and in particular plants, seaweeds, sea and clouds.

For over twenty years, Rebecca has collaborated with poet Valerie Gillies, Edinburgh’s 2nd Makar, each using their own art forms to add something to what the other is saying. See www.whenthegrassdances.art