It’s less than two weeks until the 5th Paisley Book Festival. Sales are going well so, if you are still working out your #PBF schedule, it’s best not to delay!
There are a few tickets left for our Scottish Masculinities event. Festival favourite, Graeme Armstrong, chats with his fellow authors Alan Bissett and Brian Conaghan. All have written books that focus on the pitfalls and challenges of growing up male in Scotland today and have also been working on a project with young people in Renfrewshire schools. You can hear them talk about this project with Renfrewshire librarian Kenneth Naismith.
Following on from his hugely successful novel, Mayflies, which was turned into a BAFTA award-winning BBC drama series last year, Irvine-born author, Andrew O’Hagan, joins us to introduce his new novel, Caledonian Road. Andrew will talk about what inspired his new book and the research that went into it with Alistair Braidwood, critic and broadcaster of the popular Scots Whay Hae! podcast.
The award-winning poet and writer Andrew McMillan, best known for his landmark poetry collections physical (2015), playtime (2018), and pandemonium (2021) discusses his first novel Pity with Rebecca Smith, author of Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside.
Two Scottish writers Sara Sheridan and Lesley McDowell introduce scintillating new historical novels both of which foreground forgotten figures and bring to life hidden stories from the past. Sara and Lesley chat to BBC radio and TV presenter Bryan Burnett about how they transform the people and places we know (or think we do) into fiction and bring to life the characters who reside behind closed doors.
Due to popular demand, we have moved Len Pennie and Sarah Grant into Paisley Town Hall’s main hall. TikTok sensation and Scots language champion Len Pennie and Glasgow-based writer, director and performer, Sarah Grant’s event focuses on stereotypes, marginalised identities and the importance of visibility and imagining something different from the mainstream.
Sally Magnusson‘s recent novel, Music in The Dark, follows a highland woman with a passion for story and song, who is deeply impacted by the brutality of the clearances, and who stands alongside her community in an act of defiance.
Football Hero Pat Nevin discusses his latest book, Football and How to Survive It, recounting his turbulent tenure as both player and Chief Executive of Scottish First Division side Motherwell in a rollicking, eye-opening and moving account of running a professional football club.
Scottish tennis coach, campaigner, OBE, and mother of tennis superstars Andy and Jamie Murray, Judy Murray will chat about her first foray into fiction writing. The Wild Card is a novel immersed in the sporting world that she knows and loves!
Pay What You Can across the majority of events. For all of the above and more, check out the full Paisley Book Festival programme here.
Did you know that Paisley Food and Drink Festival will be on right next to the Book Festival in Abbey Close during Friday and Saturday? The ever-popular outdoor event will feature more than 35 delicious food and drink traders from across Scotland offering a vibrant array of dishes from around the globe. There will also be licensed bars, free family entertainment and foodie fun for everyone to enjoy. The event takes place from 4pm to 10pm on Friday and from 12noon to 9pm on Saturday.
