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Badenoch novelist joins headliner writers to launch Winter Words on line


By Tom Ramage

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Cairngorms National Park Authority's writer in residence, Merryn Glover, will help to launch this year's Winter Words at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

The online event, from February 14-20, coincides with the start of Scotland’s Year of Stories.

Like last year, the 18th year of Winter Words will be a little different offering a smaller series of digital events. But the upcoming festival will be both live and interactive and, as with every year, will bring together an exciting lineup of well- known, and well-loved authors, playwrights, poets, adventurers, broadcasters, and TV personalities all in one virtual space.

Winter wordsmiths: the line up for this year's online event
Winter wordsmiths: the line up for this year's online event

The theatre will be introducing a stimulating and entertaining line up of conversations with, amongst others, television actress and presenter Denise Welch who will be talking about The Unwelcome Visitor: Depression and How I Survive It, her bracing yet accessible account of living with depression; a pre-recorded interview with Alexander McCall Smith, author of the highly successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors who will be discussing his new novel Love in the time of Bertie and other novels he published in 2021.

Celebrated Scottish playwright and crime writer Denise Mina will be discussing her latest novel Rizzio; Scottish Makar and 2012 Costa Poetry award winner Kathleen Jamie will be in discussion with playwright David Greig; author and theatre critic Arifa Akbar will talk about her acclaimed Costa nominated biography Consumed: A Sister’s Story and writer and broadcaster James Crawford will be discussing his acclaimed BBC television series Scotland from the Sky.

Also featuring in this year’s line-up will be award-winning, best-selling and critically acclaimed author Craig Russell, whose latest novel Hyde last year won the prestigious McIlvanney Prize; award-winning Scottish author Ewan Morrison discussing his novel How to Survive Everything; Edinburgh writer and editor Arusa Qureshi who will be talking about her book Flip the Script: How Women Came to Rule Hip Hop; illustrator Eilidh Muldoon who will lead a live illustration session for all the family; local historian and former chair of Pitlochry Festival Theatre Colin Liddle, who will be talking about Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s history over the last 70 years; and Scottish actor Kenny Boyle who will be discussing his debut book The Tick and Tock of the Crocodile.

This year’s closing event, sponsored by the Highland Book Prize, will be the author and ecologist Andrew Painting and Merryn Glover in conversation about how landscape, specifically the Cairngorms, has inspired their writing. Both authors feature on the Highland Book Prize 2021 longlist.

This year’s festival will also feature on Saturday Febrary 19 What Are You Reading? a free virtual book shop café where people will be able to recommend and talk about their favourite book to others. Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Associate Director Amy Liptrott will host the event.

Like last year, the festival will have an all-access Winter Words package which will give online viewers access to all 13 online events plus the opportunity to receive recordings to watch at their leisure for a period, shortly after the festival.

All tickets will be limited this year, individual tickets and package options going on sale on Thursday at 10am.

To find out more and for tickets call the Box Office team on 01796 484626 or visit www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/winterwords

Programme:

Mon 14 – 5-6pm – Craig Russell: Hyde

Tue 15: 7-8pm – Arusa Qureshi: Flip the Script: How Women Came to Rule Hip Hop

Wed 16: 1-2pm Eilidh Muldoon - Illustration

Thu 17: 7-8pm: James Crawford: Scotland from the Sky

Fri 18: 7.30-8.30pm: Alexander McCall Smith: Love in the Time of Bertie and other stories

Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. After the publication of his phenomenally successful No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over 20 million copies in the English language, he devoted his time to the writing of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty-six languages and become bestsellers through the world.

Five new novels will be published over the course of 2021.

Sat 19: 12.30pm-1.30pm – What Are You Reading?

Join Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s associate director Amy Liptrott in the virtual book shop café. Come ready to add some brilliant new books to your reading pile.

Attending the session is free. You can listen or share or do both

Sat 19: 2-3pm – Denise Welch: The Unwelcome Visitor: Depression and How I Survive It.

A bracing, yet accessible account of living with depression by actor, presenter, and mental health advocate Denise Welch. In September 2019 Denise was inundated with supportive messages after sharing a heartfelt video of herself on social media during a mild episode of clinical depression – explaining to her followers in a series of clips both the physical and emotional effects she experiences. In The Unwelcome Visitor she opens up further about her journey with depression over the past 30 years and sets out to show readers how they too can manage and live a full life alongside their own ‘visitor’. show Loose Women. Denise has authored four previous books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Sat 19: 3.30pm-4.30pm – Arifa Akbar: Consumed: A Sisters Story

Sat 19: 7-8pm – Kathleen Jamie: Poetry at the heat of our Culture

Sat 19: 8.30-9.30pm – Denise Mina: Rizzio

Sun 20: 12.30-1.30pm – Colin Liddle: The History of Pitlochry Festival Theatre

Sun 20: 2-3pm – Kenny Boyle: The Tick and Tock of the Crocodile

Sun 20: 3-4pm – Ewan Morrison: How To Survive Everything

Sun 20: 5-6pm – Andrew Painting and Merryn Glover: Inspired by landscape

Merryb Glover
Merryb Glover

Andrew Painting and Merryn Glover in conversation about how landscape, specifically the Cairngorms, has inspired their writing. Both authors feature on the Highland Book Prize 2021 longlist.

Painting grew up in the south of England and moved to Scotland to volunteer with the RSPB and since 2016 has been assistant ecologist at the Mar Lodge Estate.

Glover was born in a former Rana palace in Kathmandu and grew up in Nepal, India, and Pakistan. Her first major work was a stage play, The Long Way Home, which was broadcast on Radio Scotland. She has written three further radio plays for Radio 4 and Radio Scotland. Her first novel, A House Called Askival (2014), was published by Freight. In 2019, she was appointed the first Writer in Residence for the Cairngorms National Park.

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