New multilingual book festival celebrating Scottish languages to be held on island
The festival celebrates Scottish languages
A new multilingual book festival celebrating the “richness of communication” of Scottish languages is to take place on the Isle of Skye.
Sgrìobh Fèis Litricheais/Book Festival will celebrate literature written in languages including English, Scots and Gaelic.
The festival takes place between World Book Day and International Women’s Day with public events over the weekend in Kilmuir.
The festival will include events featuring writers including Scotland's Makar, Pàdraig MacAoidh, Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame 2024 inductee Anne Martin andDonald Meek Award winner Joni Buchanan.
Two Scottish Slam Poetry Champions Hamish MacDonald and Katharine Macfarlane will also host events.
On Saturday, International Women’s Day will be celebrated with a day of creative writing workshops, author talks, stories, soup and song. culminating in a panel discussion, ‘Whose Guth Is It Onywey: Celebrating Women's Writing’ with Meg Bateman, Gerda Stevenson, Sheilagh Chaimbeul, Catherine MacPhee and Anne Martin chaired by Mr MacAoidh.
A spokeswoman for the festival said: “Born at a kitchen table, this brand-new book festival has been developed in response to community identified demand for laid-back literary opportunities that bring the best of Scottish writers to our bilingual communities and also to provide opportunities for local writers and those interested in books and reading to come together, share work and build connections.”
She added: “Anyone who has lived in a multi-lingual community or who watched BBC Alba’s An t-Eilean will recognise that island folk regularly communicate in and between Gaelic, Scots and English often switching mid-sentence all of which brings a richness to communication that lends itself to a celebration of words whether written, spoken or sung.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.