Monday 14 August 2017

THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL 2017

I can put this on my CV now, having had a great weekend there where I was involved in not one but two readings. 

Firstly, as part of LitLong’s event in Greenhouse 2 on George Street on Saturday. I read my story from the collection ‘Umbrella’s of Edinburgh’. I was there with the lovely and ever effervescent Finolla Scott, and Jane Anderson whose Edinburgh story is just brilliant, and Marianne MacRae whose poetry is just so fine and so beautiful. Reading was great fun – we were each given a ten minute slot. I kept my introduction to a minimum so that I could read the whole story… and that turned out to be a good decision – loved reading the whole piece and it was well received.

That was Saturday; on Sunday I was back at the book festival reading at StoryShop in the Spiegeltent. This was another ten minute thing, but this time it was just me. I squeezed in a wee intro before reading to set the scene and to let the audience tune in to my voice. The event was well attended, though 20 minutes before we went live there was no one at all in the Spiegeltent and I was a little concerned. It filled up in the last five minutes. The reading went very well and the audience was as quiet and attentive as could be hoped for… held is what they were, and then loud in their applause – thank you to them. Had fun reading and was told afterwards that as well as the live audience, about 150 had tuned in on Periscope to hear the recording and a further 10 immediately replayed the recording after hearing it the first time.


Really love reading to an audience. And what better place to do this than at The Edinburgh International Book Festival. So glad to have been given these opportunities.


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