Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Festivals & Workshops: Aye Write!

Have you decided to attend a writing festival this year? Elaine Roberts brings us another in her series on Festivals and Workshops this month travelling north of the border to Glasgow to talk with event programmer Bob McDevitt about Aye Write!




Welcome Bob, can you tell us something about your festival, how it came about and how long it’s been running?


This is the twelfth year of Aye Write. It came about as an initiative from Glasgow Libraries who felt
Bob McDevitt
that a large cultural city like Glasgow should have its own book festival. We have over 250 authors attending and welcome close to 20,000 visitors each year. The festival features everything from debut authors to best-selling household names and has sessions on fiction and poetry as well as non-fiction areas such as politics, music, sport, science, history and memoir.

Who are your main speakers this year?

Peter Davison, Joanna Trollope, Alan Johnson, Vince Cable, AL Kennedy, Jackie Kay, John Byrne, Val McDermid, Jo Nesbo, Miranda Sawyer, The Rev Richard Coles, Richard Dannatt.

As our blog is for writers can you tell me how your festival would benefit our members?

We run a series of creative writing events across the festival (about 20 session in all) covering a wide range of skills from writing dialogue and creating character to writing humorous and historical novels. These are delivered by tutors from Strathclyde and Caledonian Universities as well as published authors.

Is there anything to enter, if so could details be provided?

We don’t have any prizes or competitions I’m afraid, but we do close the festival with The Great Scottish Books Quiz.

How about staying over for the whole event. Where can people stay?

Glasgow is a big city with many Hotel, B&B and Airbnb options.

What does it cost to attend?

We have lots of free events and the ticketed sessions start at £6 (up to £12). The Creative Writing
sessions are £15 but last from 2-3hours.

Do workshops/talks fill up quickly?

Yes, the Creative Writing sessions are always among the first to sell out.



How much time does it take to organise the festival?

I start in September and deliver the programme in January.

What are the dates for this year:


This year we have Wee Write (for children and YA) 25th Feb – 4th March and Aye Write 9th – 19th

March. Dates for next year have not been confirmed yet.

Website: www.ayewrite.com

Email for queries: ayewrite@glasgowlife.org.uk



About Elaine:
Elaine is a member of the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme and is currently working on a family saga. She has sold short stories worldwide and enjoys attending RNA events such as the London chapter and our annual conference. Elaine is a great fan of writing retreats either week long by the sea with friends or one-day retreats with fellow writers in her home town of Dartford. Elaine runs a writing blog along with writer, Francesca Capaldi Burgess called WriteMindWritePlace.





Thank you, Elaine. What an interesting event and so many good speakers!


If you would like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

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