A Festival of Words
On Friday 26th April the festival will open at Perth Museum and Art Gallery with crime writers Denzil Meyrick, Neil Broadfoot and Douglas Skelton in conversation about setting the scene in crime writing and beyond.
At the AK Bell Library on Friday night, Professor Kirsteen McCue will present the annual Soutar Lecture, looking at how Soutar's experience and theories of 'Dreams' played their part in his growing stature as a published poet.
>Saturday 27th AprilThe festival continues on Saturday 27th April and a younger audience can enjoy the festival at the AK Bell Library on Saturday morning as staff present storytime and Bookbug Rhymetime sessions with a difference, presenting the sessions Gaelic and Scots.
Award-winning author Alex Gray will be hosting a creative writing workshop at the AK Bell Library for keen writers looking to take that next step.
At Perth Museum and Art Gallery, illustrator Kate Leiper will create and develop characters in a fun workshop for both children and adults.
In addition on Saturday morning, there is a chance to catch a screening of The Garden Beyond, produced by Douglas Eadie,a dramatised enactment of the life of William Soutar, originally made for the BBC Omnibus programme in the 1970s.
At Perth Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday afternoon, local author Ajay Close will lead a discussion of the unique, passionate and sometimes bittersweet bond between a mother and daughter.
Big time publishers Tippermuir Books, Red Squirrel Press and Big Dog Books will be taking part in a publisher panel to help and inspire budding authors.
At the AK Bell Library, author Susi Briggs will go on a diddle daddle journey to find stories, music and wee pixies as she explores the beauty that is the Scots language.
Saturday will be capped off with a visit from award-winning author Bernard MacLaverty at the Soutar Theatre in the AK Bell Library. Forty years on from his first book, Bernard will be reading from his most recent work and discussing his life as a writer.
>Sunday 28th AprilOn Sunday the festival will celebrate emerging authors with a visit from three of Scotland’s newest and most exciting authors; Conner McAleese, Tracey Emerson and Liz MacWhirter, as they look to inspire anyone thinking about writing or publishing their first book.
On Sunday afternoon, Hotchpotch appear in Perth for the first time, with a chance for writers, readers and listeners to react creatively to current affairs at an open mic event.
The Festival draws to a close on Sunday evening with a special performance of Perth Chamber choir Chansons in St John’s Kirk. Chansons will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary on Sunday with a specially commissioned suite of songs to words by William Soutar from Edinburgh composer Tom Cunningham.
The choir’s celebratory concert “Voice and Verse” on Sunday evening will include the world première performance of this attractive work. Full details of this event can be found on the choir’s website.
As part of the Soutar festival, poet Jon Plunkett has a 6 week poet in residency working with the community to promote the festival and produce a commissioned piece that will be performed during the festival.
>*** >Full details of the festival can be found on the Culture Perth and Kinross website. >The Soutar Festival of Words will run from 26>th - 28>th April 2019. >The Soutar Festival of Words is kindly supported by The Friends of William Soutar, The Jimmie Cairncross Trust and The Forteviot Trust.