DGWGO’s RB attended 2 of this year’s Dumfries and Galloway Libraries Book Week Scotland Celebrations held last week, and had a fantastic time at both.
RB said “The first event I went to was the first official event to be held in the newly refurbished Theatre Royal, Dumfries, an evening with leading fiction writers Helen Fitzgerald and Karen Campbell.
The event was extremely well attended with around 70 guests there to see both of these fantastic writers talk about their books and do some readings from them. We all sat on the stage in the theatre , which I think in many ways added a great atmosphere to the whole evening. After a brief introduction to both authors by John Cairns, Theatre Royal Arts Programmer, we were treated to a reading from Helen , who is a bestselling Novelist and Screenwriter. Her latest book The Cry has received wide critical acclaim. The TV rights to her next novel Viral, which Helen read from, due out in 2016, have already been purchased by the producers of Broadchurch. Helen is an Australian, and she really doesn’t mess about, her style of reading and writing is very gripping, very gritty and quite adult from the language that was involved. After hearing her reading a few pages of her newest novel, I was gripped and I will definitely be buying one of her books to read the next time I go on holiday.
Next up was Karen, who is a Scottish writer now living in Gatehouse of Fleet here in Dumfries & Galloway. Her experience as a Police Officer inspired her four Glasgow crimebooks and won her a Best New Scottish Writer Award. Her fifth book ‘This is Where I am’ was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and her latest novel ‘Rise’ is set in a mythical Highland village called Kilmacarra with a backdrop of the Referendum and the sustainable energy debate. Karen read to us twice from two of her novels, both very realistic and gripping stories, from the brief readings we heard. Her story telling carried me away to the terrorist attack at Glasgow Airport a few years ago, with flash backs of all the news clippings and stories going through my mind while she unfolded her story to us. This type of realistic writing, set around true events but giving a story from a different point of view is what good novels are all about, and hearing both Karen and Helen read to us, has truly inspired me to pick up a book and read, instead of watching TV late at night.”
John Cairns, Arts Programmer, said “We are delighted to welcome Book Week Scotland as one of our first events in the re-furbished Theatre Royal. Hosting an event with two such experienced and interesting writers is an exciting new development for the Theatre. It is also appropriate for this first event to be a partnership between the Theatre and Dumfries and Galloway Library Service with whom we hope to work with very closely in future.”
The Second event I attended was something out of this world, or to put it more directly, set in another realm. This was ‘Sara Bain’ Thornhill based author of ‘The Ghost Tree’ teamed up with the amazing Mostly Ghostly team, for a Ghost Talk in Kirkcudbright Library.
Sara’s latest book ‘The Ghost tree’ is loosely based on the “true account” of the Mackie, poltergeist which haunted a stonemason and his family for a few months in 1695, which is a well documented 17th century haunting in Auchencairn. The book was published by Urbane Publications on 1 October 2015, and is a contemporary paranormal mystery set in Dumfries and Galloway.
With an audience of about 10 of us in the warm, welcoming library, Sara introduced herself and Kathleen Cronie from Mostly Ghostly, she then went on to tell us about her book, and the story that inspired it. It was a very relaxed event and both Sara and Kathleen were very keen to have the whole audience join in the conversation and talk about local ghost stories, folk stories and legends. At some points not only did the hosts feel a chill up their spine with the stories from the audience, but I am quite sure I felt a drop in temperature and saw a flickering of the lights, especially when the Kirkcudbright Librarian told us about the haunting of the library itself, and how on many occasions something can be heard moving chairs and books when the building is empty.
It was a fantastic evening and great fun which was finished off with a book signing by Sara and a chance to speak to her and Kathleen in person.
If you have any local D&G ghost stories or if you have a ghost of your very own the team from Mostly Ghostly investigations would love to hear from you. You can contact them on their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mostlyghostlyinvestigations/?fref=ts
Sara Bains Book the Ghost Tree can be purchased online on this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghost-Tree-Sara-Bain/dp/1910692247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449085228&sr=8-1&keywords=the+ghost+tree+by+sara+bain
Helen Fitzgeralds Books can be purchased online on this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Helen+Fitzgerald+books
Karen Campbell’s Books can be purchased online on this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Karen+Campbell+books&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AKaren+Campbell+books
Photos and Writing by RB
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