THE poets laureate of the UK, Scotland and Wales appearing together, an insider's look at the phone-hacking scandal and a host of top Scottish writers, are among the highlights of this year's Glasgow book festival, Aye Write!
William McIlvanney, AL Kennedy, Richard Holloway, William Boyd and Alexander McCall Smith will appear at the festival, which takes place at the city's Mitchell Library from March 9 to 17.
With a focus on current affairs, revolution, fiction, football and notable anniversaries, the festival, for which The Herald and Sunday Herald are media partners, will also include the launch of Scotland's Bookshelf, celebrating the nation's literary heritage of the past 100 years.
The opening event, titled News International and Me, features Tom Watson MP discussing his new book about his role exposing the phone-hacking scandal. It is paired with another event on the future of the media.
On March 16 there will be a joint appearance by Carol Ann Duffy, the UK's poet laureate, the Scots Makar Liz Lochhead and Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales. Duffy will read from her Costa-nominated collection The Bees while Clarke will read from her collection of poems A Recipe for Water. Lochhead will discuss A Choosing, a collection of her selected works.
The full Aye Write! programme will be included in The Herald tomorrow and the Sunday Herald on February 5.
Councillor George Redmond, chairman of Glasgow Life, which runs Glasgow museums, galleries and libraries, said: "Aye Write! has been growing in popularity with each year and you only have to look at this year's line-up to appreciate the range of events and authors.
"From the opening event which discusses one of the most hotly anticipated books of the year to appearances from the Poet Laureate and the Children's Laureate to some of Britain's favourite authors, Aye Write! has something for everyone."
This year's city read will see thousands of books containing extracts from Scottish writing from the past 100 years made available in city libraries.
A panel of experts has also been tasked with choosing two books from each decade, to come up with 20 titles for Scotland's Bookshelf. The choices of Herald's literary editor Rosemary Goring, Karen Cunningham, the head of Glasgow Libraries and director of Aye Write! and Professor Willy Maley of Glasgow University will be debated on March 10.
Other festival highlights include a celebration of Angela Carter, the writer, artist and commentator who died 20 years ago. The event on March 17 includes contributions from Susannah Clapp, the literary executor for Carter and author of A Card from Angela Carter.
There is a strong football presence in this year's festival.
Celtic legend Dixie Deans will talk on March 12 about "My Life in Football" and the previous day the football scene in Glasgow will be discussed by Richard Wilson, sports writer for The Herald and author of Inside the Divide. He will be joined by Alan Bissett, author of Pack Men, and Rodge Glass, author of the forthcoming novel Bring Me The Head of Ryan Giggs.
Willam Boyd will be talking about his latest novel on March 10, while March 12 will see the celebration of "George Wyllie at 90". Wyllie, is the subject of a year-long festival celebrating his work, and the Aye Write! event will include presentations of work and extracts from his play A Day Down a Goldmine.
Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson, Children's Laureate, will host an event on March 17 for children of five years and over.
l Tickets can be purchased through www.ayewrite.com or by calling 0141 353 8000 or from the Mitchell Library.
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