Packed programme for book festival

Tickets are selling fast for the events that will make up this year’s Spirit of Moray book festival.

The festival, which runs from September 13 to 17 at Elgin library, offers the perfect blend of new and established Scottish authors and illustrators during a packed programme to suit children, schools, families and adults.

This year’s line-up will not only encourage debate, discussion and humour but will hopefully also inspire new writing.

The five-day programme will include appearances by top authors Val McDerrmid, Stuart MacBride, Chris Brookmyre, Mairi Hedderwick and David Torrance.

Mystery fiction has become the most popular genre among borrowers from libraries in Moray, with Stuart MacBride topping the list of most borrowed titles in the past year and he will feature during the festival’s Saturday evening programme.

Val McDermid will be making her festival debut and will be ‘Killing People for Fun and Profit’ on the Friday evening.

Two events have been introduced for young people outwith the schools’ programme featuring John Fardell and Pamela Butchart. Pamela was overall winner of this year’s Children’s Book Award and her book ‘My Head Teacher is a Vampire Rat’ won the category for book for young readers.

Whole families are being encouraged to join in the Saturday morning Bookbug Picnic for stories, rhymes and songs.

Tickets are £5 for adult sessions and £3 for children’s public sessions and are available at www.moray.gov.uk/moraybookfestival or from Elgin library.

Cobbs Café will again be extending its opening hours to provide light suppers before the evening events.

Moray Council area stretches from Tomintoul in the south to the shores of the Moray Firth, from Keith in the east to Forres in the west. The council and its 4,500 employees respond to the needs of 95,510 residents in this beautiful part of Scotland, which nestles between Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.

Famous for its colony of dolphins, fabulous beaches and more malt whisky distilleries than any where else in Scotland, Moray is a thriving area and a great place to live.

Headquartered in  Elgin, the administrative capital of Moray.