Literary Events We Have Attended This Year (So Far)!

Posted on July 12, 2021 in Scotland

Graphic features a reclining young woman with brown skin, black hair, blue jeans and white top who is reading a book. Graphic reads Society of Young Publishers Scotland. Literary events we have attended this year blog post.

As surprising as it may be, we love books at SYP Scotland! So some of the committee have shared our thoughts below on recent literary events we attended in the past few months.

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Sonali Misra (Co-chair)

In January 2021, I attended a University of Glasgow’s Creative Conversations session with Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of My Sister, the Serial Killer. Braithwaite was in conversation with author and UoG professor, Louise Welsh. I’d recently read the book and was excited to get a peek behind-the-scenes of writing and publishing the thriller set in contemporary Nigeria. A point that made a lasting impact on me was Braithwaite emphasising how collaborative an author’s relationship is with their agent and editor. Braithwaite had other ideas for a title, but it was her agent (if I recall correctly, and not her editor!) who recommended the eventual title. Braithwaite was hesitant at first because she didn’t want to give away the entire plot within the title, but agreed in the session that it worked out for the best — and I wholeheartedly agree too! It’s a must-read, and the title is so snappy and cool.

Grace Balfour-Harle (Co-chair)

While it’s been great with there being so many events online, it sometimes can be a little overwhelming and zoom fatigue is real! So I haven’t been to too many online events in the past year, but the one thing I haven’t missed is my monthly work book club. Once a month we get together to talk all things bookish – sometimes even discussing the book that we were supposed to read! I’ve gotten to read a bunch of books that were on my TBR list and some that I never would have picked up on my own! Our most recent read was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, and next month is The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz which I am really excited about! We’ve added an element of mystery to our choices for the month this year as we don’t know who chose each novel and have to guess! It’s just really lovely to get together and chat with people who also live books – some of whom I would never have gotten to speak to normally as they work in a totally different part of the business.

Frances Rowbottom (Conference Lead)

In May of this year I attended a fantastic online literary event, organised by Edinburgh’s Portobello Bookshop. This was a series of readings by authors who had been shortlisted for the ‘Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses’, and it was captivating to hear an array of voices and writing styles. The prize was awarded to Jacaranda Books and Shola von Reinhold, for their work, ‘LOTE’, which I promptly bought from the Bookshop! Von Reinhold will also be part of a discussion at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this summer.

Kathryn Haldane (Communications Officer)

One of the few positives to come out of the past year has been the huge number of brilliant and accessible book events hosted online. A favourite of mine was the discussion between Bernardine Evaristo and Nicola Sturgeon at last year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, about Bernardine’s Booker Prize-winning novel Girl, Woman, Other. It was a fascinating event that delved into Bernardine’s long and varied career that led up to the publication of Girl, Woman, Other, and her work spotlighting Black British women in her novels. Girl, Woman, Other is a brilliant novel that tells the stories of 12 very different Black women, that explores the intersections of race, class, and sexuality, and was undoubtedly one of my favourite books of 2019, so it was lovely to hear Bernardine speak more about her inspiration and writing process.

Beth Ralston (Treasurer)

When I started my MSc in Publishing at Edinburgh Napier University last September, I did not expect the entire course to be virtual. And yet here we are, a few short weeks away from dissertation hand-in, and I have yet to set foot on campus! But thanks to so many bookish events now taking place online, I’ve still been able to immerse myself in the publishing world…from the comfort of my sofa. One of my favourite events last year was The Bookseller Children’s Conference, which celebrated the resilience of children’s publishing after a truly turbulent year – but without shying away from serious issues in the industry, such as the lack of diversity and accessibility. After four days of important and insightful talks from children’s publishers, authors and illustrators, I certainly had a lot to think about.

Hollie Monaghan (Communications Officer)

Way back in February, I attended the fantastic Working Class Lives in Fiction event at the virtual Paisley Book Festival. The event was hosted by Julie Rea and featured Scottish writer Ely Percy talking about their new book Duck Feet (which is written in Scots). Duck Feet was published by Edinburgh-based indie publisher Monstrous Regiment and is a wonderful read that I would definitely recommend. The main topics of discussion were: the perceived ‘legitimacy’ of the Scots language, funding and grants for Scottish books, and favourite Scots language books. The entire event was very welcoming and friendly – it was like two good pals having a chat – and the chat box was jumping! We are very lucky indeed to have so many great book festivals in Scotland.