New book festival director 'has to keep championing Scottish writers'

Published on Monday 3 August 2009 22:04

A FUTURE director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival should embrace the organisation's unique ties to Scottish writers to keep its pole position on the literary scene, the boss of its biggest rival said yesterday.

Hay Literary Festival director Peter Florence spoke as a first deadline passed for applications for the pivotal job of the Edinburgh festival's director.

One name circulating in the literary world yesterday was Geraldine D'Amico, who runs the little-known Jewish Book Week in London. Others seen as serious candidates ranged from Mary Shields, long-time programme director of the Assembly Theatre on the Fringe, to Andrew Kelly, programmer of Glasgow's Aye Write! festival.

Mr Florence paid a warm tribute yesterday to former festival director Catherine Lockerbie, who left this year after a period of illness. He said the successful candidate "should have as many of her attributes as possible".

While big international writers turned up at all the major festivals, he said, Edinburgh was far more keyed into its national literary network.

The festival needed to help export rising Scottish literary stars, he said. "The thing Edinburgh (does] better than anybody else in the world is engage and support Scottish writers."

The book festival's website says the job involves "building lasting partnerships with writers, funders and other arts organisations nationally and internationally, and identifying new ways of maintaining our position at the centre of the world's attention". It is hoped a new director will be in place in time to shape the 2010 programme.

Ms D'Amico could not be reached for comment yesterday. She is little known in Scotland, but her small but formidable nine-day London festival this spring included writers such as Amos Oz, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, as well as Glasgow-born J David Simons, with his first novel The Credit Draper. One insider called her "the best programme director" in Britain.

Other names floated yesterday included Alex Clarke, who stepped down in May as editor of the literary journal Granta.

Novelist James Runcie, son of the archbishop of Canterbury, an Edinburgh resident and director of the Bath Literary Festival, was also mentioned. But having just accepted the Bath job in April, he is seen as an unlikely contender.

Michael Schmidt, convener of Glasgow University's creative writing programme, said the job required someone "deeply literate", but with established contacts with writers, agents, and publishers, and a good sense of issues of the day.

IN THE RUNNING FOR PRIZE POST

&#149 Geraldine D'Amico: Director of Jewish Book Week, a small but exclusive London festival that takes place in February, she was former publicity director for Harvill, Vintage and Pimlico.

&#149 James Runcie: A novelist, filmmaker and journalist, he was appointed artistic director of Bath Literature Festival this spring. His film for ITV, J K Rowling: A Year in the Life is being distributed internationally, while his latest novel, East Fortune, was published in April.

&#149 Alex Clark: Named the first woman editor of Granta magazine in September, Clark was promoted from deputy editor after her boss left in a period of rapid turnover at the literary flagship.

&#149 Andrew Kelly: Programmer at Glasgow's Aye Write! books festival, which drew 35,000 visitors to its hub at the Mitchell Library this year.

Kelly also oversaw Bristol's Capital of Culture bid last year.

&#149 Mary Shields: A long-time programme director of the Fringe's giant Assembly Theatre venue, Shields is a well-connected Festival veteran and this year has been an artistic adviser to Homecoming Scotland.