New bus tour serving up city's literary fare

Published on Monday 26 June 2006 12:29

A NEW bus tour has been launched to celebrate the growing popularity of the city's literary greats. The Edinburgh Literary Bus Tour has been set up by the organisers of the city's successful pub tour, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Bosses behind the Edinburgh City of Literature organisation have welcomed the arrival of the new tour as further proof of growing interest in literature in Edinburgh since it was given the designation of a Unesco world city of literature in 2004. Actors will perform a one-hour script on the bus as it moves between locations, with examples of the work of authors from past and present included in the script.

Among the authors to feature will be David Hume, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Muriel Spark, Alexander McCall Smith and Ian Rankin.

The script will take in some of the work of the classic writers as the bus arrives at significant locations associated with them.

Among the landmarks to feature will be the Scott Monument, the Burns statue at Calton cemetery and the Dugald Stewart statue on Calton Hill.

Tourists will also be taken to the Burke & Hare pub in the Grassmarket, where literary greats including William Wordsworth and Scott are believed to have visited, and the former home of Robert Louis Stevenson on Heriot Row.

It will also refer to how Ian Rankin has been inspired by the sense of location in Edinburgh and how Muriel Spark's love of the city helped her create her most famous work, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Morris Paton, the managing director of the Scottish Literary Trust Ltd, believes that launching the bus tour is a sign of the growing interest in Edinburgh writers.

He said: "When we were doing these pub tours at first not that many people were interested. We used to sometimes get only six or seven on the tour per night but now it's booming.

"It shows what arts can bring to tourism and how it can provide something sustainable.

"There's been such a renewed interest in Scottish literature generally, especially some of the contemporary writers, that it has taken off and there's huge demand for things like this.

"We'll be looking at some of the key historical figures but we'll also address a lot of the top contemporary writers like Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and Muriel Spark.

"We'll try to find the proper context for their work within the city. Muriel Spark talked of the Edinburgh of her youth as being a city of 'books and learning' so we are trying to look at why the city is inspiring in the tour."

Mr Paton hopes that the tour will attract a more family-orientated audience than the existing pub tour, as well as being more suitable to people with mobility problems.

He insists that the tour, which will run twice daily, will be a theatrical experience to be enjoyed by tourists and local people, and will be nothing like a traditional bus tour.

The arrival of the literary bus tour has been welcomed as a valuable addition to the projects that explore the city's literary worth.

Anna Burkey, a spokeswoman for Edinburgh City of Literature, said: "We support the launch of the bus tour on Wednesday. Any event that supports literature in the city is very positive.

"It is a high priority for people to see the literary heritage we have in Edinburgh.

"It is excellent to see this kind of literary event happening.

"There's been a great rise in interest in Edinburgh's literary heritage since the Unesco designation and there have been a number of new initiatives, which is great news."