Nicola Sturgeon tells audience she hopes to spend more time at book festivals

Nicola Sturgeon said she hoped to spend more time at book festivals just days after announcing she would be stepping down as Scotland’s First Minister.

The politician chaired a discussion with author Chitra Ramaswamy at the Paisley Book Festival on Friday evening, Ms Sturgeon’s first public appearance since her bombshell announcement she would leave Bute House.

“I love attending book festivals, I have had the privilege of speaking to a number of authors at book festivals over the years and I should say I am looking forward to attending more book festivals in the future,” the outgoing First Minister said, who added she was looking forward to some “quieter” weeks to come.

During her time as First Minister, as well as her high profile role in UK politics, she has chaired discussions at a number of book festivals and her love of reading saw book recommendations becoming a regular feature on her Twitter feed.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Paisley Book Festival in Renfrewshire, where she chaired a discussion with author Chitra Ramaswamy about her book Home Lands. Picture date: Friday February 17, 2023.

During the hour-long talk at the University of the West of Scotland about Ms Ramaswamy’s Homelands: The history Of A friendship, which tells of the the former Scotsman reporter’s friendship with Holocaust survivor Henry Wuga, now 98, Ms Sturgeon was praised for her stance on refugees.

“I believe that anybody that comes to live in this country, for whatever reason, has a home here and that’s how we should view these things,” she said.

The audience, of which there was standing room only, kept their questions to the Ms Ramaswamy’s book, but it might not be long before Ms Sturgeon she releases her own, having told the BBC last month she was “almost certain” to write her memoirs after she left the top job.

“I’d love to write, I’d love to go and work with young people in a different way to how I’ve done it now. I’ve spoken about personal things I’d like to do,” she told Radio 4’s PM.

“I sometimes regret that I have not kept a detailed diary throughout all of my years. Will I write a memoir? Almost certainly, even if it is just for therapy for myself. Whether anybody will want to publish it is a different matter.

“I’m sure at one point I will get it all out there. So anybody listening who might feel they have to beware, there’s some warning for you.”