Literary festival is a first for Midlothian

Midlothian's first literary festival will be held at Newbattle Abbey College, Dalkeith

The festival of words, stories and ideas, organised by the college, Midlothian Council, Social Enterprise Alliance Midlothian, Queen Margaret University, the Scottish Mining Museum and local writers’ groups, will focus on engaging with children, young people and families living in Midlothian through a two-day diverse programme.

It will be the first time Midlothian will have hosted a literary festival. The event is supported by international construction and property consultancy; Thomas & Adamson.

An event targeting invited primary schools in Midlothian will take place on the Friday morning.

Friday evening’s sold-out event will see the college host Karine Polwart and Jackie Kay. Karine is a Pathhead-based songwriter, theatre maker, author and winner of the 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of The Year award. Joining Karine will be Scots poet and novelist Jackie Kay MBE, FRSE. Jackie is the third modern Makar, the Scottish poet laureate. The evening will be a celebration of Scotland in words and song, reflecting the importance of poetry, storytelling and song to Scotland.

On Saturday there will be a diverse programme of events for all ages including Gaelic storytelling, poetry and writing showcases, script-writing, and rap/hip-hop workshops, contemporary fiction and crime panels. All events are free and tickets can be obtained via Eventbrite – https://newbattleabbeycollege.eventbrite.co.uk

“We hope that this initiative will be the first of many and will extend cultural opportunities in Midlothian for people of all ages” said Marian Docherty, Principal, Newbattle Abbey College.

To view the event programme please log on to: https://www.newbattleabbeycollege.ac.uk/literally/