6pm

Peter Mackay: Our First Gaelic Makar

Chaired by Iseabail Mactaggart

Round Church, Bowmore

Scotland’s first native Gaelic speaking Makar, Pàdraig MacAoidh (Peter Mackay), will open the book festival in conversation with Islay’s own Iseabail Mactaggart. Expect a wide-ranging conversation about poetry, Peter’s birthplace of Lewis, and Scotland’s diverse languages, as well as Peter’s role as Makar in promoting poetry in Scotland and around the world.

A poet, broadcaster, translator and lecturer, Peter has two collections with Acair – Galore (2015) and Some Kind of (2020) – and a pamphlet, From another island (2010), with Clutag Press. Originally from the Isle of Lewis, he lives in Edinburgh and works in the School of English at the University of St Andrews. He was appointed Scottish Makar in 2024.

Iseabail, whose wide ranging career includes experience in Gaelic media and the arts, recently stepped into the role of conductor of the Ceòlraidh Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (Glasgow Gaelic Choir). 

Tickets: £5

Sponsored by the Scottish Book Trust

Please note that there are no lavatory facilities at this venue

Free refreshments after the session sponsored by The Islay Whisky Shop

8pm

Hamza Yassin: Homeward Bound

Chaired by Peter Roberts

Round Church, Bowmore

Renowned wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin will talk with Peter Roberts about his new memoir, Homeward Bound.  Released early for our festival, Homeward Bound tells the story of Hamza’s love of the outdoors. From his struggles in the classroom to the realisation that his dyslexia allowed him to see the world in a different way; from his passion for nature first inspired by a forward-thinking teacher who encouraged him to run round the field before a lesson; to his day job filming wildlife – Hamza’s memoir is packed with charming personal stories and fascinating insights, and will help you see nature in new ways.

Hamza has filmed for BBC and Channel 4 wildlife documentaries and is a regular presenter on BBC’s Countryfile and Animal Park. He is known as Ranger Hamza on the CBeebies live-action shows Let’s Go For A Walk and Ranger Hamza’s Eco Quest. 

He has published two books: Be a Birder: The joy of birdwatching and how to get started and Hamza’s Wild World, the latter a children’s book with a dyslexia-friendly layout.  (You also might remember him as the winner of 2022’s Strictly Come Dancing.)

In addition to this talk, geared toward adults, Hamza also will lead a family nature discovery event in Bridgend Woods at 2pm on Saturday (see “Fun in the woods with Ranger Hamza” below).

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.

Please note that there are no lavatory facilities at this venue

Join us beforehand for Peter Mackay’s talk at 6pm or come a few minutes early to enjoy refreshments between the two events, sponsored by the Islay Whisky Shop!

2pm

Andrew Meehan : Best Friends

Chaired by Caroline Sanderson

Little Charlotte’s Café, Port Ellen

Andrew Meehan talks about his new novel, Best Friends. It starts when we meet June, who cleans houses, and Ray, a janitor at the public tennis courts. But he’s not romantic material, and she’s not even friend material. A feel-good story and the book Meehan feels most passionate about, Best Friends is about regular folk navigating new love and old age. Described as “Sally Rooney for pensioners”, the novel has been called “beautiful, tender and insightful…full of heart with dazzling prose.”

Andrew Meehan lives in Glasgow and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde. He is the author of three novels: One Star Awake (New Island), Instant Fires (New Island) and The Mystery of Love (Head of Zeus). Meehan was for many years Head of Development at the Irish Film Board and is a frequent contributor to arts programmes on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.

3pm

Natalie Jayne Clark: The Malt Whisky Murders

Chaired by Adam Hannett

Bruichladdich Distillery

Over a bespoke whisky tasting with Adam Hannett, head distiller at Bruichladdich Distillery, Natalie Jayne Clark talks about her darkly comic crime novel, The Malt Whisky Murders, shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize 2025.  Set in Campbeltown, it features Eilidh and her wife Morag, who hope to run the first women-owned distillery in Scotland – until a grisly, decades-old secret is revealed in some old barrels.

A neurodivergent writer, editor and producer based in Perth, Natalie writes for SNACK Magazine and is the Assistant Producer for StAnza Poetry Festival.  She is also a certified whisky ambassador.

Tickets: £20

Over-18s only; proof of age may be required.

Places are limited; advance booking is essential. Please note the room in which this event will take place is accessed via a short flight of stairs; do get in touch if this would prevent you from attending.

6pm

Graeme Macrae Burnet: A Case of Matricide

Chaired by Charlène Busalli

St John’s Church, Port Ellen

The award-winning novelist Graeme Macrae Burnet will join us on Islay for a chat about his incredible body of work. The Kilmarnock-born author will be in conversation with translator and Islay Book Festival Chair, Charlène Busalliand will discuss his latest work, A Case of Matricide, which is the concluding chapter of his Gorski novels set in the French town of Saint-Louis.

Graeme is the author of five novels: His Bloody Project, Case Study and the Gorski trilogy, the final part of which was published in October 2024. His Bloody Project won the Saltire Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for various awards including the 2016 Booker prize. Case Study was longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize. Benbecula, a novella written for Polygon’s Darklands series, will publish later on this year.

Tickets: £5

Sponsored by the Scottish Book Trust

Free refreshments between Graeme Macrae Burnet’s and Len Pennie’s sessions sponsored by Campbells of Islay

8pm

Len Pennie: poyums

Chaired by Natalie Jayne Clark

St John’s Church, Port Ellen

Len Pennie brings her Instagram-famous wit and wisdom to Islay in conversation with fellow writer Natalie Jayne Clark. A poet who writes predominantly in the Scots language, Len will share a few of her passionate, funny poems as she discusses poetry, the importance of promoting minority languages, and the destigmatisation of mental illness. 

Len’s debut collection, poyums, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller, winning Scots Book O The Year 2024. The title was also shortlisted for the 2025 Books Are My Bag Awards, won the Discover Award at the 2025 British Book Awards, and was the best-selling debut poetry title of 2024. Len’s second collection, poyums annaw, will be published by Canongate on September 25th.

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.

Free refreshments between Graeme Macrae Burnet’s and Len Pennie’s sessions sponsored by Campbells of Islay

9am-10.30am

Screen printing workshop with Jane Smith

RSPB Loch Gruinart

Jane Smith, wildlife filmmaker, artist and author, will lead a group in screen printing techniques at this interactive workshop. Building on her work creating wildlife art from her home on the west coast of Scotland, Jane will share some of the ways in which she uses art to communicate her passion for the natural world.

This workshop will be followed by a conversation between Jane and Lord Robertson about her newest book, Community (details below). Please note, both events must be booked separately.

Ticket: £20 (includes materials)

Places are limited; advance booking is essential

11am

Jane Smith: Community

Chaired by Lord Robertson

RSPB Loch Gruinart

Nature artist Jane Smith travelled to ten locations in the west of Scotland, including Islay, exploring the interaction of people and wildlife for her latest book, Community. Discussing these journeys with Islay Book Festival Patron, Lord Robertson, Jane will share her encounters with communities regenerating their own landscapes, and a host of people whose lives are inextricably bound up with questions of sustainability, conservation and land ownership.  

Jane became a wildlife film maker for the BBC Natural History Unit and National Geographic after gaining a degree in Zoology. She won an Emmy for her work and has also appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day. 

This conversation is preceded by an interactive workshop on screen printing techniques – to be booked separately – where Jane will share some of the ways in which she uses art to communicate her passion for the natural world (details above).

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.

2pm

Fun in the woods with Hamza Yassin

Bridgend Woods

Come along to Bridgend Woods on Saturday for a special afternoon with Hamza Yassin, author and presenter of CBeebies nature programme, Let’s Go For A Walk. Expect plenty of fun and adventure at this exciting event which is suitable for the whole family. 

Hamza Yassin is a wildlife cameraman, photographer and presenter.  He has filmed for BBC and Channel 4 wildlife documentaries, is a regular presenter on BBC’s Countryfile and Animal Park, and is known as Ranger Hamza on the CBeebies live-action shows Let’s Go For A Walk and Ranger Hamza’s Eco Quest. He has published two books: Be a Birder: The joy of birdwatching and how to get started and Hamza’s Wild World, the latter a children’s book with a dyslexia-friendly layout.

Tickets: Free, but advance booking essential

2pm-5.30pm

Let Markus Stitz Take You for a Ride

Chaired by brian palmer

Three Distilleries Path, followed by The Machrie, Port Ellen

Enjoy a social ride from Port Ellen – the first place in Scotland where Markus Stitz arrived back from cycling the world! – along the Three Distilleries Path and back, with a renowned ultra-long distance cyclist. After the ride, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of Markus over refreshments at the Machrie, and will view a short film that complements his newest cycling guidebook, Gravel Rides Cairngorms & Perthshire, which showcases 15 of the finest gravel cycling routes through the Cairngorms National Park, Perthshire, and the Angus Glens.

Tickets: £20 (including refreshments)

Places are limited; advance booking is essential.

Bicycles, if you don’t have your own, supplied courtesy of Islay E-Wheels from their premises behind No 1 Charlotte Street.

6pm

Rory Cellan-Jones: Sophie from Romania

Chaired by Caroline Sanderson

Round Church, Bowmore

BBC veteran Rory Cellan-Jones, who left the role of principal technology correspondent in 2021, will talk with writer and associate editor of The Bookseller Caroline Sanderson about his work, his reporting on medical innovation and Parkinson’s, and his rescue dog Sophie, immortalised in his recent book Sophie from Romania: A Year of Love and Hope with a Rescue Dog. The paperback edition of Sophie from Romania will be released early for our festival.

Rory worked for the BBC for forty years. Today, he is co-presenter of a podcast about Parkinson’s, Movers and Shakers, which was named Podcast of the Year by the Broadcasting Press Guild in 2024. He published his first memoir, Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC in 2023, followed by Sophie from Romania in 2024.

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.

11.30am

Jen Stout: Night Train to Odesa

Chaired by Glenn Campbell

Bruichladdich Hall

In conversation with political editor for BBC Scotland Glenn Campbell, Jen Stout will discuss her book Night Train to Odesa, which recounts her experiences as a reporter covering the human cost of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Jen left Moscow abruptly when Russia invaded Ukraine, ending up on a border post in southeast Romania as she continued to report about people on front lines and in cities across Ukraine: stories of night trains, birthday parties, military hospitals and bunkers. Through her reporting on individuals and relationships, Jen sought to understand questions of identity, history, hopes and fears in this region of Europe.  

An award-winning journalist and author from Shetland, Jen’s reporting on Russia’s war against Ukraine was shortlisted for prizes by Amnesty International, the Foreign Press Association, and the Scottish Press Awards. Night Train to Odesa, her debut non-fiction book, was named First Book of the Year 2024 by the Saltire Society, and was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. The Observer called it “a luminous love letter to an embattled nation”. 

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.

1.30pm

Pam Brunton: Between Two Waters

Chaired by Anna Hock

Lochindaal Seafood Kitchen

Award-winning chef and owner of Inver restaurant Pam Brunton will be at Islay Book Festival to talk about her book, Between Two Waters. The author will be in conversation with local entrepreneur and foodie Anna Hock, and the pair will discuss Pam’s insider critique of the food business that interrogates sustainability in food culture. As they listen and ask questions, participants will sample bites of freshly-prepared local delicacies courtesy of Lochindaal Seafood Kitchen. Drinks will be available for purchase.

Pam is the acclaimed Scottish chef behind Inver restaurant on Loch Fyne, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2025. Inver has won countless awards and is a recipient of the Green Michelin Star praising sustainability alongside world-class food. Pam holds an MSc in Food Policy from City University and spent four years working with food campaign groups Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, and the Soil Association.

Tickets: £20 (including nibbles)

Places are limited; advance booking is essential

3.30pm

Manda Scott: Any Human Power

Chaired by Emily Arnold-Fernández

Bruichladdich Hall

Scottish-born author Manda Scott will talk with Emily Arnold-Fernández about her eclectic career and her new genre-bending political thriller Any Human Power, which strives to create a blueprint for a more regenerative future. Expect a fascinating conversation about environmentalism, democracy, hope, and the strive to leave a legacy that we will be proud of to younger generations. 

Having been at various times a veterinary surgeon, acupuncturist, regenerative smallholder, columnist, homoeopath, blogger, life coach and renegade economist, Manda is the author of 16 novels, several screenplays and one non-fiction book.  She is best known for her Boudica: Dreaming series, and hosts the international chart-topping ‘Accidental Gods’ podcast, as well as being a long-time shamanic trainer. 

Tickets: Suggested price: £7. Or Pay What You Can £3/£5/£10.