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 will appear at the Round Church in Bowmore at 6pm on Saturday 30th August (sadly without Sophie!). Tickets for this event are Pay What You Can with a suggested price of £7.
Over a bespoke whisky tasting with Adam Hannett, head distiller at Bruichladdich Distillery, Natalie Jayne Clark will talk 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.
Natalie is excited to visit the island. “This will be my very first time setting foot on Islay, although it has long been on my list of islands to visit, not least because I have examined and savoured whiskies from all over the isle for many years and wish to experience the winds, waters and land that so influence their final flavours and drinking experience. I am most looking forward to spending time with other bookish people and having wild debates and conversations about our current obsessions and interests. One of mine at the moment is rare bees, and it just so happens that Islay is one of the few places in the world with ‘machairs’, a place where wildflowers, and therefore rarer bee species, flourish! So I am also looking forward to traversing the island to see what I can spot.”
When asked about the session at Bruichladdich, Natalie told us, “expect a session where I am super passionate and excited about all parts of the whisky process – including barley, barrel, bottling and branding – and women’s role in the industry in the past and today. It’s not just for those with an interest in whisky either – the book contains lots of humour, amateur sleuthing, visitations from ghosts, LGBTQ+ relationships, and more.”
Of course, there’s a programme full of exciting and interesting events for the Festival, and Natalie can’t wait to get involved. “The whole line up for Islay Book Festival for 2025 is full of writers I am an enormous fan of. As a neurodivergent woman, Elle McNicoll’s book ‘A Kind of Spark‘ is one I hold close to my heart, and definitely helped heal a part of my inner child, and is a book I am so grateful exists for the young people growing up now. I can’t wait to hear more about McNicoll’s writing process. I’m also a big fan of Graeme Macrae Burnet, Len Pennie, and Peter Mackay and am really looking forward to their events.”
Tickets for this event are £20, and strictly over-18s only. There is only very limited availability remaining – get booking if you don’t want to miss out!
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.
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 on Islay before, and tells us, “I’m looking forward to seeing the landscape and wildlife again – it’s such a unique place!”. He’s excited to talk to us about how amazing the UK really is for wildlife, and how we can appreciate and care for it.
We have not just one, but two opportunities to hear from Hamza at this year’s festival.
On Thursday 28th August at 8pm, Hamza will speak with Peter Roberts at the Round Church in Bowmore. Tickets are Pay What You Can with a suggested price of £7. This event follows on from Peter Mackay’s event earlier in the evening, and refreshments will be available between the events sponsored by The Islay Whisky Shop.
There is also a special family event on Saturday 30th August at 2pm in Bridgend Woods – tickets are free for this event, and only required for children taking part, but must be booked in advance.
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. An award-winning author whose works include crime writing, historical fiction and spy thrillers, Manda has focused since 2021 on ‘thrutopian’ fiction, explicitly designed to map potential routes forward from the present to a future we can be proud to leave as our legacy.
Manda has vivid memories of her first views of Islay. “A long, long time ago, when I was single-figures old, my father, who was a keen sailor, borrowed a friend’s boat – Saskia of Rhu – and we started sailing out beyond the Clyde to the inner and then outer Hebrides. Mostly, we went through the Crinan Canal, but I have memories of one mad summer when he decided we’d do something different and we went south round the tip of Kintyre and then up through the Sound of Islay. I have no idea why, but I was the kid who vomited as soon as I went below decks if we were in motion, so I got to sit up on deck a lot and learn navigation and how to tack and jibe – and when to bring down the sails and motor, which is what we did up the Sound… I don’t remember much else, but I remember the rain and the waves smashing up over the bow – and listening to McInroe playing Borg in the famous match at Wimbledon – which tells you more or less how old I am!”
Any Human Power is different to anything Manda has written before. “This is a Thrutopian thriller, a mytho-political exploration of how we might get ourselves through from where we are now in the midst of biophysical and political/cultural collapse—to a future we’d actually be proud to leave to the generations that come after us. This is the definition of Thrutopian writing and those of us who work in this field are hoping it takes off as the dominant genre of our time. For sure we need to know that it’s possible to fall in love with the future, and there are many, many ways forward that are better than what we’re offered in the dystopian chaos of our present.
This book, more than any other since the first of the Boudica: Dreaming books, arose out of shamanic dreaming practice – which is why we have a central character who dies at the end of the second chapter, having made a promise that holds her in the liminal space between life and death for the rest of the book and beyond. (this is not a spoiler, I swear, it’s pretty much on the back cover). It’s also why her primary guide is a crow, why she learns to navigate the void – and why her role is to help an entire global movement to create the total systemic change we need. As a final word – the arc of the thriller revolves around a Tweet sent by a 14 year old girl (it’s set at a time when X was still Twitter) – and I want everyone to know that this was based on an actual Tweet by a twelve year old child of someone who was then a public figure in the UK. That original tweet was taken down within half an hour. Mine triggers a global movement for change. So let’s do this, eh? We need a different world with a different way of doing things. Any Human Power is one road map. If you have a better one, let me know!”
There are so many events that we’re all looking forward to at this year’s festival. Manda is particularly interested in hearing from Rory Cellan-Jones – “not least because he’s talking about a Romanian rescue dog and my veterinary past led me into dog behaviour training and trauma-informed care for dogs (and people) as a priority… Any book about dogs that shows us how we can offer them more emotional intelligence is going to be amazing. But that apart, Rory’s been the voice of technology for the BBC for decades and if we’re going to make it through to that future we’d be proud to leave to the generations yet unborn, we have to learn to surf the wave of our technological emergence in a way that reunites us with the web of life – at the moment, technology is very much in the domain of head-mind and we need to move to heart-mind. So… I’ll be interested to know how he sees this playing out.”
Manda’s event is at the Bruichladdich Hall on Sunday 31st August at 3.30pm. Tickets are Pay What You Can with a suggested cost of £7.
Scotland’s first native Gaelic speaking Makar, Pàdraig MacAoidh (Peter MacKay), will open this year’s Islay Book Festival in conversation with Islay’s own Iseabail Mactaggart.
Pàdraig told us, “This will be my third time on the island: I’m a big fan. I’ve met up on Islay with friends from Ireland a couple of times (since it’s a short hop from Ballycastle) for summer swimming, cycling, food and a touch of whisky.”
He also tells us he’s really looking forward to hearing Natalie Jayne Clark talk about her book on whisky and murders (he likes a touch of Highland and Island noir or gothic comedy). “Jen Stout and Pam Brunton’s very different but very powerful non-fiction books. And Graeme Macrae Burnett and Len Pennie are always excellent company, and Hamza Yassin should be very entertaining and knowledgeable – ach, I’m looking forward to all of it!”
Us too, Pàdraig!
The event with our first Gaelic Makar takes place at the Round Church, Bowmore on Thursday 28th August at 6pm, sponsored by the Scottish Book Trust. Tickets are £5 and are available from Ticketsource.
Anyone who has spent time on social media will probably have enjoyed learning a Scots Word of the Day from poet Len Pennie. We’re so excited that Len will bring 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 event will take place at 8pm on Friday 29th August at St John’s Church in Port Ellen. Tickets are Pay What You Can with a suggested price of £7. Refreshments will be available between Graeme Macrae Burnet and Len Pennie’s sessions, sponsored by Campbells of Islay.
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.
Pam Brunton is the acclaimed Scottish chef behind Inver restaurant on Loch Fyne, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2025.
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 told us that he visited Islay on three or four family holidays when he was a teenager, but this will be his first visit since then. “I enjoy the social side of small festivals like this, so it will be great to meet some readers from Islay and also perhaps to sample a Caol Ila or Bunnahabhain (or two!)”
While A Case of Matricide will be the main focus of his session on 29th August, we may also be lucky enough to hear a little about his forthcoming novella Benbecula (although unfortunately it won’t be published in time for the festival). You can find out more about Benbecula here: Polygon Acquires Next Darkland Tale – Benbecula by Graeme Macrae Burnet | Birlinn
You might also be interested in listening to this recent episode of the World Service Book Club, where Graeme talks about one of his previous novels, His Bloody Project.
Graeme will be at St John’s Church in Port Ellen on Friday 29th August at 6pm, for an event sponsored by the Scottish Book Trust. Tickets are £5.
Jane Smith is a wildlife filmmaker, artist and author. Her new book Community is drawn from her travels around the west of Scotland. In fact, one of the book’s chapters focuses on Islay, so she’s looking forward to returning soon for the Festival. “Fed up with doom and gloom? My book is a positive take on what Communities are doing to help nature.” She’s also looking forward to meeting Hamza (Yassin), for his genuine enthusiasm about all things wild.
Jane will be with us for not just one, but TWO sessions at this year’s Festival!
9am – 10.30am on Saturday 30th August at RSPB Loch Gruinart
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. Tickets for this event are £20, which includes materials. Places for this event are limited so advance booking is essential.
11am on Saturday 30th August at RSPB Loch Gruinart, chaired by Lord Robertson
A discussion on the interactions of people and wildlife for her latest book, Community. Tickets for this event are Pay What You Can – suggested price £7.
Markus Stitz is a cyclist, adventurer and author, and we are delighted he will be joining us as part of this year’s Islay Book Festival.
This event is one of our special ‘experience’ sessions, and it really is a one-off opportunity to not just find out more about Markus and his adventures, but to enjoy a different way of viewing this beautiful island. Starting from Port Ellen, this social ride will travel along the Three Distilleries Path and back.
The ride will be followed by a Q&A over refreshments at the Machrie, and a screening of a short film to complement Markus’ newest cycling guidebook, Gravel Rides Cairngorms & Perthshire, showcasing 15 of the finest gravel cycling routes through the Cairngorms National Park, Perthshire, and the Angus Glens.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a super-fast or ultra-long-distance cyclist to join in! You don’t even need to have your own bike – our sponsors and friends at Islay E-Wheels will sort you out with something suitable for the event, from their premises behind No 1 Charlotte Street. More details will be sent to ticketholders nearer the event.
