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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.

Lochindaal Seafood Kitchen, Sunday 31st August, 1.30pm

Tickets: £20 (including nibbles). Places are limited; advance booking is essential.

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.

Andrew Meehan will be with us to talk about his debut novel, Best Friends. Andrew has visited Islay just once before, in the summer of 1995, when he worked on a BBC Scotland TV show called Big Country. He tells us, “My job as a researcher was to find well known people who enjoyed certain parts of Scottish culture. In this episode, we featured the artist Ralph Steadman’s love of Islay whisky, and we received great hospitality in Bowmore. A memorable weekend that I don’t remember much about!”

Best Friends is a novel about love in later life, and Andrew says it “came from a fear and fascination with the potential loneliness that might come with growing old,” a subject which will strike a chord with many readers. “In their 70s, June and Ray are by no means at the end of life, but they are on the far side of hope, living without high expectations. Their greatest fear is loneliness. And their greatest fear has now come to pass. All the way through Best Friends, I tried to avoid using the very word lonely. Perhaps this is because one of the things we do to stave off loneliness is to pretend we’re not lonely. Best Friends is a book about not being on your own.”

Regarding other events during this year’s Festival, Andrew is looking forward to catching up with another esteemed Scottish literary name: “I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Len Pennie on BBC Radio Scotland, and I’d be very keen to see her read her work.” We’re looking forward to that too, Andrew!

Andrew’s event is at Little Charlotte’s, Port Ellen, on Friday 29th August at 2pm. Tickets are Pay What You Can – suggested £7.