Programme

Adam Nicolson - Adam has been a wonderful Patron to Three Lochs Book and Arts Festival in the few years he’s been supporting us, but unfortunately he won’t be able to be with us at the event this year. Adam proposed Hugh Raven as a very able stand-in.

Abir Mukherjee - is the Times bestselling author of the Wyndam and Banerjee series of crime novels set in Raj era India. The series has been translated into fifteen languages. His debut, A Rising Man was the winner of both the Telegraph Harvill Secker Crime Writing Competition and the CWA Historical Dagger 2017 award, and was shortlisted for the MWA Edgar for best novel. It was also one of Waterstones’ Book of the Month and a Paperback of the Year and was shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown prize, the Gold Dagger award and the Dead Good Reader Awards for Most Exceptional Debut category. The sequel, A Necessary Evil was published in 2017, and was the winner of the 2018 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. It was shortlisted for the 2018 Historical and Gold Daggers, and longlisted for the 2018 CWA Steel Dagger. It also featured on ITV’s Zoe Ball Book Club 2018. The third, Smoke and Ashes, was published in June 2018, and was chosen by The Sunday Times as one of the Best 100 Crime Novels since 1945, and has been shortlisted for the 2019 CWA Gold Dagger, the 2019 Sapere Historical Dagger and the Historical Writer’s Association Gold Crown for best historical novel of the year. It has also been shortlised for the MWA Edgar for best novel. His fourth book Death in the East, was published 2020 and was Book of the Month in the Sunday Times and Book of the Year in the Telegraph, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Mail, Express and FT and shortlisted for the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year. His fifth - Shadows of Men - will be published at the end of 2021. His first standalone thriller - The Hunted - will be published in 2022 by Little Brown in the US and Penguin Random House in the UK. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in London with his wife and two sons.

Abir will be giving a talk: Place, time and committing murder to scratch an itch , in which he'll talk about how writing a crime novel helped him to make sense of his heritage.
On Saturday 28th of August at 15.00

Abir will also be leading a writing workshop called: Getting the Setting – making your setting stand out from the crowd.
On Saturday 28th of August at 16.30

You can read more about Abir here: https://abirmukherjee.com/

Mark Bridgeman – is a non-fiction writer, specialising in crime stories and local historical studies. After moving to rural Perthshire from England in 2003, and turning his back on life working in finance, Mark was inspired to begin years of painstaking research that has so far produced seven highly acclaimed books, each one featuring newly discovered material and stories.

Following in the footsteps of his father, who was also a passionate writer and researcher, Mark’s series of books highlighting little known but dark and highly entertaining true crime stories have proved to be popular best sellers. The River Runs Red, Blood Beneath Ben Nevis, and The Dark Side of the Dales, have joined Mark’s other titles Surviving in the Shadows and The Beacon on the Hill in offering a uniquely addictive insight into the life of people living through the events described in his books.

Three of Mark’s stories have been serialised in Scottish newspapers, and he has been interviewed discussing his research and writing on BBC Radio, Heartland FM, Scottish Blethers, and in The Scotsman, Scottish History Magazine, Daily Record, Yorkshire Post and several other newspapers and magazines. Mark also hosts a popular blog and website telling other crime stories of interest.

Mark has two further collections of true crime stories due for release in 2022, to be followed by a biography of a little-known adventurer and criminal briefly featured in one of his earlier books.

Mark will be doing two sessions at Three Lochs this year: a workshop on non-fiction crime writing and research, with reference to his book Blood Beneath Ben Nevis.
On Sunday 29th of August at 11.00

and Trial by Jury. In this session Mark will enact a real crime court case, with all the background details as it happened, and the audience are invited to become the jury, and work out the verdict. An entertaining way to get right behind a real case Mark has investigated.
On Sunday 29th of August at 13.00

Find out more about Mark on his website here: https://markbridgeman.wixsite.com/author

Hannah Kelly - is an artist and writer based in Edinburgh. She won the Emerging Writer Prize in 2019 from Moniack Mhor Writing Centre and has recently signed with Victoria Hobbs at A.M.Heath literary agency for her debut novel. She has been published in literary magazines in the UK and America and has read her work at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. When she is not writing, she is drawing and teaching workshops for families at the National Galleries of Scotland. Her artworks have been shown in exhibitions and used in publications, most recently in The Edinburgh Art Book.

She specialises in black and white, pen and ink landscape illustrations.

You can see her portfolio online at www.hannahkelly.co.uk or follow her Instagram @hannah_claire_kelly

Hannah will be hosting two events for us as follows:

The Slowness of Noticing Things (Monochrome drawing workshop) A workshop where we look at how to draw the details, slowing down enough to see the shapes and textures around us. We will consider the effect that speed and slowness make when drawing and I'll be sharing my journey so far. We'll be working in monochrome, so all you'll need is some good drawing paper and a black fine liner.
On Saturday 28th of August at 12.00

A workshop in Ekphrastic writing. Poems from paintings. Story ideas from sculpture. Character development from portraits. A workshop in which art and writing wil be combinee. Hannah says about this workshop: - This is a perfect combination of my role as artist and writer, and it is fun for both beginners and more advanced writers.
On Sunday 29th of August at 10.00

Sylvia Hehir - lives and works in Strontian. She gained a Doctor of Fine Art degree in Creative Writing from University of Glasgow in 2018 and was a recipient of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award for Children’s fiction. Sylvia writes mostly young adult fiction set in the Scottish Highlands, along with short fiction and drama scripts. Her publications include a YA (young adult) thriller, Sea Change; and Deleted and Delivered, the first two YA books in the Love and the Village series. She is a founder member of the Sunart Writers' Group and of Garmoran Publishing.

Sylvia will be hosting a writing workshop using her experience of writing Sea Change as a focus point.
On Saturday 28th of August at 11.00

And she will also be giving a talk with Colin Skeath about how to go about getting published, comparing traditional and self-publishing options.
On Sunday 29th of August at 13.00

Mark Avery -is a nature conservationist who worked for the RSPB for 25 years and now is the chair of the World Land Trust, a founder (with Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay) of the campaigning organisation Wild Justice, and an author and columnist writing about nature conservation. Some of his books include Birds and Forestry (1989), Fighting for Birds (2012) A Message from Martha (2014) Inglorious (2015) and Remarkable Birds (2016). He is writing another book now and lives in Northamptonshire.

Mark will be leading two events for us:
Writing for nature conservation: Mark takes us into his motives and aims in writing about nature conservation. What was each of his books designed to achieve and to what extent does he think they succeeded? How does he go about writing a book? What does the process feel like? How is he getting on with the book he is writing now?

The nature conservation scene: Mark Avery tells us his thoughts on the nature conservation scene - are we winning? If not, why not and what more is needed? Come along with your questions and issues and see what Mark has to say about them.
On Saturday 28th of August at 13.30

Andrew Mackillop - Andrew Mackillop is from the Isle of Harris and is an historian of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow. His interests focus mainly on the processes by which Scotland integrated into the British Union and Empire in the century or so after 1707. His next book, Human Capital and Empire: Scotland, Ireland, Wales and British Imperialism in Asia, c. 1690- c. 1820 will be published by Manchester University Press in the autumn of 2021.’

Andrew will be leading a fascinating talk on “Land and Empire: The Highlands and Imperial Wealth, c. 1750- c. 1850” which is sure to be of great interest to anyone who has ever lived, worked, visited or been interested in Scotland.
On Sunday 29th of August at 11.30

Hugh Raven - has 25 years’ senior level experience in the sustainable development movement. He was formerly a Sustainable Development Commissioner for Scotland, reporting to the UK Prime Minister and leaders of the devolved administrations; and advisor to the UK foreign secretary on international environmental policy.

In 2015 Hugh founded the charity Open Seas which is “interested in protecting and recovering our marine ecosystem. We’re interested in evidence and are not afraid to call out misinformation or unacceptable practices. We think that there is a sensible, innovative and longer-term approach to looking after our seas. We’re here to present and promote it.”

Hugh will be giving a talk about the work of Open Seas, the challenges it and other NGOs and interested parties are having in securing action to protect the marine environment, and why it is essential that we do so.

On Saturday 28th of August at 11.00

Sara Davies - was a BBC staff producer for twenty years, making radio documentaries, features, poetry programmes, dramas and readings. Since leaving the BBC she has abridged over fifty books for Radio 4’s Book of the Week and Book at Bedtime and written a number of radio dramas and drama-documentaries. Sara lives in Morvern and Glasgow.

Off the page: adapting books for radio - How do you turn something that was written for the page into something that appeals to a listener? What’s the trick to cutting a book down by anything up to 75% and still telling the story coherently, maintaining the suspense, and remaining faithful to the atmosphere? It’s one thing to listen to an unabridged audiobook, over maybe twelve hours, quite another to listen to a version of the same story told in two hours, or across ten short episodes.

When a book becomes a radio programme, either as a reading by one voice for a slot like Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime or as a dramatised version with a cast of actors, storylines have to be simplified, characters ditched, events and whole scenes dropped or cut to the bone, all without losing the essence of the original.

And if you’re adapting a crime story, how do you make sure the clues, the red herrings and all the suspects remain in the frame when you’re having to lose so much of the original book?

In this session I’ll explore the challenges of turning books into radio programmes and podcasts, and we’ll look at some examples of the transformation from one medium to another.
On Saturday 28th of August at 12.30

Ilona Munro - has been living in Kinlochleven, Lochaber since 1998. Before that she lived in Perth, studied in Aberdeen and Russia, then lived in London for 6 years, where she started writing plays. Her mixed bag of language, theatre and community qualifications mixed with a passion for performing and directing led to her becoming one of Eden Court’s Drama Workers for over 15 years. Ilona went freelance in 2014 and has somehow managed to keep feeding her family.

Ilona has written over twenty plays. She has had several productions on the London Pub Theatre Network, on Highland tours and at the Edinburgh Fringe. Unusual places for her work include Sudely Castle, Kempton Park Racecourse and the ruins of a house on the Isle Of Eigg. Her last production at the fringe, in 2017, “The Recovery Version”, gained five stars in The Daily Record!

The scripts Ilona writes are very varied, but always contain some Scottish humour. She is currently writing about Highland land ownership and creating a one woman show on the Massacre of Glencoe.

Ilona will be presenting two sessions for us:

Scripting the Sea
Bracing Salt Wind. Crashing Waves. Ice Cold Lochs. The place they fell in love. The place they split up. The drunk who still sailed. The Kelpie of Lochan Dubh. Reflection and Ripples.

Sea, lochs and rivers pour out an endless stimulus for writers. Whether you like great unknown depths, salty characters or wonderous magic, wade into this sensory based play writing workshop and take home an ocean of ideas to work with.

This workshop is aimed at adults, but anyone who loves to write, is welcome.
On Sunday 29th of August at 11.30

Angry Laughs
This drama based workshop is for those who love to make people laugh. Comedy can be off-the-wall, but much of it still contains people and situations we recognise. Comedies based on observation, often come from things that annoy the comedian. What little family habits irritate you? What clip never fastens right? What makes you shout at the telly? Let’s turn your mini grievances into big laughs.
On Sunday 29th of August at 14.30

Join Ilona for this active drama session, aimed at adults, teens and children aged 8 plus.

Colin Skeath - has an extensive mountaineering background and has climbed rock faces and mountains across Europe, Africa and America. After 30 years in the mountains he bought a canoe and his passion switched. Following his retirement from West Yorkshire Police, where in 2018 he was awarded an MBE for Services to Policing and the Community, Colin relocated to the Scottish West Highlands. Here, he pursues his love of canoeing and is one of the most experienced coastal canoeists in the UK.

Colin’s talk will be about the first circumnavigation of the UK by an open canoe made in 2017 by Colin and his nephew Davis .This was an epic journey that took 86 days and covered 2064 miles along the UK coastline through dangerous seas and magnificent scenery. Colin's book "Only Fools and White Horses" documents this amazing journey.

On Sunday 29th of August at 10.00

Glasgow-based singer, Hannah Rarity - is one of Scotland's foremost vocalists. Winner of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year award, her status as a rising talent has been further consolidated by her numerous nominations at the Scots Trad Music Awards, including her shortlisted nomination for Album of the Year (2019). Her spellbinding vocals have been well-suited to her collaborations and performances with esteemed musical acts such as Blazin' Fiddles, Phil Cunningham, Cherish the Ladies, as well as UK television appearances and touring. Following on from her acclaimed debut album 'Neath the Gloaming Star' (2018), her second album is due for release later this year which will feature more of Hannah's own sensitively penned songs.

Hannah will be performing a number of pieces for us on Saturday evening, in a concert accompanied by Innes White, a highly regarded and accomplished musician in his own right, and local music star Alastair Whyte
On Saturday evening 28th of August at 19.00

Find out more about Hannah here: www.hannahrarity.com

Annabel Lawrence - is a lecturer at West Highland College UHI on the BA (Hons) Marine and Coastal Tourism degree, and has previously worked as a Training Officer for the Nautical Archaeology Society, as an underwater archaeologist for the University of St Andrews Archeological Diving Unit, and as a maritime archaeologist for English Heritage. Annabel is Chair of the Community Association of Lochs and Sounds (CAOLAS), and a board member of Coastal Community Network, Morvern Community Woodlands and the British Sub Aqua Club.

In her role as Chair of COALAS, Annabel was involved in the nomination of the Argyll Coast and Islands as a Mission Blue Hope Spot, and is now the Hope Spot Champion. This initiative has raised awareness of the remarkable biodiversity present along this are of coast and has placed the area on the world stage as the only Hope Spot in Scotland and the UK. Annabel will be talking about the Mission Blue project and the importance of Hope Spots, and why our area was chosen as the first one in the UK.
On Sunday 29th of August at 14.30

Alasdair Whyte - Gaelic scholar, songwriter and vocalist Alasdair Whyte will go in conversation with Nigel Leask about his multimedia project Maim, and his upcoming book Maim-slè, which features poetry and prose. Alasdair has said about the book that he wants to challenge the reader to consider an alternative, more sustainable path for the future of the Highlands and Islands. It challenges the morality and validity of 'rewilding', of depeopled estates and of large-scale timber production, which further obscure our already critically endangered rich linguistic and cultural heritage and, with it, our identity.
On Saturday 28th of August at 16.30