Latest names unveiled include top Scottish children’s authors Mairi Hedderwick, Nicola Morgan and Natalie Russell...legendary Scottish musician Fergie Macdonald…bestselling travel writer Peter Kerr…leading historians Jim Hunter, David Stafford and David Stevenson…renowned environment writers Sir John Lister-Kaye, Andy Wightman and Kenny Taylor…and award-winning Gaelic poet Angus Peter Campbell.

Bookworms from across the north of Scotland will be snapping up copies of the official brochure for the first ever Inverness Book Festival from today (Monday 13 September) after organisers unveiled the full line-up for the event, which happens this time next month.

In total there are sixteen main events being held at the city’s Eden Court Theatre featuring twenty-six writers. Inverness’s five main bookstores and the city’s library are also putting on events in a unique collaboration. The Highland Capital will be buzzing with bookishness between Thursday 7th and Sunday 10th October. The brochures are available from Eden Court Theatre as well as Borders, Ottaker’s, Waterstone’s, WH Smith, Charles Leakey and Inverness Library. There’s also a website: www.invernessbookfestival.com.

Festival director Jason Rose said:

“People are champing at the bit to see the brochure and find out exactly who’s coming and buy tickets for the events. I’m still having to pinch myself when I see the big names, brilliant local authors and wide variety of events we’ve put together. The bookshops, Eden Court and myself have been getting lots of enquiries from book lovers, so it promises to be popular and indeed we’ve already had over a hundred advance bookings for the events. I hope when people see the brochure they realise what a major literary and cultural event this is. Books aren’t boring and dusty; they’re cool and so are the people who write them.”

The latest big names unveiled include bestselling children’s writer and illustrator Mairi Hedderwick. Mairi is based on the Black Isle and her Katie Morag stories are set on the west coast. Festival organisers say that securing her is another coup, adding to big names like Toby Litt, Iain Banks and Chris Brookmyre.