Aye Write, originally stylized as Aye Write!'','' is an annual

book festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

which takes place in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland in late February or early March.

History

The first Aye Write festival was in 2005. Originally intended to occur once every two years, Aye Write announced in 2007 that the book festival would become an annual event. In response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the festival was cancelled in 2020, and was online-only in 2021. Aye Write returned to in-person festivities in 2022.

Participants

The 2016 line-up includes

Christopher Brookmyre Christopher Brookmyre (born 6 September 1968) is a Scottish novelist whose novels, generally in a crime or police procedural frame, mix comedy, politics, social comment and action with a strong narrative. He has been referred to as a Tartan No ...

Limmy Brian Limond (born 20 October 1974), known as Limmy, is a Scottish comedian, author, and Twitch (service), Twitch Online streamer, streamer. While working as a website designer and Adobe Flash, Flash developer, Limmy began releasing comedy o ...

, and

Stuart Cosgrove Stuart John Francis Cosgrove (born 12 November 1952) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and television executive. As a journalist Cosgrove served on the ''NME'' (Media Editor) and '' The Face'' during the 1980s, before joining Channel 4 in 19 ...

. People who have taken part in the festival include: Edwin Morgan,

William McIlvanney William McIlvanney (25 November 1936 – 5 December 2015) was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet. He was known as Gus by friends and acquaintances. McIlvanney was a champion of gritty yet poetic literature; his works ''Laidlaw'', ' ...

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of ''The Wasp Factor ...

Denise Mina Denise Mina (born 21 August 1966) is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the ''Garnethill'' trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of T ...

Louise Welsh Louise Welsh (born 1 February 1965 in London) is an English-born author of short stories and psychological thrillers, resident in Glasgow, Scotland. She has also written three plays, an opera, edited volumes of prose and poetry, and contributed ...

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...

Lynne Truss Lynne Truss (born 31 May 1955) is an English author, journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster and dramatist. She is arguably best known for her championing of correctness and aesthetics in the English language, which is the subject of her p ...

Jenny Colgan Jenny Colgan (born 14 September 1972, Prestwick, Ayrshire) is a Scottish writer of romantic comedy fiction and science-fiction. She has written for the ''Doctor Who'' line of stories. She writes under her own name and using the pseudonyms Jane ...

John Burnside John Burnside FRSL FRSE (born 19 March 1955) is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets (the others being Ted Hughes and Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book (''Black Cat ...

, and others.Glasgow West End info on 2007 festival
/ref>

Clare Maclean Prize

The Clare Maclean Prize for Scottish Fiction was awarded for the first time at the 2008 festival, in memory of Claire Maclean, the partner of Prof.

Mike Gonzalez Michael Vela Gonzalez (born May 23, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and Mil ...

, with a £3000 first prize. It is open to any book written by a Scottish author (or someone working in Scotland) in the previous twelve months.

2008 shortlist

*'' Old Men In Love'' by

Alasdair Gray Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...

*''

Girl Meets Boy ''Girl Meets Boy'' is a 2007 novel by Scottish author Ali Smith and published by Canongate in the Canongate Myth Series. It was one of the "best books of 2007" according to critics at ''The Independent''. Plot A modern-day reinterpretation of O ...

'' by

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 Au ...

*''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'' by

Dan Rhodes Dan Rhodes (born 1972) is an English writer, possibly best known for the novel '' Timoleon Vieta Come Home'' (2003), a subversion of the popular ''Lassie Come Home'' movie. He is also the author of ''Anthropology'' (2000), a collection of 101 st ...

- winner *''

The Steep Approach to Garbadale ''The Steep Approach to Garbadale'' is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 2007. The novel had at least two working titles, ''Matter'' and ''Empire!'' Plot introduction The book describes the Wopuld family, who made a fortun ...

'' by

*''

The Devil's Footprints The Devil's Footprints was a phenomenon that occurred during February 1855 around the Exe Estuary in East and South Devon, England. After a heavy snowfall, trails of hoof-like marks appeared overnight in the snow covering a total distance of som ...

'' by

*'' Day'' by A L Kennedy

References

External links

* Literary festivals in Scotland {{UK-festival-stub