A highlight of last year’s Pitlochry Festival Theatre Winter programme, Winter Words 2006 presents a distinctive style of literary event, right in the heart of winter! This year, supported by an award from Event Scotland, the format remains the same with one exception: Sunday will be Crime Day.

Ian Rankin, Louise Welsh, Joanna Trollope, A. L. Kennedy, Chris Bonington, Christopher Brookmyre, Janice Galloway, Lord Brian Rix, and Val McDermid are just some of the names we have lined up this year.

The four-day programme, supported by EventScotland, Visit Scotland, Perth and Kinross Council and the Scottish Book Trust, runs from 26th – 29th January and will contain a variety of different kinds of event. There will be Meet The Author sessions, which offer you the chance to encounter well-known authors in the flesh, learn more about their work and put that question that you’ve always been dying to ask! You can also enjoy a Literary Lunch or two, dining in our excellent restaurant in the company of John Lister-Kaye, Val McDermid and Denise Mina, and Christopher Rush, who will then lead an entertaining discussion on a subject close to their hearts.

The festival gets off to a glamorous start with Joanna Trollope on Thursday 26th January. Fans of A Village Affair, Next of Kin and Marrying the Mistress should make a date with this best-selling author. We will also see emphasis on work by Scottish-based authors and on subjects relevant to the area – so conservation, the environment, hill-walking, mountaineering, theatre and the arts all feature strongly. Chris Bonington makes an appearance on the Friday evening, followed by Brian Rix in conversation with Elaine C Smith on the Saturday.

Crime Day on Sunday 29th January begins with two events for budding crime writers - How to Write a Crime Novel followed by How To Get Published In The Crime World. This will be followed by appearances from Crime authors including Louise Welsh, Christopher Brookmyre and Ian Rankin.

A Book Fair will take over the Foyer every day, with a wide range of both new and second hand books, covering both specialist and general topics.

Tickets and further information are available from Pitlochry Festival Theatre Box Office on 01796 484626 or online: www.piltochry.org.uk