Shetland Arts is delighted to announce the line up for Wordplay 2008. Shetland’s seventh annual book festival will welcome some of the great names of the current literary scene and an exciting mix of writers: local and visiting; writers of fiction, writers of non fiction; novelists and poets; writers for adults; writers for children…

Not least of these is Will Self who is the author of six novels, including, Dorian, The Book of Dave and, most recently The Butt, six collections of short fiction, including Dr Mukhti and other Tales of Woe, and five non fiction works. He is also a prolific journalist and broadcaster who makes regular appearances on both radio and television. Will, who has a small scale reproduction of Moussa Broch in his back garden, is delighted to be returning to Shetland, where he spent his honeymoon.

Another visitor to the festival is prize winning poet Ruth Padel. As well as having published seven collections of poetry including, Alibi, Rembrandt Would Have Loved You and The Soho Leopard, she is the author of four works of non fiction and three works of literary criticism and commentary which include the highly popular 52 Ways of Looking at a Poem. Ruth who lives in London has a Scottish grandmother who was brought up on the Isle of Bute.

A poet with a difference is John Hegley, a man who was described by the Scotsman as “more Elvis Costello than Alan Bennett” and by the Sunday Times as “Scandalously talented”. John Hegley began his highly successful career at the notoriously tough comedy store in 1980 and is renowned for his comic verse, his music and his drawing. As well as performing a specially tailored version of his Edinburgh Fringe show, John will deliver a workshop for “anyone over the age of 7, on writing and drawing about animals.”

Of course it could be argued that all poets are different and as it happens one of the most distinctive poetic voices belongs to Adrian Mitchell, who will be appearing at Wordplay, where he will give a reading for adults and also a talk on the great poet, artist and visionary, William Blake. Adrian Mitchell has published four novels, If You See me Coming (1962), The Bodyguard (1970), Wartime (1973) and Man Friday (1975). He has also published13 books of poetry for adults and 6 books of poetry for children, 16 children’s stories and countless plays, including adaptations of works by Ibsen and Gogol and of well known works for children such as Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (2001) and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (1998). Adrian Mitchell has given more than a thousand performances of his poems in theatres, colleges, pubs, prisons, streets, public transport, cellars, clubs and schools of all kinds, all over the world.

Alan Bisset is a rising star of the Scottish literary scene. He is the author of two novels: Boyracers (Polygon 2001) and The Incredible Adam Spark (Headline 2005) and is currently working on a third novel, Death of a Ladies’ Man. He also features on Ballads of the Book, the critically acclaimed music-literature crossover album with Malcolm Middleton and has performed a spoken word set at a variety of music festivals including Connect, Latitude and Holland’s Crossing Borders. As well as giving a reading of his work, Alan will deliver a workshop on beginning a novel.

Returning to Shetland after her highly successful poetry reading in April 2007 is Alison Flett. Originally from Edinburgh, and now resident in Orkney, her first collection of poetry is entitled Whit Lassyz ur Intae. Alison went down a storm when she read at the Baila Room in Sound Hall in March 2007. Since then she has been working on a novel and as well as reading from her work, she will deliver a creative writing workshop on how to develop a strong “narrative voice”

Coming to Shetland for the first time is writer, diver and marine biologist Trevor Norton. Former Emeritus Professor of Marine Biology and Director of the Port Erin Marine Laboratory on the Isle of Man, Trevor is the author of three books, Stars Beneath the Sea, Reflections on a Summer Sea and Underwater to Get Out of the Rain. He has also written over 150 scientific publications and books and is an authority on the history of diving. He is noted as a highly entertaining speaker and an excellent reader of his own work.

The festival will also feature the return of Robert Alan Jamieson, novelist and poet. A native of Sandness, Robert Alan lives and works in Edinburgh, where he teaches creative writing at Edinburgh University. He has published two novels, Soor Hearts and Thin Wealth and two collections of poetry, Shoormal and Nort Atlantik Drift. He has also recently published a book in collaboration with painter, Graeme Todd, Mount Hiddenabyss. As well as his work in supporting and promoting the Shetland dialect, Robert Alan has also been a keen supporter of literature development in Shetland.

Another prominent writer in Shetland dialect is prize winning poet, Christine de Luca, who also writes in English. Christine has published four collections of poetry and she has read her work in France, Italy and Finland. She has also had a bi-lingual book of selected poems, Mondes Parallels, published in France, which won the Prix du Livre Insulaire 2007. Christine also publishes stories for children through the Hansel Co-operative Press and it is this aspect of her work which will feature at Wordplay 2008.

There will be a number of events for bairns at the festival including a series of readings and workshops by author, Vivian French who is delighted to be returning to Shetland. Vivian was a great hit with children and parents alike when she last appeared at Wordplay. Another great favourite with the Shetland bairns is Valerie Watt, author of Peesterleeties, and Peerie Mootie and Her Muckle Buits, who will also be running a workshop for upper primary school aged children. The Festival curators are also delighted to feature the return of perennial favourites, Booster Cushion Theatre Company, who will bring an entirely new show with a very original slant on a children’s literature classic… watch this space…

This year the festival is curated by two Shetland Arts volunteers: Matthew Wright and James Sinclair who are both talented writers themselves. James, a rising star of the Shetland poetry scene said, “It is really great to see this festival coming together now, with such a fine mixture of writers and an exciting variety of events.” Matthew a writer of prose fiction added, “It has been really brilliant to have had the chance to curate this festival. I hope that everyone enjoys the festival as much as we are enjoying putting it together.”

Wordplay 2008 will be held at Islesburgh Community centre, on the 6th and 7th of September and will run parallel to Screenplay 2008, the second annual Shetland Film Festival. Anyone wishing further information should contact Donald Anderson at Shetland Arts on 01595 743 843 or by email: donald.anderson@shetlandarts.org