It is now officially Spring and for book lovers in Glasgow that can only mean one thing – the Aye Write! Festival will be returning to the city. Aye Write! begins on Thursday 15 March and continues until Sunday 25 March 2018 with events, readings, workshops, spoken word performances, live music and talks. This year there is a mix of international and national writers, poets, artists and performers, with a vast array of styles and genres covered. The festival also takes over several venues in the city. The Mitchell Library is the hub, but the CCA, Tramway and Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow City Halls are all staging events.
One highlight from the Poetry strand will be hosted by Sam Small and Dave McCullen on Friday 16 March. The pair will be presenting their publishing initiative called Speculative Books – a subscription service publishing house where subscribers are given a book a month. The event will feature readings from Leyla Josephine and David Linklater. Leyla recently presented her spoken word show Hopeless at the Tron Theatre where it was met with rave reviews. Other poetry highlights in the festival include events featuring Caroline Bird and Don Paterson.
Comic Books and graphic novels also feature heavily at Aye Write! within the Aye Con strand. The majority of the events occur during the final weekend of the festival with graphic novelists Hannah Berry, Grace Wilson and Darryl Cunningham all presenting their new books at the festival. Grace Wilson writes and draws memoirs that show the hardships of living in London while trying to make a living as an artist, meanwhile Darryl Cunningham creates comic books that tackle big subject areas such as mental health and world economies. This year he is at Aye Write! discussing his latest comic book– Graphic Science. A definite highlight of the entire festival is the Full Colour Comics event. This is presented by local publisher BHP Comics where they will discuss their new mentorship scheme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic comic creators. An anthology has been released showcasing the excellent work developed during this scheme and the event will be a fantastic opportunity to discover new and exciting work from diverse and talented comic book artists and writers.
Other events during Aye Write! 2018 include Irvine Welsh discussing his latest novel – Dead Men’s Trousers, Louise O’Neil presenting Almost Love, Laura Lam, Mel Reeve and Sim Bajwa reflecting on a Year of Nasty Women and Suede frontman Brett Anderson discussing his memoir Black Coal Mornings.