Aye Write Again

It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to visit the Glasgow Aye Write Book Festival and I was glad to find myself there again this year. Catherine and I went to see two authors, very different from each other but both excellent speakers. Chris Brookmyre spoke about his book "Black Widow" which I have recently read and enjoyed. He also read out a really good short story which he had written for an event at the Commonwealth Games in 2014. It was about a group of school children who had been taken to see a performance of a Midsummer Nights Dream in the bandstand at Kelvingrove Park. Strange and surreal events, reflective of the play, take place. It was extremely entertaining but has not been published because Brookmyre feels that it is better to be performed rather than read. Which coincidentally, is how I feel about Shakespeare's plays. 

Joan Bakewell, who looks much younger than her 83 years, spoke about the changes that she has seen during her lifetime, which she has chronicled in her latest book "Stop the Clocks." She was both entertaining and informative, and fielded questions from the audience very well.