Leven author’s story features in new book celebrating Scottish writers

Kirsty Souter’s Crossing the Bridge is included in Blether, a free book created by Scottish Book Trust for this year’s Book Week Scotland celebrating a Year of Conversation. Writers from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness, Oban and more had the opportunity to gather together and read their works.

At the beginning of the year, Val McDermid, patron of Scottish Book Trust launched the public participation campaign around the theme of ‘blether’, asking the people of Scotland to submit personal and true stories. The Scottish Book Trust encouraged people of all backgrounds and experiences to submit their work.

Tied to A Year of Conversation 2019, and with an introduction by Tom Pow, Blether is a celebration of Scotland and its stories.

Hundreds of stories from across the country were collected.

A panel selected 32 of the stories for inclusion in the Blether book, which will be distributed free to libraries and community groups during Book Week Scotland – a week-long, national celebration of reading and writing.

Kirsty said: “I’m so honoured and grateful to be included in this year’s book. This time last year I was just beginning a creative writing masters, surrounded by talented writers and wondering if I was really ‘good enough’ to be there.

“I wouldn’t have had the confidence to submit anything if it hadn’t been for all the people around me who believed in me and my work more than I did.”

Blether will be downloadable from Scottish Book Trust’s website during Book Week Scotland, which runs from November 18-24. Working in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, writers included in the book also had the opportunity to record their story for an audiobook version.

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “We all love telling stories and sharing our own stories helps us connect with the people around us. I hope the people of Scotland enjoy the 100,000 free copies of Blether that Scottish Book Trust will distribute through libraries, community groups and gifting, as part of Book Week Scotland.”