Friday 20 August 12:00am

Book Festival launches 'Elsewhere' New Writing Project

Full Press Release: Book Festival launches 'Elsewhere' New Writing Project

The Minister for Culture, Fiona Hyslop, today launched a programme of brand new writing celebrating the best of Scottish, international and children’s words and ideas at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.  With the support of the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund, the Book Festival has commissioned fifty authors to write short stories or essays, all on the theme of ‘Elsewhere’, which are being exclusively digitised on the Book Festival website.

Leading writers, including Michel Faber, Alasdair Gray, Ali Smith, A L Kennedy, Alan Warner, Roddy Doyle and Amy Bloom together with authors best known for their writing for children and young adults - such as Michael Morpurgo, Andy Stanton, David Almond and Margo Lanagan - will be producing their work throughout this year and next and it is intended that the final collection will be collated into an anthology in 2011.  In addition the Expo Fund will support the development of the "Word Alliance" programme of collaboration between seven international Book Festivals and the inaugural programme of international author exchange, which will include appearances by Scottish writers at Book Festivals in Jaipur, Beijing and New York in spring 2011.