The Mallaig Book Festival
A Write Highland Hoolie!
6 - 8 November 2026
A Write Highland Hoolie Hoolets
The Hoolie Hoolets programme of author events and workshops in local schools, including those in the Small Isles and Knoydart, is an integral part of A Write Highland Hoolie. It caters for both primary and high school pupils and includes annual creative writing and artwork competitions.
Every year, in the days around the festival weekend, children's authors and illustrators run workshops in local schools, inspiring the pupils to explore their own creativity and nurturing a life-long love of reading.
Mallaig High School's art teacher explains just how important the Hoolie Hoolets programme is to local pupils:
As we are such a small and remote school, it is difficult for us to engage with any outreach or extracurricular projects outside of Lochaber. Opportunities to work closely with artists and designers to inspire and educate our young people do not arise often. Remote schools are often overlooked by organisations doing any sort of outreach and as such it is difficult to provide pupils with the same creative learning opportunities as their inner-city peers . . . It is an invaluable experience, having this opportunity brought to our doorstep, and we are very grateful to the book festival for organising this for our young people.
The festival culminates in a Sunday afternoon children’s prize-giving tea party which is free to attend and is open to all. This includes an interactive session of song and dance with multi-award-winning Oban author and publisher Alan Windram, Gaelic singing from pupils of Mallaig Primary School and the handing out of prizes to the talented youngsters who took part in our competitions.
As Mallaig High School has a reputation for producing fine traditional musicians, we also run the Hoolie School of Music Sessions whereby the revered musicians who participate in the Hoolie hold a workshop for senior music pupils.
A Write Highland Hoolie is a magical and unique weekend of book adventure. The magic also extends to surrounding schools and as an illustrator, I've been lucky enough to do several workshops at both the local primary and high school. It's a joy to witness what these talented young folk can conjure up from their imaginations and within the context of budget cuts, I hope that these visits affirm the absolute necessity of the arts in our lives. A Write Highland Hoolie is truly a gem of a book festival! Kate Leiper, artist and illustrator.
Authors 2026
Margaret Bennett
Acclaimed folklorist, singer and writer Margaret Bennett grew up in Skye in a family steeped in Gaelic and Scots traditions.
A former lecturer at the School of Scottish Studies in Edinburgh, she now teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the University of St Andrews.
Author of fifteen books and many recordings, she has also collaborated with her late son, Martyn Bennett. Hamish Henderson once said: “Margaret embodies the spirit of Scotland.”
Margaret loves working with children and will be spending time with pupils at Mallaig Primary School as part of this year’s Hoolets outreach programme.
Peter Mackay
Originally from the Isle of Lewis, Peter Mackay is a poet, broadcaster, translator and professor at the University of St Andrews.
A native Gaelic speaker, he became Scotland’s first Gaelic Makar in 2024.
His poetry collections include Galore and Some Kind Of, and his work has played a major role in bringing contemporary Gaelic poetry to wider audiences.
Peter will be holding a Gaelic poetry writing workshop for senior pupils in Mallaig High School.
Dougie Payne
The bass player and backing vocalist with multi-platinum-selling Scottish indie band Travis, Dougie Payne was a graduate of Glasgow School of Art, where he met the other members of Travis. He joined the band on bass guitar, going on to record best-selling albums and selling out stadiums across the globe.
Poochie Pete is Dougie’s debut picture book, although he has always read and written stories for his two children. Beautifully illustrated by debut picture book illustrator Rachel Seago, Poochie Pete is a rhyming tale full of heart, with themes of individuality, creativity, friendship, bravery and joy. It tells the story of Pete, a lonely, scruffy pooch born with enormous feet which are always getting in the way. It’s not until he discovers a music shop and its helpful owner, Henry Large, that he finds his own song and the place where his heart truly belongs.
Elaine Thomson
Elaine Thomson, who writes historical crime fiction as E.S. Thomson, has been shortlisted for several major literary awards including the Saltire Prize and the McIlvanney Crime Book of the Year. She is currently writing a quartet of ghost stories set around Scotland’s seasonal turning points, beginning with Hawthorn and Saltwater.
She lives in Edinburgh and combines writing with university teaching.
She will hold a ghost story writing workshop in Mallaig High School with senior English students.
Alan Windram
Alan Windram is the award-winning author of the hugely popular One Button Benny series of picture books. Alan is on the road for much of the year taking part in book festivals, school and library events. He loves meeting the children, telling stories, singing songs and doing some ‘robot dancing’. Alan is an accomplished singer-songwriter with four independent albums of original songs under his belt. The Catventures of Sparky and George is Alan’s first chapter book based on the antics of his two cats. Illustrated throughout with fabulous line drawings by Giulia Cregut, it’s a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud story of feline frolics, with rucksacks made from animal-print underpants, friendly, and not so friendly, forest encounters, tasty treats and some explosive poo.
Alan lives near Oban with his wife and two furry friends, Sparky and George.