Our Programme For 2025

What an exciting week it’s been, with the announcement of the programme for A Write Highland Hoolie 2025! We’re thrilled to have a truly stellar line-up in store for you this November 7-9, and the good news is that tickets are now on sale from our website, with prices held at the same levels as last year.

The festival opens at 5.30 pm on Friday November 7 with the multi-talented author and singer-songwriter Malachy Tallack, who will be reading from his latest novel, That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, and playing music from the soundtrack album that accompanies the book. After-dinner musical entertainment for ticket holders and hotel residents will be provided by talented duo Donald Livingstone and Iain Cameron.

Saturday’s packed programme begins with Dundee writer Michelle Sloan, whose gripping novel Mrs Burke and Mrs Hare tells the dark tale of the wives of Edinburgh’s notorious serial killers Burke and Hare. Then award-winning poet Jim Carruth will read from his critically acclaimed collection, The Auchensale Trilogy, and share new work inspired by Scotland’s rural heritage.

Galloway-based novelist Karen Campbell kicks off a great Saturday afternoon with This Bright Life, which tells the heartbreaking, yet humorous and hopeful, story of twelve-year-old Gerard, a bright kid who doesn’t always make good decisions.

Karen will be followed by writer Andrew Fleming, whose book The Gravity of Feathers draws on previously untapped sources and fresh insights to tell the story of St Kilda from earliest times up to the evacuation and its aftermath, overturning the traditional view of the circumstances that led to the last islanders being evacuated in 1930.

Staying with the island theme, Coinneach MacLeod, the Hebridean Baker, takes us on a journey through Scotland’s rich culinary heritage, sharing recipes and stories to tempt our tastebuds and stir our memories. Then we settle down for an unmissable event in the company of master storyteller and international best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith, one of Scotland’s most prolific and best-loved writers.

Saturday’s after-dinner entertainment for ticket holders and residents will be provided by musicians Iain MacFarlane and Ingrid Henderson, who will create a lively ceilidh atmosphere to keep the party going into the wee small hours.

Film-maker and illustrator Jane Smith starts Sunday in style with her book Community: People and Wildlife on the West Coast of Scotland, a gloriously illustrated account of her exploration of ten locations in the west of Scotland and the interaction between people and wildlife in a variety of diverse settings.

Our traditional Remembrance Day reading is followed by D.V. Bishop, author of the highly acclaimed Cesare Aldo historical thrillers set in Renaissance Florence, whose latest novel, Carnival of Lies, has been described as ‘the best Aldo book yet’.

Sunday’s afternoon event is a delight for all dog-lovers! BBC Alba presenter Peter MacQueen shares shaggy dog stories from his new book, Tails of Scotland: The Story of Scottish Dogs. 

Our final event of the weekend sees children’s author Alan Windram leading an all-singing and dancing event based on his book, One Button Benny, with tea and cake provided by Mallaig Primary School parents and Gaelic songs from the children. All are welcome at this fun event which brings A Write Highland Hoolie to a close for another year.

Tickets are priced at just £8 for daytime events and £14 for evening sessions and are on sale now from www.a-write-highland-hoolie.com/book-now. To enquire about hotel reservations, call 01687 462210. We’re looking forward to sharing A Write Highland Hoolie with you!