Taking place across spring 2025, The Highland Book Prize Longlist Series is a chance for readers to delve into the rich and diverse list of books celebrated by the 2024 prize, awarded to books published between 1st January and 31st December 2024. This year’s series is a mix of online and in-person author talks, readings, and workshops. We are grateful to the William Grant Foundation who provide funding to support public engagement with the longlisted titles.
Highland Book Prize 2024 Longlist Programme
Thursday April 3rd, 4.30pm – 6.30pm
Moniack Mhor Young Writers’ Cafe, Inverness
Lucy Strange, author of The Island at the Edge of Night (Chicken House), leads a workshop for young writers exploring different ways of creating a spooky atmosphere and building tension in gothic fiction and ghost stories.
Saturday April 12th, 3pm – 4.30pm
Gavin Maxwell Museum, Eilean Bàn
In this literary tea party, Kirsten MacQuarrie will be reading from her reimagining of the life of Kathleen Raine, Remember the Rowan (Ringwood) and talking to friends of the Gavin Maxwell Museum about her extensive research on the poet and her life.
Thursday 8th May, 7.30pm – 9pm
Online, Moniack Mhor
Peter Marshall, author of Storm’s Edge: Life Death and Magic in the Islands of Orkney (William Collins) leads this online event exploring how we hear the voices of ordinary folk, when we are forced to rely on fragmentary sources seldom created with their perspectives in mind.
Sunday 11th May, 2pm – 3pm
Dundreggan Rewilding Centre
Rody Gorman will give a talk at Dundreggan Rewilding Centre and read from his book Sweeney: An Intertonguing (Francis Boutle), an ambitious multilingual work that recasts the medieval text The Frenzy of Sweeney into English, Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
Monday 12th May, 7.30pm – 8.30pm
Topping & Co, St. Andrews
Join StAnza and Topping & Co for an evening celebrating two exceptional collections from the Highland Book Prize, featuring three celebrated poets: Niall Campbell will read from his collection The Island in the Sound (Bloodaxe), and Colin Bramwell and Gerda Stevenson will read from Beyond (Shearsman) by the late Aonghas Macneacail.
Thursday 18th May, 8.00pm – 9.00pm
Moniack Mhor
Genevieve Carver will join participants of a tutored retreat exploring writing about climate at Moniack Mhor to read from Birds/ Humans/ Machines/ Dolphins (Guillemot) and share insights on writing into perspectives other than human.
Saturday 31st May, 8.00pm – 9.00pm
The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool
Join journalist Jen Stout for readings and discussion at The Ceilidh Place around her book Night Train to Odesa: Covering the Human Cost of Russia’s War (Birlinn).
Sunday 22nd June, 2.30pm – 4.00pm
Moniack Mhor
Join us up on the hill at Moniack Mhor for this special Literary Afternoon Tea event with Pam Brunton, who will read and discuss her book Between Two Waters (Canongate).