I've picked out some of the events that I've ticked in the Festival brochure. I'm hoping that I can manage along to at least some of them. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my favourite writers like Denise Mina and Louise Welsh and also spotting some new talent. I enjoyed Eleanor Gordon and Gwyneth Nair so much when I heard them talking about their Madeleine Smith book that I intend catching these two social historians in action once again. I'm also really looking forward to seeing Susie Orbach and Willie Mailey so fingers crossed that I can manage my diary. We had a brilliant time when we saw Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell earlier this year - inspirational stuff and added bonus of some great music.

aye write programme and booking
Further information

Strathclyde University Writing Showcase

Saturday 6th March

11:00 - 12:00
New Fiction
Free

This will be the second annual Aye Write! event showcasing the best of Creative Writing talent at Strathclyde University. In a unique opportunity for students to read in a professional atmosphere, three undergraduates from the popular Journalism and Creative Writing Degree will read alongside acclaimed poet David Kinloch, Reader in English Studies, and award-winning novelist and playwright Louise Welsh, who also teaches on the undergraduate degree course. Introduced by Rodge Glass, Lecturer in Creative Writing.

Gutter Showcase

Saturday 6th March

20:00 - 21:30
New Scottish Writing
£7/£6

Gutter, Scotland's magazine of new writing, hosts an evening with the nation's hottest literary talents. Glasgow's Ewan Morrison, author of Swung and Distance, will read from Menage, his brilliant third novel about a triangular affair between three young artists during the rise of Brit Art. Glaswegian poet, Cheryl Follon, will read from her brand new collection, Dirty Looks, praised for its 'sensuality, earthiness and physicality'. And they'll be joined by Christopher Wallace, winner of the Saltire First Book Award for The Pied Piper's Poison, who'll give a preview of his fourth novel, the explosive political black comedy, State of Tranquillity. Hosted by Colin Begg and Adrian Searle, co-editors of Gutter.

Willy Maley on Irvine Welsh

Sunday 7th March

14:00 - 15:00
Scottish Literature
£7/£6

Irvine Welsh burst onto the Scottish scene in 1993 with Trainspotting and soon took the literary world by storm. His novels and short stories continue to attract acclaim and provoke debate. Willy Maley is one of Scotland's leading literary commentators, author most recently of Muriel Spark for Starters and now Irvine Welsh for Starters. Maley offers an entertaining introduction to one of the most cutting-edge contemporary writers, giving the inside track on Trainspotting, the agony behind Ecstasy, dishing the dirt on Filth, and getting stuck into Glue.

Eleanor Gordon and Gwyneth Nair

Sunday 7th March

18:30 - 19:30
History
£7/£6

The notorious Glasgow trial of Madeleine Smith took place in 1857, when she was accused of poisoning her secret lover. In an illustrated presentation, the story of Smith's life and trial is explored. Containing new discoveries about Madeleine's long and colourful life after the trial - which confirms the view that it is only in fiction that the bad end unhappily - as well as looking at the extent of women's social and commercial activities in the world of the mid-Victorian middle class, this event is accompanied by a display of Mitchell archive material on the Smith affair.

aye write programme and booking

Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell

Wednesday 10th March

19:30 - 21:00 Music £7/£6

Scottish musician Edwyn Collins - Nu-Sonics, Orange Juice and a thriving solo career - suffered devastating brain haemorrhages in 2005. Not able to speak, read, write, walk, sit up or feed himself he also lost all movement in his right side and was suffering from aphasia - an inability to use or understand language. With the help of his partner Grace and their 18-year-old son Will, Edwyn fought back, restarted his career and won an Ivor Novello award in May 2009. Edwyn will be in discussion with Grace and will also play some of his music.

Louise Welsh

Wednesday 10th March

19:30 - 21:00
New Scottish Writing
£7/£6

Louise Welsh, author of the bestselling The Cutting Room, The Bullet Trick and Tamburlaine Must Die, launches her new novel, Naming the Bones at Aye Write!. How did Murray Watson end up knee-deep in an ancient burial ground, in a winter storm, with at least one person intent on his death? His university life researching writers' lives seems a world away, and yet it is because of the mysterious author Archie Lunan, dead for 30 years, that Murray now finds himself scrabbling in the dirt on the remote island of Lismore. A tale of literature, obsession and dark magic.

A L Kennedy

Thursday 11th March

18:00 - 19:00
New Scottish Writing
£7/£6

The stories in A L Kennedy's new collection, What Becomes, are profound, intimate observations of men and women whose lives ache with possibility - love and the lack of love, hope and the lack of hope. She reveals the sadness, violence, hurt and terror, but also the redemption of love and she does so with the enormous human compassion, wild leaps of humour, and the brilliantly origin al linguistic skill that distinguishes her as one of Britain's finest writers.

Celebrate Community Writing

Friday 12th March

12:30 - 14:30
New Scottish Writing
FRee

Join us for this lively event showcasing writing by adults taking part in Glasgow's learning courses across the city. Come along, have a light lunch and enjoy this celebration of new stories, poems and reflections.

Denise Mina and Bryan Talbot

Friday 12th March

19:30 - 21:00
Fiction
£7/£6

Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland, was hailed by the Guardian as one of the ten best graphic novels ever. His new book, Grandville, inspired by the work of the nineteenth-century French illustrator Gerard, tells the story of detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard as he stalks a gang of murderers through the heart of Belle Epoque Paris in an alternative reality France. Denise Mina is well known as a crime writer but recently worked with Leonardo Manco on John Constantine: Hellblazer: Empathy Is the Enemy, set in Glasgow. They discuss graphic novels in a specially illustrated event with Stuart Kelly.

New Irish Poetry

Friday 12th March

19:30 - 20:30
Poetry
£7/£6

Ireland's poets are world famous - and here's an opportunity to catch some of them on their way into the limelight. Three Irish poets present a fresh perspective on life and love, on myths and legends, on Ireland and the modern world. Pat Boran, Miriam Gamble and Leanne O'Sullivan are all acclaimed writers: Pat with a string of books to his name and Miriam starting out with her first; Leanne, having published her first at 21, now has a second collection. Join them for an hour of poetry and music, for this reading in advance of St Patrick's Day. Presented in association with the Scottish Poetry Library, supported by Culture Ireland.

Allan Guthrie and Denise Mina

Saturday 13th March

12:30 - 13:30 Crime Fiction £7/£6

Denise Mina's Still Midnight follows DI Alex Morrow, an up-and-coming Glasgow cop. An elderly man is kidnapped when a group of armed men hold a terrified family at gunpoint and demand millions of pounds. Searching for dark secrets she also has to contend with her half-brother Danny making his name in Glasgow's criminal underworld. She discusses her work with Allan Guthrie whose latest novel, Slammer, sees young prison officer Nicholas Glass finding the stresses of the job increasingly hard to handle, bullied and abused by inmates and colleagues alike. When a group of cons use outside help to threaten his wife and daughter, Glass agrees to help them out with a 'favour'.

Susie Orbach

Saturday 13th March

14:00 - 15:00 Politics £7/£6

To possess a flawless body has become the ambition of millions: breast enhancement at 16 in American suburbs; eating problems from bulimia to obesity growing daily and affecting girls as young as six; leg extensions in China; cosmetic nose reconstructions behind the Hijab in Iran; and breasts and bottoms reshaped along with the face so that women in Brazil, as in China and Iran, can reflect Western norms of beauty. Psychoanalyst Susie Orbach, author of Fat is a Feminist Issue and now Bodies, has come to realise that the way we view our bodies is the mirror of how we view ourselves; our body becomes the measure of our worth.

The Book That Changed My Life

Saturday 13th March

17:00 - 18:00
Fiction
£7/£6

What book changed your life? This was the question asked to people across Scotland as part of a campaign organised by Scottish Book Trust, to get people excited about books and reading. A year and hundreds of entries later, the best and most inspiring ones have now been collected into one volume alongside stories by writers and other celebrities. Join Alan Bissett, Ewan Morrison and Sara Sheridan to find out how Clive Barker's Weaveworld, Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer and T C Boyle's Water Music have somehow changed their lives.

Glasgow University Writing Showcase

Saturday 13th March

18:30 - 19:30
New Scottish Writing
Free

Our second celebration of the fifteenth anniversary of the Writing Programme at the University of Glasgow includes readings from feature writers currently working on the PhD programme and distinguished published alumni. It culminates in the presentation of the annual Sceptre Prize to the outstanding student from the previous year.

aye write programme and booking