Aye Write 2021 – Helen McClory & Ruth Thomas
15 May, 2021 – 11.45 a.m. – 12.45 p.m.
Prize-winning Scottish Authors
Helen McClory & Ruth Thomas chaired by Sara Davies
Helen McClory’s first collection of stories, On the Edges of Vision, won the Saltire First Book of the Year. Her latest novel, Bitterhall is a story of obsession told between three unreliable narrators. In a darkening season in a northern city, Daniel, Órla and Tom narrate the intersections of their lives, from future-world 3D printing technology to the history of the book, to a stolen nineteenth-century diary written by a dashing gentleman who may not be entirely dead. It reveals the ways in which our subjectivity tampers with the notion of an objective reality, and delves into how we represent and understand our muddled, haunted selves. Ruth Thomas’s first story collection was also shortlisted for the Saltire First Book Award, and her first novel Things to Make and Mend received a Good Housekeeping Book Award. In her latest, The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line, we meet Sybil, who is happy enough with her work – and her love life. Then to her dismay, her old adversary, assertive and glamorous Helen Hansen seduces Sybil’s boyfriend. Betrayed and broken-hearted, Sybil becomes obsessed with exposing Helen as a fraud, no matter the cost.
*This performance is live and will be available to watch for three weeks after the broadcast date to accommodate different time zones.
This performance is included in the Aye Write 2021 festival pass, so you will not need to purchase this event if you have already purchased a pass.
Buy Books
Books are available to purchase from Aye Write bookseller partner Bookshop.org. Bookshop.org supports independent booksellers and for every book purchased 10% comes back to Aye Write and Wee Write, helping to invest in Glasgow’s book festival and reader development programmes.
See the full programme and book
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