Our News

Lilidh Kendrick is Programme Manager at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where she has shaped creative strands, including the Table Talk food and drink programme and Fresh Words, a series of new writing showcases. Before joining the festival in 2024, Lilidh spent six years in book-related roles in London, including at Bloomsbury Publishing and Women’s Prize Trust – the charity behind the Women’s Prize for Fiction – working across editorial, events, and writer development. In 2025 she sat on the judging panel for the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Awards, and she takes every opportunity to champion emerging Scottish writers.

Jess Orr has worked in the Scottish Literature sector for 12 years in a variety of roles and with organisations including the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh City of Literature Trust, Scottish Book Trust, and Glasgow Women’s Library. During this time, she also undertook a PhD in contemporary literature at the University of St Andrews, focusing on the work of Scottish author Ali Smith. For the last 6 years, she has worked as Operations Manager for Open Book, a charity that coordinates shared reading and creative writing programmes in community settings across Scotland, and as Associate Programmer for Paisley Book Festival, which had its first outing in 2020.