The Scottish Book Festivals Network (SBFN) is a forum for sharing and establishing best practice and enabling informal exchange between the people who run and programme Scotland’s literary festivals.
Are you interested in being part of the Scottish Book Festivals Network?
If you work for one of the book festivals across Scotland and would like to be kept up to date and get involved with the Scottish Book Festival Network, please complete the below form.
Scottish Book Festival Network
Are you working for one of the book festivals across Scotland? Complete the below form to register your interest in being kept up to date for future events and updates of the Scottish Book Festival Network.
"*" indicates required fields
An impact study released on World Book Day in Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 evidenced the immense contribution of the Scotland’s book festivals to our society, culture and economy, alongside some of the challenges festivals continue to face rebuilding after the Covid lockdowns.
Authors and poets have also spoken about the importance of book festivals to their careers, to writing and to literary culture.
Kathleen Jamie, Scotland’s fourth Makar and author of Surfacing, Findings and Sightlines, said: “Sometimes you feel the world is going to hell in a handcart, but the growth of book festivals shows that reading and intelligence and debate are alive and well and happening at a local level.”
Damian Barr FRSL, author of Maggie and Me and You Will Be Safe Here as well as presenter of The Big Scottish Book Club: “Each festival has its own character which reflects the area and the stories from and of there. I can honestly say I’ve never had a bad time at a Scottish book fest as author or reader!”
Leela Soma (Twice Born, Bombay Baby and Murder at the Mela) said: “From Bute Noir, to Wigtown Book Festival, Bloody Scotland, Aye Write, to the huge EIBF – Scottish book festivals are making concerted efforts to have more representations from writers of colour from Scotland. I hope this is the start of an evolving change, that will include more diverse voices in book festivals.”
To find out more about Scotland’s book festivals, and in particular how the sector has adapted in the era of Covid, read Lee Randall’s 2021 report, ‘Exploring the post-pandemic landscape of Scottish Literary Festivals‘.