Literary reign
Bryan Copland • Published 25 Nov 2010 09:26
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Alastair Campbell – cousin of well-known county resident Susan Law – entertained a sell-out audience at the book festival on Saturday.
Pic courtesy of Writer Pictures
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IT RAINED and it poured – but revellers refused to let the dreich weather dampen spirits as they turned out in their thousands at the weekend to soak up the best of what Lennoxlove Book Festival had to offer.
A host of literary stars and personalities appeared at the three-day event at Lennoxlove House, south of Haddington, to promote their latest publications and talk to the crowds. Visitor numbers were up 50 per cent on last year.
Among the many who entertained were equestrian three-day event Olympic medal-winner Mary King, distinguished journalist Peter Snow, Julia Donaldson – creator of The Gruffalo – actor Tom Conti, and author Sarah Dunant.
Wildlife presenter and cameraman Simon King gave a passionate presentation on visits to Shetland, detailed in his book 'The Shetland Diaries'. His slideshow of stunning nature photos was rounded off with amusing tales of big cats getting too close for comfort on visits to Africa!
One of the biggest names at the festival was cult author Iain M Banks, promoting his latest novel 'Surface Detail' – the new addition to the writer's hugely successful 'Culture' series. He gave an entertaining glimpse of the fertile imagination which has created many Scottish literature classics.
Saturday night saw the highly anticipated appearance of Tony Blair's former director of communications, Alastair Campbell. Although often a controversial figure of Labour's 13-year tenure, Mr Campbell won the audience over with his insight into life inside 10 Downing Street before and after the 1997 election, adding sharp wit and banter to the mix.
To round his stint off, Mr Campbell raised £2,000 during a collection for Muirfield Riding Therapy near Gullane, which his cousin Susan Law runs.
Among the top writers to appear was historical novelist Conn Iggulden who had the packed audience laughing along to a raft of amusing anecdotes from history.
Two ends of the comedy spectrum graced the Festival Marquee, with esteemed actor and broadcaster Nicholas Parsons charming in an interview which defied his 87 years, before he watched 20-year-old Scot Daniel Sloss provide plenty of laughs for his largely teenage audience.
And renowned Edinburgh crime author Ian Rankin warmed his audience with a laid-back interview session about his work – before drawing excited gasps as he hinted that they may not have seen the last of his most famous character, Detective Inspector John Rebus.
A total of 4,600 tickets were sold. Event director Alistair Moffat said the festival had brought "warmth, sparkle and magic" to a dreich November weekend.
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