Books, Borders & Bikes at Traquair House

Travel Beyond Borders at our two-day literary festival in the historical surroundings of Traquair featuring a remarkable collection of Scottish broadcasters, international writers and cultural leaders of iconic small nations from around the world.

Whether you arrive by car or by foot or bike with our resident storytellers, “Books, Borders & Bikes” promises to be a unique event where landscape, identity and literature intertwine as you discover the beguiling tales of writers, thinkers, and peoples from small nations around the world in the some of the most stunning scenery and heritage in the Scottish Borders.

Alongside international literary writers such an Aminatta Forna (The Memory of Love), Petina Gappah and Raja Shehadeh (Palestinian Walks), we have invited certain human rights writers and intellectuals to help inform our understanding of these regions, such as Leyla Zana from Turkey (Sakharov Prize Winner) and Michael Mansfield QC.

Saturday 14th August

10:45 – 12:15 The Literary Hill Walk – with Fiona Houston
Wander around the hills of Traquair with artist local writer, Fiona Houston, as she take you on a literary journey and meet Scottish artists, Silvia Woodcock-Clarke, Caroline McNairn, Andrew Brown, and Joseph Maxwell Stuart in situ.

11.30 – 12.15 A walk through the Woods – join storyteller Mary Kenny for a gentle stroll around Traquair
Roam the meadows, streams and ancient woods of Traquair with family storyteller, Mary Kenny, as she makes 900 years of history come alive.

12:15 – 13:00 Oscar Guardiola-Rivera: Why Latin America Should Rule the World?
Join witty Columbian philosopher Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, with Geoffrey Baskerville to see why Latin America should rule the world!

13:15 – 14:15 Petina Gappah & Henry Olonga in conversation
Encounter stories of Zimbabwe and its people with Petina Gappah, the award-winning author of “An Elegy for Easterly”. Former Zimbabwe Cricket Captain, Henry Olonga, was forced into exile in his new book: “Blood Sweat and Treason”. Explore how living outside a country changes the perspective of the writer and sportsman.

14.00 – 15.00 The PEN Debate: In Another Tongue
How does it feel to write outside your first language? What are the personal and political choices in doing so? Scottish PEN President Jenni Calder hosts a panel event exploring the pleasure and peril of writing outside of your indigenous language. Writers Petina Gappah and aonghas macneacail, David Sulaberidze of the Rustaveli Theatre, translator Mesut Onet and Beyond Borders Literature Director, Caroline McCormick will join the discussion.

15:15 – 16:00 Alistair Moffat: The Highland Clans
Immerse yourself in the lyrical tales of the Highland Clans with Scottish Borders’ premier historian and broadcaster, Alistair Moffat.

16:15 – 17:00 Michael Mansfield QC: Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer
Spend an afternoon, with radical lawyer, Michael Mansfield QC, and find out what it’s like to represent everyone from the Birmingham Six, Barry George, Mohamed al-Fayed on to the families of Jean Charles de Menezes and Bloody Sunday. Mark Muller Stuart QC asks the questions.

17.30 – 19.00 Photography Exhibition & Reception
Gaze at Jawad al Mahli’s cityscapes of Palestine and find out more about the Kurds in our photography exhibition ‘Capturing Kurdistan”.

Enter The Other Place to listen to informal readings By Scottish writers Morelle Smith, Tom Pow, aonhghas macneacail, Donald Smith, Jenni Daiches, Linda Cracknell and Christine De luca, and learn more about the work of PEN.

Enjoy the delights of the award winning independent bookseller, Main Street Trading, and its carefully selected books and signings with of our authors.

Sunday 15th August

10:45 – 12:15 The Literary Walk - with Raja Shehadeh and Fi Houston
Join Palestinian author, Raja Shehadeh and local writer, Fi Houston, for another literary walk around the hills of Traquair.

10:30 – 12:15 Storytelling bike ride from Neidpath Castle to Traquair – with John Nichol
Cycle to Traquair from Abbotsford with Scottish storyteller, John Nichol, and hear the Borders’ landscape whisper its enchanting tales.

11.30 – 12.15 A walk through the Woods – join storyteller Mary Kenny for a gentle stroll around Traquair
Roam the meadows, streams and ancient woods of Traquair with family storyteller, Mary Kenny, as she makes 900 years of history come alive.

12:15 – 13:00 Aminatta Forna: Love and War in Sierra Leone
Join writer and broadcaster, Aminatta Forna as we explore how memory, love, identity and landscape interweave in her latest novel, The Memory of Love, and her other powerful memoirs about Sierra Leone. Writer and filmmaker James Runcie interviews.

13:15 – 14:00 Tales from Afghanistan: Magnus Linklater, James Fergusson and Timothy Albone
Join Magnus Linklater in discussion with James Fergusson, author of Taliban, and former Sunday Times Foreign Correspondent, Tim Albone, director of Out of the Ashes, a film that captures the uplifting story about the Afghan cricket’s team, and hear their views about what lays in store for Afghanistan, its people and the West’s presence in the country.

14:15 – 15:00 Raja Shehadeh: The Palestinian Upland Way – Walking the Land
Raja Shehadeh’s book ‘Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape’ won the 2008 George Orwell Prize for its frank insight into the Israeli occupation and its impact on the Palestinian people and landscape. Join Raja to hear him talk about his new memoirs and the role landscape plays in forging identity. Scottish PEN writer Linda Cracknell joins the discussion.

15:15 – 16:00 A place in the Sun: Where now for Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe MDC Minister of Culture, David Coltart, and Zimbabwe’s first ever black cricketer Henry Olonga, join Magnus Linklater to consider Zimbabwe’s future.

16.00 – 17.20 Out of the Ashes: The Film Gallery at Traquair
Watch Tim Albone’s uplifting and memorable film about the Afghan Cricket Team and its bid to join the World Cup. Preceeded by a short film from Afghan Connection.

16:15 – 17:00 Laying down the law: What role for the Literary Advocate?
When a lawyer becomes a writer, how does their experience influence and inform their view of the world? Three lawyers and authors share their views; with Petina Gappah, Michael Mansfield QC and Raja Shehadeh.

17:15 – 18:00 Thought Leaders: Small Nations, Big Cultures – The Beyond Borders Residency Initiative
What role does the small nation have to play in contemporary democracy and cultural exchange? Why is it that so many small nations have such deeply rooted and strong cultures? Join a roundtable discussion with writers Aminatta Forna, Raja Shehadeh, Petina Gappah, Leyla Zana, Tom Pow and Beyond Borders Executive Director Mark Muller QC, Michael Mansfield QC and others. Chaired by Caroline McCormick, Beyond Borders Director of Literature, who will launch the Beyond Borders Scottish Residency Initiative for 2011.

Enter The Other Place to listen to informal readings By Scottish writers Morelle Smith, Tom Pow, aonhghas macneacail, Donald Smith, Jenni Daiches, Linda Cracknell and Christine De luca, and learn more about the work of PEN.

Enjoy the delights of the award winning independent bookseller, Main Street Trading, and its carefully selected books and signings with of our authors.