TIDELINES Book Festival
Martin Stewart
The modern world moves quickly. Instant email responses, next day delivery, and the expectation of maintaining a constant online presence has led to ever-increasing demands on our time. Space for reflection is a treasure, to be sought wherever possible.
Little wonder that book festivals are popping up all over the country.
This desire for reading – and for the shared experience of being a reader – can easily be viewed as a response to the pace of the modern world. Reading for pleasure is the anthesis of the frantic hubbub in which we spend so much of our lives: when the world is fast, reading is slow; when everything we watch is downloaded, streamed and beamed, we can hold a book in our hands. And physical books, as every bibliophile knows, are one of life’s great pleasures: solid, beautiful, and radiantly perfumed.
No wonder so many of us reach for a paperback as soon as we collapse into a poolside recliner. Reading – just like a fortnight in the sun – can bring us back to ourselves, recharging the body and mind. Even more than the sheer pleasure of the written word, time spent reading develops our empathy and compassion, lighting a vital candle of hope when online debate splits us into echo chambers of polarised opinion.
Yes, reading just might save the world – and Ayrshire can consider itself at the heart of that movement.
The county has much to offer book lovers, having produced literary heavyweights including Zoe Strachan, Andrew O’Hagan and Jenny Colgan. Of course, in Robert Burns, Ayrshire can also lay claim to the national bard. But, while everyone knows that Burns was born in Alloway, fewer know that Burns the poet was born in Irvine, where he fell in love with the poetry of his ‘elder brother in the muse’, Robert Fergusson.
Irvine’s contribution to the national literary conversation continues to this day, with this year’s edition marking the thirteenth year of Tidelines Book Festival – one of Ayrshire’s premier cultural events. Over the years Tidelines has brought some of the leading names in writing to the west coast, including Sir Ian Rankin, Karen Campbell, Denise Mina, and Chris Brookmyre. As its proud patron, Andrew O’Hagan has said that Tidelines is “a feast for the heart and the mind” which “ye cannae whack wi a big stick.”
And it’s right here on our doorstep.
Julie Muir, co-chair of Tidelines’ board of trustees, had always had a “passion for reading, books and attending author events.” Volunteering with Tidelines meant she was able to combine all those interests “in a very sociable way!” Elissa Wilson, one of the festival’s many brilliant volunteers, agrees. “The opportunity to spend time with likeminded book lovers,” she says, was “too good to pass up.”
The sense of togetherness, of harnessing their shared passion to make a contribution to their town, runs through every member of the Tidelines family. They talk about its inclusivity, its accessible events, its energy and buzz. There are partnerships with community groups and local businesses, and a schools’ programme that brings leading writers right into North Ayrshire’s classrooms. The festival’s sheer variety of events, covering every possible age range, means there is something for everyone at Tidelines – with an emphasis on fun.
Literary festivals, according to author Dr Helen Fry, are “vital to a healthy national dialogue, the freedom of ideas, and a forum to bring literature to life.” Implicit in all of that is the nature of the literary festival as a shared experience, turning reading from a quiet, solitary pursuit into a communal event, filled with laughter, community, and joy.
Tidelines is very much a community event. Talk to its organisers – board members, chairpersons, volunteers – and the same thing comes up again and again.
People.
Over and over, they describe the moment of first getting in touch with the festival’s organisers as one of excitement and possibility. There is the sense of connection, of finding others who see the world as you see it, of building confidence and making new friends while experiencing the thrill of making a contribution to something of real, local significance. With the Harbour Arts Centre at the festival’s heart, Tidelines has a venue with fantastic transport links, outstanding facilities, and a well-stocked bar.
“What more,” says Elissa Wilson, “could you ask for?”
For Tidelines’ passionate people, the chance to host world class literary events in their own town, rather than leaving such things to the major cities, means that everyone can have the chance to experience the book festival bounce of positivity and fun. Highlights of previous years include Ayrshire’s own Liam McIlvanney in conversation with football legend Pat Nevin, teenage book events with Cathy Cassidy, and an emotional evening with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Andrew O’Hagan, during which pupils from Sturgeon’s old school, Greenwood Academy, acted out scenes from O’Hagan’s hugely successful Mayflies.
And this year’s programme promises to be just as exciting.
Sturgeon returns to discuss her new memoir in front of a sell out crowd; former Makar Jackie Kay makes her Tidelines debut. The programme features Gaelic, whisky, crime, poetry, photography, cookery, witches, travel, walks in the harbour and – for the very bravest readers – a Dook and a Book.
To quote co-convenor Morven Gow: “It’s going to be some weekend!”
Thanks to Margaret McGuinness, Julie Muir, Melanie Nolan, Elissa Wilson, Janice Weir, and Morven Gow.
Tidelines Book Festival runs from 25th to 28th September in the Harbour Arts Centre and other venues around Irvine. For more information, or to view the programme in full, visit
www.tidelinesbookfestival.com
