Booker Prize-winner Douglas Stuart – who penned Shuggie Bain – and other famous writers will appear at Aberdeen University’s youth-led WayWORD Festival.
Returning for its third outing in September, this will be the first time the festival will be a mostly in-person event, taking place at King’s Pavilion.
Featuring workshops, author events, panel discussions and performance nights, the organisers are very excited to welcome award-winning Scottish-American writer Douglas Stuart whose debut novel Shuggie Bain tells the story of a child growing up with his alcoholic mother in 1980s post-industrial working-class Glasgow.
The talented author will tell attendees more about the book – which found a place on many prominent lists of the best books of 2020 – as well as his newest novel Young Mungo which was published a few months ago.
Monica Ali, Raymond Antrobus, Christopher Brookmyre, Jenny Colgan, C.J. Cooke and many more authors will also take part in the Aberdeen University festival.
Aberdeen’s WayWORD to return in September
WayWORD – which was launched in 2020 to celebrate Aberdeen University’s 525th anniversary – will return from September 20 to 25 with a vibrant offering of literary cross-arts events on campus as well as in Aberdeen Central Library and The Blue Lamp.
With a focus on highlighting unconventional forms of expression, this year’s line-up also includes public workshops in song-writing, street art, Gaelic song, and creative writing about mental health and landscape.
Audiences can also expect panel discussions on gaming, fan fiction, Queer Horror and performing identities on social media, featuring TikTok’s Celia and Instagram sensation Aiberdeen Mannie.
Other performers include international visual artists, horror writers, theatre directors, besides weel-kent local voices Sheena Blackhall, Mae Diansangu, Shane Strachan and Jo Gilbert.
Community programme
This year’s WayWORD also boasts a great community programme: comic workshops in the city and shire, and two mini-festivals co-organised by 14-15-year-olds, with mentoring from staff and university and college students.
WayWORD Community Festival features events at Riverbank Primary School, Tillydrone, and Hazlehead Academy Art for Life mini-fest – programmed by S3/4 pupils at the school, featuring Young Adult author Maya MacGregor.
There will also be book launches of new work by David Wheatley and Timothy C Baker and creative writing alumna Rachelle Atalla, whose debut novel The Pharmacist was published this year.
With more than 30 events covering topics such as nature, video art, poetry, music, photography, mental health, contemporary drama, and TikTok and Instagram identities, the organisers believe WayWORD offers something for everyone.
WayWORD Festival will be in-person and online event
The festival will retain some online and live-streamed events for those who are unable to join in person.
The full programme will go live online on Tuesday July 19. Free tickets can be booked here.
Dr Helen Lynch, director of Aberdeen University’s WORD Centre for Creative Writing and festival creative director, said: “The last two festivals have been really successful, but this year has the extra challenge of offering a full face-to-face festival experience for the first time, as well as keeping some online content for those who can’t join us in-person.”
Helen wanted to highlight that WayWORD is curated by students and young people from Aberdeen city and shire.
She said: “This year’s youth committee have been wonderful in coming up with great event ideas and learning loads of new skills to be able to be involved in every aspect of WayWORD.
“They really give the festival its unique flavour each year and keep it fresh and exciting, as well as putting in a huge amount of work and creativity to deliver such a wide variety of events.”
Conversation