Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

A Write Highland Hoolie: Authors and musicians to descend on Mallaig as event returns after year off due to Covid

Paul Murton, Duncan Chisholm and Hamish Napier are on the line up at Mallaig's West Highland Hotel.
Paul Murton, Duncan Chisholm and Hamish Napier are on the line up at Mallaig's West Highland Hotel.

A celebrated literature and music festival will return to Mallaig next month after being cancelled last year due to the pandemic.

The West Highland Hotel will host A Write Highland Hoolie as authors and musicians come together for a weekend of celebration and fun.

The festival takes place over the weekend of November 12 to November 14.

Tickets are still available for most of the events. However, the opening event has already reached capacity.

Murton and musicians in crossover

Entitled ‘The Highlands’, the opening event is based on television presenter and broadcaster Paul Murton’s latest book of the same name.

The opening event is based on Murton’s book, The Highlands

Mr Murton will be joined by fiddler Duncan Chisholm and Hamish Napier in a discussion about unique places of the Highlands, with music carefully chosen to accompany each area discussed.

Festival organisers have said the exciting mix of author and musicians is a “popular new departure for the festival”.

Big names on the line-up

Others on the billing include Chris Brookmyre, Donald S. Murray, E.S Thomson, Ghillie Basan, Polly Pullar, Leonie Charlton, Tom Bowser, and intrepid Polar explorer Myrtle Simpson.

For Chisholm and Napier fans, there will be another opportunity to hear the musicians as they perform in the hotel’s bar on Friday evening.

On Saturday, the hugely popular duo of Ingrid Henderson and Iain MacFarlane will take over musical duties.

Due to Covid restrictions, organisers have had to limit numbers for night-time sessions.

The brilliant Chris Brookmyre will be in conversation with @randallwrites on Sat 13 Nov 4.30pm in the West Highland Hotel – don’t miss The Cut. Tickets: a-write-highland-hoolie.com

Posted by A Write Highland Hoolie on Wednesday, 20 October 2021

Opportunities for children

Children will again be involved with the schools element expanded under the umbrella of Hoolie Hoolets.

Vivian French, Chris Brookmyre, Alan Windram and Donald S. Murray will hold events in schools, with a session also dedicated to Gaelic.

Senior English students will also be treated to a workshop with skilled literacy interviewer Lee Randall.

The theme for both written and art competitions is The Lighthouse to mark the publication of Mr Murray’s For the Safety of All – the Story of Scotland’s Lighthouses.

Mr Windram will judge the competition with winners announced at Sunday afternoon’s tea party.

Donald S Murray with his new book For the Safety of All.

Pupil’s to create new piece of music

For the first time as part of the festival, musicians will also be working with local high school pupils.

The children at Mallaig High will create a piece of music in a few hours with the aid of Duncan Chisholm and Hamish Napier.

Music teacher, Lauren Moir, who is also a member of the Riska Ceilidh Band, expressed her delight.

She said: “The music department at Mallaig High School is renowned for its high playing standards, its dedication to Scottish music and high numbers of music students performing and composing after leaving school.

“I am thrilled that Duncan and Hamish will be coming to work with some of the pupils.”

‘We hope to inspire young people to create music, free from inhibition’

Mr Chisholm added: “We aim to collectively create a piece of music with the students in the space of a few hours, a piece of music they can be proud of.

“We will give them ideas on building melody and harmony and set them loose on a creative journey.

“We hope to inspire the young people to continue creating their own music, free from inhibition.”

Duncan Chisholm will perform at the West Highland Hotel

Organisers ‘thrilled’ festival is back

Festival organisers, Polly Pullar, Ann Martin and Sine Davis, are delighted to be back.

They said: “We are thrilled to be holding the Hoolie again.

“We would like to thank our sponsors and supporters who have made it possible to expand our remit, particularly for primary and high school pupils.

“We are thrilled too, to have a new arm of the festival with our Hoolie School of Music Sessions.”

Tickets still available

Tickets can still be purchased from the festival website at: www.a-write-highland-hoolie.com