BRID McKIBBEN is the new director of the Inverness Book Festival, and reflects on her plans for her first festival since taking over from Jason Rose.

NORTHINGS: Brid, this is your first festival as director, but you do have previous experience of the event from a different perspective, dont you?

Brid McKibben, the new Director of the Inverness Book Festival

BRID McKIBBEN:

I do. I worked in bookselling in Inverness until 2007, and I had been involved with the festival on that side from the first one until 2007. Ive watched it grow from the very start, and when Colin Marr approached me about taking over from Jason, I was very interested. I doubt I could have taken it on if I had still been in bookselling, though. 

I was just reading a piece on Northings that Jason did last year, funnily enough, and I noticed he was talking about how it was important to have fresh blood come in. He did a great job in the first five years, and I hope I can now take that on. I also have to agree with Jason that it is one of those part-time jobs that eat up a lot of time, and that is probably especially true this year when I have just been finding my feet. 

BRID McKIBBEN: I work for Community Energy Scotland in Dingwall, which like HI-Arts was under the wing of HIE for a long time, but is now an independent charity. My particular involvement is with the schools. 

NORTHINGS: Did you have an overall strategy in mind for this years event? 

BRID McKIBBEN: It was really to try to gear it to having at least one event which everyone would find interesting. I knew from my time in the shop the kind of subjects that sold well in Inverness, other than fiction. What does well here is history, biography, cooking, walking and the outdoors, and crime fiction. I wanted each of those sections represented in order to try to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. 

NORTHINGS: Crime fiction is an obvious hotspot, although during the book festival in Edinburgh this summer one of last years guests at the festival, James Kelman, had a bit of a go at genre fiction usurping serious literary fiction in Scotland. What did you make of that? 

BRID McKIBBEN: Yes, and this year we have one of the writers he was attacking, in Ian Rankin. I think there are arguments for both sides. There are a lot of people who are completely steeped in literary fiction, but there is a huge audience for crime fiction, and it is no less valid. We have to cater for both, and a lot of what might be regarded as genre fiction also crosses over into serious literary work. 

I wasnt an avid crime fiction reader myself, but what I find interesting about it is that it isnt just the crime story itself that carries the book, its all the details about a particular place and time that the writer works into the fabric of the book. That was where the idea of the Three Cities Crime Panel with Ian Rankin, Alex Gray and Stuart MacBride came up, and whether there might be one to come out of Inverness? 

NORTHINGS: Might literary fiction be seen as underrepresented in the programme this time? 

BRID McKIBBEN: Yes, possibly, but I prefer to see that as an increase in representation for other areas of writing! 

NORTHINGS: You mentioned walking and outdoor activities as another strong area of interest, which I guess we would expect here.

BRID McKIBBEN: Yes, it is a very popular subject, and John Allens book Cairngorm John has been nominated for the Boardman-Tasker Award this year. I think his session with Craig Weldon and John Davidson should be very interesting, and will represent quite different aspects of the outdoor community. We also have Brian Wilson, who is a Highland-based writer and environmentalist, and I guess you could almost include Robin Gillanders photographs in the outdoors category as well. 

NORTHINGS: Brian Wilson in particular also overlaps with the environmental strand, which is presumably close you to your own heart as well as a major issue here?

BRID McKIBBEN: There are so many groups in the area involved with issues around climate change, and it is a very strong interest here. Emma Wood has done a book on the history of the climate in this area, and Alastair Macintosh is a great campaigner and speaker, so theirs should a great session for anyone with an interest in climate change and the environment. 

Ian Rankin

NORTHINGS: You also have a number of well-know celebrities that arent primarily known as writers, like Barbara Dickson, Elaine C. Smith and Clare Grogan – are they included mainly for their public profile rather than literary merit? 

BRID McKIBBEN: Clare Grogan is in the childrens section, and both Barbara Dickson and Elaine C. Smith have a big following in Scotland. Biography is one of the big areas of interest in Inverness, and while I know a lot of people would say we have too much coverage of celebrities in general, but both of their books have very interesting stories to tell about their upbringing, and people are fascinated by that. 

NORTHINGS: Is the childrens programme an important element in what you are trying to achieve? 

BRID McKIBBEN: It is definitely a big part of what we are trying to do, especially the interactive part of it. Eden Court have done a lot of work through their education department on putting workshops together, and many of the events we have lined up have an interactive aspect to them, as in the frieze that the Itchy Coo Workshop will be making. Lari Don was new to me, but she has a fantastic ability to get the kids involved in story-telling. 

NORTHINGS: There is a bit of a story-telling theme running through the programme, in fact? 

BRID McKIBBEN: There is, for both adults and children, and Im hoping that it will reinvigorate the idea of storytelling and how important it is. It is a very strong tradition in this area, and I also come from a culture in Ireland where telling stories is very strong, and you are measured by how well you can tell one, and that interaction is crucial. 

We have also had a short story competition this year, and are going through the entries at the moment. We will be able to announce winners nearer to the festival. 

Sue Lawrence

NORTHINGS: So what does that leaves us with – history and cooking? 

BRID McKIBBEN: Im quite excited about the History events. Tim Newarks book on the Highland soldier is the first for a while on that topic, and he has had access to lots of material that hasnt been seen before. Again, there are lots of lovely little stories in there, and the same goes for Angus Konstams book on Scottish soldiers. 

We have Ian Hamilton, one of the people who was involved in stealing the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey. He is an amazing character. And Roger Hutchinsons new book will be enthralling, I think. It is more of a personal book for him, about his own familys history. Cooking is always popular, and Im looking forward to hearing Sue Lawrence, who is trying to get people to revive lots of old Scottish recipes. 

NORTHINGS: How about the involvement of local writers? 

BRID McKIBBEN: I was very keen to have as much local involvement as possible, and I have asked a number of local writers to chair sessions or to run workshops for the festival, and have tried to match up writers and chair people. Some were obvious enough – Nicky Marr used to share a flat with Ian Rankin, for example.
 
The week of the festival takes in National Poetry Day on the Thursday, and there are lots of people in the area who write poetry. Tow Pow will be doing a session with Cynthia Rogerson in the Chair, and Anne MacLeod will be doing a Workshop on writing poetry, one of a range of workshops we are running. 

NORTHINGS: Is it fair to say that the book festival is still trying to find its full identity and place in the Eden Court set-up? 

BRID McKIBBEN: I think that has been the case, and we need the public to help us with that, not only by supporting events, but also by giving us lots of good feedback about what people want from next years festival, and how they would like to see it develop. 

NORTHINGS: Thanks, Brid. Good luck with the festival. 

The Inverness Book Festival runs from 5-10 October 2009 at various locations in Eden Court Theatre.