BOOKMARK Book Festival
Perthshire's Book Festival
BOOKMARK 2024
A near sell-out crowd attended the final event of BOOKMARK’s 2024 programme on Saturday, November 16.Perhaps best known for his books about Orkney's famous Italian chapel, Orkney's Italian Chapel, built by Italian POWs during World War II, Philip is an award-winning writer having won the Scottish Association of Writers' Barbara Hammond Trophy in 2019 for his novel Men Cry Alone.
And this month The Last Witch of Scotland – which was inspired by the true story of Janet Horne the last person in Britain to be executed for witchcraft – won the Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year.
At BOOKMARK, Philip talked about how he got into writing novels, the detailed historical research he undertakes for his books, and the duty of care that writers have when writing about real people.
Chair of the BOOKMARK festival, Gail Wylie, said: “We were delighted to welcome Philip Paris to BOOKMARK for our last event of the year and to be amongst the first to congratulate him on his latest accolade.
Philip writes beautifully about people who find themselves caught up in extraordinary situations, often in different places, emphasising their strengths in a way that helps readers empathise with the difficult circumstances his characters encounter.
It was very interesting to learn more about the history behind what was a particularly problematic period, and to gain a more in-depth perspective on the real-life stories behind the statistics – I think everyone benefited from Philip’s extensive research, and his enthusiasm and sympathy for the subject matter really comes across in the book.
It was another informative and thought-provoking afternoon and as is so often the case at BOOKMARK events, we could have talked for much longer and about so much more! We’d like to thank Philip for sharing his time, his expertise and his stories with us.”
Philip commented: “It is always a great pleasure to be invited to speak at book events and I was delighted to be able to come to BOOKMARK. The audience was great, they were attentive, friendly and very interested in the subject, asking lots of in-depth questions, which was fantastic.”
The next BOOKMARK event will be at 2pm on Saturday, March 15, also in the St Catharine’s Hall, and will be a continuation of one of the events at the main BOOKMARK festival in October this year. Award-winning author and illustrator of 12 children’s books, Natalie Russell will be back to talk more about the centuries old tradition of combining art with words.
Background:
BOOKMARK established in 2012, has developed a reputation for being a friendly, well organised Book Festival which offers a wide range of events to suit all interests.
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