THE Edinburgh International Book Festival is calling upon people of all ages and backgrounds to tell their stories about Scotland today.
Launched as part of the VisitScotland-led "Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022", a series of themed events intended to celebrate and promote storytelling inspired by or emerging from Scotland, "Scotland’s Stories Now" is a mass participatory project seeking submissions from members of the public, reflecting their own experiences of life in Scotland.
From February 16 to April 3, the Book Festival is seeking 500-word stories which respond to the prompt "On this day". Interested storytellers are encouraged to draw inspiration from uniquely Scottish sources, ranging from the landscape, to myths and legends, to contemporary issues such as climate change and Scotland’s post-Covid recovery.
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The Book Festival’s communities programme director Noëlle Cobden said: “At Edinburgh International Book Festival we believe everyone has a story to tell and that through stories we can make sense of our world. As we emerge from the pandemic, we want to gather Scotland's Stories Now.
“Using the prompt 'On this Day' we are calling on people across the country to help us build an online story archive and create series of events at this year's festival to celebrate Scotland's Year of Stories. Seeking stories from all genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comic and drama, we will accept submissions in both written and recorded (audio or video) formats. We would also encourage speakers/users of both indigenous and non-indigenous languages to submit their story.”
Book Festival director Nick Barley commented: “Stories are entwined in Scotland’s DNA. This project teases out some of the reasons why stories remain relevant to our lives today, not only explaining where we’ve come from but helping us make sense of the challenges ahead.”
Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, added: “We are delighted to be supporting Scotland's Stories Now as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022. From icons of literature to local tales, Scotland’s Year of Stories encourages locals and visitors to experience a diversity of voices, take part in events and explore the places, people and cultures connected to all forms of our stories, past and present."
In a further initiative, the Book Festival will also be embedding Writers in Residence with various community groups in five of Scotland’s local authorities: Eleanor Thom and Ryan Van Winkle will work with groups in Edinburgh, while Andrew O’Hagan will be in East Ayrshire, Mae Diansangu in Aberdeenshire, Bea Webster in Clackmannanshire, and Roseanne Watt in Shetland.
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In collaboration with partners including Stepping Stones, the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh, and HMP Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, the Book Festival hopes to gather stories from those throughout the nation “who often do not have a voice.”
The project will culminate during the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2022, at Edinburgh College of Art, where visitors will be able to enjoy both the stories that have been gathered through the submissions process and the reflections of those community groups working with the Book Festival’s Writers in Residence, as well as participate in the storytelling themselves.
Submissions to "Scotland’s Stories Now" can be uploaded at the On The Road blog page of the Edinburgh International Book Festival website.
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