Scottish Book Trust Audio Podcast

Darren Shan Interview

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:35:36 +0000

Darren Shan needs no introduction for his thousands of readers around the world, thanks to the success of his Saga of Darren Shan series, set in a world of vampires at war. Scottish Book Trust's Michael Merillo, a Shan fan himself, interviewed the author at our recent Glasgow event where Darren was launching Hell's Heroes, the last book in the Demonata series.

Listen in to hear Darren talking about why vampires are so popular and why he loves touring, plus hear him doing the voice of Lord Loss!

The first 3 books in the Darren Shan series were recently made into the film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, and this interview was done just before the film's release, so Darren had lots to say about the film and his involvement in it.

Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell Interview: Highland Tour

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:55:11 +0100

In September 2009 we took Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, the creators of the multi-million selling Edge Chronicles, on a two-week long Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour of schools in the Highlands of Scotland.

Paul and Chris entertained and inspired over 3000 children with tales from the Edge Chronicles, Barnaby Grimes series and Far-Flung Adventures.

Here they talk about their experience of the tour, how they work together and where some of the inspiration for their work comes from.

They are currently working on an online novel which can be seen at www.weirdnewworlds.com

MG Harris Interview: Ice Shock

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:59:06 +0100

We helped bestselling author MG Harris launch Ice Shock, the second book in her Joshua Files series, with a special Virtual Author event based at Lenzie Academy and beamed to 20 schools across Scotland.

Jasmine Fassl was on hand to interview MG after the event, and she asked the Mexican-born, Manchester-raised author how she ended up becoming a writer. The discussion that followed covers everything from MG's research to the crucial differences between male and female characters!

Something In The Pause by Nicola White

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 11:15:03 +0100

Introduction to the story by Alison Stirling
The idea behind this particular story was to find a way to describe an arts project that involved an artist, an informatics specialist and a man with a liking for music. The man in question had a learning disability, a sight impairment and physical disability, which meant he was reliant on others choosing what he listened to. He listened to Radio Forth a lot. So artist Steve Hollingsworth began creating a sound system which could operate with one simple hand movement, enabling the man to select, for the first time, what he felt like listening to from an extensive library of sounds. The playlist included the man’s mother telling stories, his brother playing cello, the sound of a music box he liked and personalised jingles made for him by Radio Forth.

Together, the artist and the informatics specialist adapted an mp3 player. The sound equipment was installed in the man’s bedroom. It’s his, it's private and he can listen to whatever he wants, at the touch of his hand.

So how do you write about a project like this? We asked writer Nicola White to write a short story, a fiction from the point of view of the man. What happened to the story is a real testament to the skill of the writer. She turned a short story about a sound project into a sound work itself, creating an inspiring work from an equally inspiring project.

About the Author
Nicola White grew up in Dublin and New York. She worked as a contemporary art curator and as a television and radio producer before concentrating on writing. Nicola has had several pieces of short fiction published in addition to features for newspapers and magazines. She received a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2008 and is currently working on her first novel, a piece of catholic noir set in Ireland.

Credits for Audio Production
Written and Produced by Nicola White
Read by Callum Cuthbertson
Music by Stephen Adam
Sound Production by Caroline Barbour

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But by Anne Donovan

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 10:42:47 +0100

Introduction to the story by Alison Stirling
But was Artlink's first foray into fiction. With the support of the Scottish Book Trust, Anne Donovan paved the way. What patience! What skill! It was Anne who established the writing approach, working through - though I didn’t realise it at the time - what was a very hard task. We had her meet a number of parents of people with learning disabilities. We didn’t want to be prescriptive so we told her that after she had met everyone she could write about a light bulb if she wanted. At the time we were working with a number of parents, who were beginning to reach the end of their tether, caring for their son or daughter within a care system which did not necessarily offer them the support they required. All she had to do was meet them and come up with a story...

She did. And funnily enough it wasn’t about a light bulb.

About the Author
Anne Donovan is the author of the novel Buddha Da and the short story collection Hieroglyphics, both published by Canongate. Buddha Da was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Scottish Book of the Year Award. It won The Prince Maurice Award in Mauritius.
Winner of the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday Short Story Award, Anne has also written for radio, stage and screen. She lives in Glasgow.

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Catherine Rayner Interview: Sylvia & Bird

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:22:28 +0100

In June 2009 Catherine Rayner won the Kate Greenaway Medal for Children's Book Illustration for Harris Finds His Feet and we at Scottish Book Trust couldn't be more thrilled for her.

Catherine was at Scottish Book Trust to celebrate the launch of Sylvia & Bird back in March and we invite you to come and listen to what she had to say about her inspiration, illustration heroes and what type of vegetable she would be!

J.A.Henderson, James Jauncey and Keith Gray: RMA Nominee Interviews 2009

Fri, 29 May 2009 11:51:36 +0100

The Older Readers 12-16 years category in this year's Royal Mail Awards features three great titles, Crash by J.A.Henderson, Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray and The Reckoning by James Jauncey. Listen to our interviews to hear the three authors talking about how they came up with their stories and which books and authors inspired them when they were younger.

Lari Don, Charlie James and Joan Lingard: RMA Nominee Interviews 2009

Fri, 29 May 2009 11:31:33 +0100

The books nominated for the Younger Readers 8-11 years category in this year's Royal Mail Awards are First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts by Lari Don, Dino Egg by Charlie James and The Eleventh Orphan by Joan Lingard. We had the opportunity to speak to the three authors about how they came up with their stories, how it feels to have made the Royal Mail Awards shortlist and what their favourite books were when they were younger.

Julia Donaldson, John Fardell and Lynn Rickards: RMA Nominee Interviews 2009

Fri, 29 May 2009 11:04:49 +0100

The three books nominated in the Early Years 0-7 category for this year's Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books are Stick Man, Manfred the Baddie and Pink! We spoke to the authors of the books - Julia Donaldson, John Fardell and Lynn Rickards respectively - to find out more about where they got the ideas for their stories and what their favourite books were when they were children.

Please Note: There is some deterioration of audio quality in the John Fardell and Lynn Rickards interviews due to high background noise. We apologise for this and hope it doesn't spoil your listening experience.

Steve Cole Interview: Cows, Dinosaurs and Doctor Who

Mon, 11 May 2009 16:28:16 +0100

Steve Cole - pictured, in mid-flow - was our special guest on the recent Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour of Orkney and Shetland, and he certainly put all his energy into creating the best experience possible for all the children who saw him. Chris interviewed Steve at the end of the tour, and asked him about the masses of books he has written, including the Astrosaurs and Cows in Action series', as well as his involvement in a certain little-known BBC science fiction series...