Jackie Kay, Ali Smith

They are thrilled that two talented, engaging and humane writers, Jackie Kay and Ali Smith – contemporaries whose friendship spans many years – will return to the Festival for a special joint event, where they’ll perform and discuss the art of creativity.

Jackie, the Scottish Makar and University of Salford Chancellor, will read poems from her forthcoming collection, Bantam.

Her previous collections include The Adoption Papers (winner of the Forward Prize, Saltire Award and Scottish Arts Council Book Award), Off Colour, and Fiere. She has also published three short story collections; the memoir Red Dust Road and the novel Trumpet.

Ali will read extracts from her forthcoming novel, Winter. The second instalment in her Seasonal Quartet casts a merry eye over a bleak post-truth era, with a story rooted in history, memory and warmth.

Her previous novels include How to be both (winner of the Baileys Prize for Fiction, the Goldsmiths Prize and the Costa Novel Award), Hotel World and The Accidental (both shortlisted for The Man Booker and Orange Prizes).

Ali is also a prolific short story writer with many collections.