SCOTTISH festival Aye Write will go ahead this year following an “unexpected” donation of £65,000 from the charitable foundation established by the late EuroMillions winner, Colin Weir.
A spokesperson for the charity has said the cancellation of the popular Glasgow book festival was “unthinkable”.
Now, The Herald reports the event will take place although it will operate on a smaller scale than normal, with a number of stand-alone events throughout the year rather than over the course of 10 days.
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Last year, around 175 authors appeared in more than 120 events.
Funding has also been secured for this year’s Wee Write, a book festival for children and young people.
Events include appearances from Scottish actor Alan Cumming as well as an in-conversation event with Nicola Sturgeon and Val McDermid (below).
Last month, festival organisers Glasgow Life said they had been forced to cancel after a bid to secure £77,500 from Creative Scotland was rejected.
At the time, it said the delivery of the festival was “dependent on securing external funding” and that without this they had no choice but to cancel this year’s events.
The news was greeted with widespread dismay, with Sturgeon among those to express her disappointment at the news.
The first event confirmed in the new line-up is an event with author Damian Barr and playwright James Ley.
They have worked together on developing Barr’s memoir Maggie & Me for the stage and will be in conversation with the artistic director for the National Theatre of Scotland on April 30.
The event with McDermid and former first minister Sturgeon will take place in The Old Fruitmarket on May 21.
Elsewhere, LBC broadcaster and author of How They Broke Britain James O’Brien will be in conversation with Herald editor Catherine Salmond on May 17.
Cumming meanwhile will be reunited with his former double act partner Forbes Masson for an event at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on August 8.
Tickets are due to go on sale at 10am today and more events are expected to be added.
Wee Write will go ahead in autumn this year “on a smaller scale” and more details will be available “in the coming months”.
Bailie Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, said: “Aye Write is a much-loved festival, which is apparent from the outpouring of support over the past few weeks.
"The generous donation from the Colin Weir Charitable Foundation means it can continue to have a positive impact on Glaswegians and people throughout Scotland.”
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A spokesman for the Colin Weir Charitable Foundation said: “We are pleased to be able to support Aye Write to put on a programme of great events in 2024.
"It was unthinkable that Aye Write should be silenced until next year. Happily, the donation means that won’t be the case.”
Glasgow Life has said they are continuing to develop a multi-year funding application to Creative Scotland for future festivals.
They say if this bid is successful then Aye Write should return in full in 2025, 2026 and 2027.
However, the arts funding body has warned that money is limited with only around 30% of applications to their open fund likely to be successful.
Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken previously hit out at Creative Scotland, saying the city does not get significant enough support from the national agencies based in Edinburgh.
Writing in the Glasgow Times, she said “it’s high time Glasgow gets the recognition it deserves”.
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