If you are heading to the west coast of Scotland next weekend, book tickets for the Tobermory Book Festival, running 17 and 18 October, and get on that ferry to Mull. This is a festival with a true island setting, embracing the best of speakers and writers. Staying over? You can book accommodation in the award winning Western Isles Hotel – where most of the events take place. The hotel sits proud above Tobermory Bay overlooking the comings and goings, the wildlife and the folk of the bay.

Explore the programme here. Birlinn is proud to have several authors involved – Carina Contini with The Contini Cookbook, Tom Bowser – Water of Life, Jane Smith with Community, Fiona Mackenzie – The Cadence of a Song, Jamie Crawford – Wild History, Journeys into Lost Scotland. Hugh Andrew, owner and MD of Birlinn, is one of the founders and organisers of the festival along with Lesley Graham, Hugh Raven and Jane Stuart-Smith, Duncan Swinbanks, Frances Sutton and Sue Penny. Booksales are supported by Tobermory Tackle and Books.