2023
Past Events
Judy Murray, ‘The Wild Card’
Monday 11th September 2023, 7:30 pm
Venue: The Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, North Ayrshire KA12 8PZ
Tidelines is delighted to present Judy Murray OBE, talking about her life, her career, and her first novel, ‘The Wild Card’ – a fresh, uplifting story about how it’s never too late to follow your dreams.
Twenty years ago, Abigail Patterson put her promising tennis career on hold to have a baby, but after a wild card entry to Wimbledon she finds herself swept up in a world she thought she’d left behind, and this time nothing – and no one – is going to stand in her way. But with those long-buried dreams of lifting the sparkling silver trophy on centre court inching closer, it’s only a matter of time before the press start digging into her past and uncover the secret she’s kept hidden for so long. Could the greatest comeback of all time destroy everything she’s sacrificed to protect?
Books will be for sale in the venue and Judy will be available for book signing after the event.
Tickets: £10
John Niven, ‘O Brother’
Friday 25th August 2023, 7:00 pm
Venue: The Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, North Ayrshire KA12 8PZ
Tidelines is thrilled to present this very special one-off event with Irvine-born author and journalist, John Niven, talking about his newly-published memoir, ‘O Brother’.
John Niven’s little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. In 2010, after years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of forty-two. ‘O Brother’ is a tender, affecting and often uproariously funny story about the bonds of family, and how we try to keep the finest of those we lose alive. Fundamentally it is about how families survive suicide. By turns heart-breaking and hilarious, ‘O Brother’ is packed with reminiscences of growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, the culture, the music and the changes in society all perfectly – and often hilariously – sketched.
Books will be for sale on the night and John will be available for book signing after the event.
Tickets: £10
Darren McGarvey: The Social Distance Between Us
Friday 24th March 2023, 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Venue: The Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, North Ayrshire KA12 8PZ
Tidelines Book Festival is delighted to welcome Orwell Prize winning author, BAFTA nominated broadcaster and celebrated hip-hop artist, Darren McGarvey, to the Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, for one night only as part of his 2023 tour.
“If all the best people are in all the best jobs, why is Britain such a f***ing bin fire?” McGarvey poses this awkward question and more in a new show centred around his book ‘The Social Distance Between Us’.
With its unpredictable ask-me-anything format, audience members shape the performance, making no two nights of the tour the same. McGarvey’s 60-minute high-wire act confronts the scandal of class-inequality with passion, humility, and an optimal dose of humour. Not to be missed.
Tickets £10 (suitable for age 14+).
Author photo: Steven Reynolds
Scrievin & Scran, An Evening of Spoken Word
Friday 27th January 2023, 7:30 pm to 9:45 pm
Venue: The Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, North Ayrshire KA12 8PZ
Chase away those January blues with the return of this hugely popular event, brought to you by Tidelines Book Festival. A warming evening of spoken word, with a half-time hot pie included in the ticket price, this event will be hosted by poet, storyteller and current Scriever at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Simon Lamb. Featuring guest appearances from local writers and a couple of open spots up for grabs, expect an evening of wit, wisdom, and the odd surprise.
“What a great evening, I never knew poetry could be so much fun!” (audience feedback, January 2019)
Tickets cost £10 and include a hot pie – please choose the correct meat/veggie/other option when booking. For ‘other’ please email [email protected] with your name & dietary needs after booking so we can meet everyone’s requirements).
For information on open spots for local writers, please email [email protected].
About Simon Lamb
The current Scriever at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Simon is a poet, performer and storyteller who enjoys delighting and igniting his audience with his distinctive voice and infectious energy. Simon won Gaiety’s Got Talent in 2015 with his show-stopping A Miserable Night at the Theatre, and his debut poetry collection – A Passing On of Shells – is forthcoming from Scallywag Press in spring 2023 with illustrations by former Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell.