2025

Past events

An Audience with the Hebridean Baker (Coinneach MacLeod) and Peter MacQueen at Fullarton ConneXions

Join Coinneach MacLeod, the Hebridean Baker, and Peter MacQueen, author of Tails of Scotland, for a heartwarming evening of Scottish stories, recipes, dogs, and songs!

Settle in for a truly special night as two of Scotland’s most beloved storytellers come together to share tales from their lives, their books, and their shared love of Highland culture. Coinneach MacLeod, the international bestselling author and TV presenter known as the Hebridean Baker, will whisk you away to the Outer Hebrides with delicious recipes, Gaelic songs, and charming island folklore.

Alongside him, Peter MacQueen will introduce you to the furry stars of his new book Tails of Scotland, celebrating the iconic breeds that have left their pawprints on Scottish history. With his signature warmth and wit, Peter shared stories from his adventures across the country – from the Borders to the Isle of Skye – meeting the people and dogs who make Scotland so special.

Expect laughter, music, a few four-legged surprises, and plenty of inspiration to take home – whether it’s a new recipe, a new favourite dog breed, or a deeper love for the stories that shape us.

Things Found in Books

Join us for a special evening of stunning music and bookish tales in collaboration with Freckfest and Tidelines. 

Two of UK’s finest singer-songwriters, Yvonne Lyon and Boo Hewerdine sing songs and tell the story behind their new album Things Found In Books, a collection of songs inspired by objects, ephemera and fragments of lives discovered in the pages of second-hand books. 

The story begins in the second-hand bookshop in Culzean Castle. 
A pin-board entitled “Things Found In Books” displays items left behind in pages: postcards, photographs, old receipts, letters, notes – mementoes once tucked away and now disconnected from their owners. Drawing out universal themes of memory, love, longing, and hope. The result is a poignant and beautiful album, released alongside a richly illustrated, tactile companion book. 

“You have the option to bring along a second-hand book/CD, Vinyl etc and leave with a different one. You can even tuck a wee something inside!”

Liam McIlvanney in Conversation

Crime writer Liam McIlvanney returns to his roots in his new thriller, The Good Father, set on the Ayrshire coast. 
 
Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with rich, fulfilling lives. They have a son they adore, a house on the beach and a safe, friendly community in a picture-postcard town. Until one day, Bonnie the lab comes in from the beach alone. Their son, Rory, has gone – the only trace left behind is a single black Adidas slider. Their lives don’t fall apart immediately. While there’s still hope (and no body) they dig deep and try to carry on. But when the truth begins to emerge, they find themselves in a world they could barely have imagined… 
 
‘A haunting, harrowing study of how far a father will go’ – Neil Broadfoot 
‘Beautifully written, this is easily one of the finest crime novels I’ve read in a very long time’ – C.M. Ewan 
 
Liam will be in conversation with journalist Katrina Tweedie.

John Niven in Conversation

John Niven will discuss his new novel, The Fathers with Craig McAllister.

“Dan Chambers and Jada Harrison live in very different worlds, both called Glasgow. In the normal run of things, they would never meet – unless Dan was perhaps called for jury duty. But meet these star-crossed men do, in the early hours of a January morning in front of the maternity ward where they have both just become fathers. What follows is an unlikely and complicated friendship as the men navigate their very different versions of fatherhood”.

The Fathers, the eleventh novel from Sunday Times bestselling writer John Niven, is a hilarious and heart-breaking account of fatherhood, marriage, fertility, grief, class and masculinity.

‘There’s nothing faster, sadder or funnier than John Niven on men’ – Caitlin Moran

Scrievin’ & Scran: An Evening of Spoken Word

Join your local book festival, Tidelines, for the return of this hugely popular annual event. A warming evening of poetry and prose, with a half-time hot pie included in the ticket price, this is the Tidelines-recommended recipe for warding off those January blues. Scrievin & Scran 2025 will be hosted by local professional actor and Director of Poetic Justice Productions, Steven Duffy, with performances from guest local writers and open spots for those brave enough to step up to the mic. Expect an evening of warmth, wit, wisdom, and perhaps a few wee surprises.

“The line-up was brilliant! Pies tasty!”
“I never knew poetry could be so much fun!”