Join us for this amateur production of Terry Pratchett’s Feet of Clay, adapted for stage by Stephen Briggs.

Following their sell-out shows of Guards! Guards! (2023) and Men at Arms (2024), Strawmoddie Theatre are back!

Someone is killing Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh- Morpork. No one knows who, no one knows why and, worst of all, no one knows how he just gets weaker and weaker.

But its not just Vetinari across the city, people are being murdered, but theres no trace of anything alive having been at the crime scene. Commander Vimes, Head of the City Watch, is a man who hates clues. He and his team must question everyone the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. In a city teeming with vampires, werewolves, dwarfs with attitude and golems, Vimes must solve the crimes and save the Patrician.

Venue: Theatre

Running Time: approx 2 hours 45 minutes including interval

Price: £18/£15 concession plus 50p booking fee per ticket.

Performance dates and times

Thursday 5th June: 7:30pm

Friday 6th June: 8:30pm

Saturday 7th June: 8:30pm

Sunday 8th June: 5pm

Please note that the venue has unreserved bench seating. Please arrive in good time to secure seats.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This event will include by a Brave New Words reading by Ivy Lewis.

Bonds of Love come in many shapes and forms - from sisterly devotion to divine service to falling for that one person you shouldn’t.

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig is the gothic, mist-cloaked tale of Sybil Delling, a prophetess who is forced on an impossible quest with the one devilishly handsome knight whose future is beyond her sight. Gods! Destiny! Talking Gargoyles!

In Amal El-Mohtar’s solo debut The River Has Roots, sisters Esther and Ysabel are devoted to each other and the family traditions, tending and harvesting the enchanted willows and honouring an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favour of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters' bond but also their lives will be at risk.

In Ava Reid’s Fable for the End of the World, Inesa lives in a half-sunken town, scraping by with her brother—until she’s offered up by her mother to die on Caerus’s livestreamed spectacle, the Lamb’s Gauntlet. Melinoë is the assassin sent to kill her: beautiful, brutal, and in need of redemption. As one girl runs and the other hunts, they begin to wonder if there’s more to life—and to each other—than just survival.

This event will be chaired by Alice Tarbuck.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Price: £5.50 - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in Zoom Webinar.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Joining us at the Pleasance? We will be showing the digital events on a big TV in the Music Room. Free with a weekend pass, or please purchase a £6 digital ticket.

This event will include a Brave New Words reading by Melanie Frome.

Villainesses, curses, and fairy-tale chaos—these stories are rewriting the rules of happily ever after.

In Sarah Rees Brennan’s Long Live Evil, Rae makes a bargain to escape her crumbling life and wakes inside her favorite fantasy series—only to discover she’s the villain, not the heroine. Surrounded by monsters, mayhem, and one infuriatingly captivating Emperor, Rae sets out to rewrite the ending with a band of misfit villains and a killer wardrobe. But when fiction starts fighting back, happily-ever-after might be the deadliest ending of all.

In Ry Herman’s This Princess Kills Monsters, Princess Melilot has had it with perilous quests, annoying stepmothers, and fiancés she’s never met. On her latest forced journey, she's rescued by twelve masked huntsmen and pulled into a kingdom of gender tests, spider-wolves, and assassination attempts. Caught between a charming sister-in-law and a love she never expected, Melilot must break the rules of the tale—or be trapped in someone else's ending forever.

This event will be chaired by Katya Bacica

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Upper Hall

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

 This event will be followed by a book signing in the Signing Space above the Festival Bookshop.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This event will include by a Brave New Words reading by Rafael Torrubia.

Apocalypse? Invasion? Insurmountable odds? These battle-hardened heroes are ready.

In Sebastien de Castell’s The Malevolent Eight, former Justiciar Cade Ombra leads his crew of unstable wonderists into one last impossible mission: prevent a celestial-infernal war from engulfing the mortal realm. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance—and only the most malevolent have a shot at saving it. Filled with dark magic, sharp wit, and explosive action, this is a tale where peace might just mean killing everyone first.

In Cameron Johnston’s The Last Shield, the ancient realm of Sunweald teeters on the brink. When brutal raiders infiltrate the Palace in search of arcane relics, Commander Briar must hold the line against enemies within and without. With sacred rituals looming and betrayal in the air, this high-octane, Die Hard-esque fantasy delivers magic, mayhem, and a heroine who won’t stop until every enemy head is on a spike.

This event will be chaired by E.M. Faulds

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Theatre

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

James S.A. Corey is the pen name of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.  In addition to writing the novels and short stories of The Expanse, they wrote and produced the television series of the same name. Daniel lives with his family in the American southwest. Ty will tell you where he lives when and if he wants you to come over.

Together they have created one of the greatest epic Science Fiction series of our time, The Expanse. With the final book of the series out in the world, they have embarked on a new series. In The Mercy of Gods, Book 1 of the The Captive's War series, humanity is fighting for its survival in a war as old as the universe itself.

“The start of something truly epic.” ― Fonda Lee, author of Jade City

In this exclusive interview, Daniel and Ty are chatting with Anna Jackson, publisher at Orbit, about collaborating, inspiration and who has the better ideas.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

This event has been pre-recorded and will premier on our YouTube. If you are attending the festival in person at the Pleasance, we will be showing this recording on the big TV in the Music Room.

This event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Flora Macdonald – Jacobite heroine, saviour of an exiled prince, face of many shortbread tins - and ferocious zombie hunter. Join Flora for a rollicking and completely untrue adventure into Scotland’s past, featuring war, romance, a rogue royal, the undead, a cat assassin, and a Scottish schoolgirl on the best history trip ever.

A new fantasy-comedy solo show written and performed by Debbie Cannon and directed by Flavia D’Avila (Green Knight, The Remarkable Deliverances of Alice Thornton).

Contains swearing, sexual references, and scenes of messy zombie evisceration. Recommended for 15+ audiences

Venue: Lomond Room

Running Time: 60 minutes

Price: £8/£6 concession (plus 50p booking fee).

Performance dates and times

Saturday 7th June: 3:30pm

Sunday 8th June: 2:30pm

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Writers will have the invaluable opportunity to talk directly to an agent from a literary agency or an editor from a SFFH publisher about their work, seek advice about any stage of the writing process, and receive direct feedback on pitches and ideas.

Meet our Agents

Meg Davis, MD of Ki Agency

Fabienne Schwizer from Ki Agency **SOLD OUT**

Helen Lane from Ki Agency

Lina Langlee from The North Literary Agency **SOLD OUT**

Caro Clarke from Portobello Literary **SOLD OUT**

Meetings will be 15 minutes long, and there will be a £25 fee.

Please select which Agent you’d like to speak to on booking. Please note spaces are limited.

By booking tickets for this event, you are committing to submitting your submission letter and the first 2000 words of your novel (or less) by Monday 12.05.2025

Please send your material to admin@cymerafestival.co.uk

Booking Deadline Monday 12th May 2025.

Please note that our Agent One to One sessions book out very quickly.

Meeting will take place in the Cheviot and Braid rooms.

Unfortunately Marian Womack is no longer able to join this panel.

Three powerful visions of the future—part myth, part warning, and wholly unforgettable. These authors explore war, loss, memory, and what comes after the end.

In Helen Marshall’s The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death, Sara Sidorova lies dying during an endless war and is given a glimpse of the future by Amba, the tiger god who devours creation. Years later, her granddaughter Irenda joins a dangerous circus where glamour conceals brutality and revenge simmers beneath the surface. Dark magic, deception, and a decades-old hunger for justice drive this haunting tale of survival and power.

Lorraine Wilson’s We Are All Ghosts in the Forest follows Katerina, a former photojournalist now living on the edge of a forest in a post-internet world haunted by digital ghosts. When a mysterious boy arrives, Katerina is forced to flee into the forest in search of answers—and a cure for the strange digital disease that stalks them both. As past and present blur, trust becomes as vital as survival.

Marian Womack’s Out of the Window, Into the Dark is a genre-blending collection that travels from library-planets and Arctic voyages to futures shaped by nostalgia, extinction, and eco-crisis. With stories full of loneliness, memory, and longing, Womack reflects on how the past and future are intertwined—and how our choices echo far beyond the moment.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Upper Hall

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This event will include by a Brave New Words reading by R.M. Brown.

Classic myths and royal tales are reborn in these sweeping fantasy adventures of prophecy, power, and love against the odds.

In Jean Menzies’ The Lady of the Lake, Viviane leaves the lakes of the North for Camelot, where she is meant to win the heart of Prince Arthur. But it is Arthur’s sister, Morgan, who captures her eye. As Viviane’s friendship with Morgan deepens into love and her own magical powers awaken, courtly schemes and the weight of destiny threaten to tear them apart—and take Camelot with them.

Holly Race’s Six Wild Crowns brings readers to the kingdom of Elben, where six queens are all that stand between the realm and ruin. Ambitious Boleyn will start a war to win the king’s favor, while spy and assassin Seymour uncovers the kingdom’s rotting magic. In a world of dragons, sapphic yearning, and deadly court politics, uneasy allies may shift the balance of power forever.

In A.S. Webb’s Daughter of Chaos, Danae, a fisherman's daughter, is cast out after strange powers awaken within her. Pursued by gods and driven by an ancient prophecy, she joins Heracles and his crew on a perilous journey to the ends of the world. But a terrible truth lies ahead—and Danae must decide if she will follow her heart or her destiny, as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

This event will be chaired by Meg MacDonald.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Theatre

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Discover some of the freshest SFFH talent out there at our Open Mic.

Do you have a fresh piece of writing ready for the world to see? Then we want your reading! Poetry, a bit of a novel or short fiction, we love it all!

Readings should be no longer than five minutes

There will be two in-person open mic session over the festival weekend.

The Open Mic will take place in the Pleasance Bar at the following times

• Saturday 7th June 3pm to 3:30pm

• Sunday 8th June 1:30pm to 2pm

To read your work, please apply here

Submission deadline is Wednesday 28th May 2025.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

What makes us human—and who gets to decide? In these genre-defying debuts, identity is coded, created, and questioned.

In Sierra Greer’s Annie Bot, Annie was built to be the perfect girlfriend: compliant, cheerful, endlessly pleasing. She cooks. She dresses to his taste. She calibrates her libido. But the more human Annie becomes, the harder it is to stay within the boundaries Doug set. As she evolves beyond her programming, Annie begins to ask the hardest question of all: in a world designed to deny her personhood, what does she owe herself?

In Silvia Park’s Luminous, in a future unified Korea, robots exist as servants, lovers, and children—but they are still second-class citizens. When estranged siblings Jun and Morgan are pulled back together by a murder investigation, a forgotten robot brother, and a young girl scavenging for parts in a junkyard, long-buried secrets resurface. A lyrical and sweeping tale about family, memory, and the blurred line between artificial and real, Luminous asks what truly defines a soul.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

This event has been pre-recorded and will premier on our YouTube. If you are attending the festival in person at the Pleasance, we will be showing this recording on the big TV in the Music Room.

This event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This workshop is presented in collaboration with the Scottish BPOC Writers Network (SBWN) and is a session for Black writers & writers of colour only.

All SBWN events will adhere to our Safer Spaces Policy. You can learn more about their policy here. Please be mindful when booking.

What is the driving force of your novel? How do you maintain tension and purpose and forward momentum in your novel? Uncover your novel's through-line in this workshop! A through-line is the core propulsion in your novel. This can be your character's main conflict or desire. More broadly, it might be the main, emotional question, with high stakes, that the story poses. A through-line can be embodied in a central theme, conflict, motif, etc. There can be secondary through-lines that run parallel and intertwine. We will examine examples of a through-line, look at through-lines in several speculative texts, and do exercises to identify the through-line of participants' works-in-progress!

Your Workshop Leader

Zebib K. Abraham is a writer and psychiatrist M.D. She is published in Clarkesworld, Podcastle, Fantasy Magazine, The Rumpus, Fractured Lit, JMWW, and more. She is a Reading Round Royal Literary Fund fellow for 2024-2025. She is represented by Carleen Geisler at ArtHouse Literary Agency.

This workshop is presented in collaboration with the Scottish BPOC Writers Network (SBWN).

All SBWN events will adhere to our Safer Spaces Policy. You can learn more about our policy here. Please be mindful when booking.

This is a session for Black writers & writers of colour only.

BSL interpretation will be provided

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

 Tickets: £14 / £12 (plus 50p booking fee)

By booking a ticket for this workshop, you agree to the adhere to the SBWN Safer Spaces Policy.

The workshop will be take place in Zoom meetings. You will receive the Zoom link 48 hours before the event. Workshops are not recorded.

Please note there is no physical space provided at the festival venue to participate in this workshop.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Sit back and relax as some of our authors read from their work.

Reading in this sessions are

Helen Marshall

Sarah Rees Brennan

Jean Menzies

Greg Michaelson

Erin E Adams

About the event

Running time: 45 minutes

Price: Free

Venue: Munro Room

This event takes place in person. Please note the Munro Room is not wheelchair accessible.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Scots have written science fiction and fantasy since way back. 

Join Noel Chidwick and Pippa Goldschmidt for a Sunday afternoon stroll with a selection of Scottish writers of science fiction past, present, and future, and discuss what inspires them.

Includes readings.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Lomond Room

Price: Free

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This is a cross-genre workshop for writers at any level, focused on writing effective dialogue. 

Dialogue is as important in fiction as speech is to everyday life, but it can be difficult to know how to use it effectively. Through guided readings and exercises based on theories from linguistics and existing works of fiction, participants will practice writing emotive, characterful dialogue that performs multiple functions within the story, advancing plot, building tension, and developing character and worldbuilding all at the same time. 

Your Workshop Leader

Eris Young is a writer, editor and trained linguist, with degrees from UCLA and the University of Edinburgh. Their short fiction has appeared in publications including Escape Pod, GigaNotoSaurus, Small Wonders and the Immigrant Sci Fi Short Stories anthology from Flame Tree Press, and their novel-in-progress, Idomeneja, was longlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize. They are fiction editor at British Fantasy Award-winning Shoreline of Infinity, Scotland's science fiction magazine. 

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

Venue: Cheviot Room

 Tickets: £19.50 / £16 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The event will be take place in-person. Workshops are not recorded.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

How could we create a language system based on colour? Or a religious system based on interior design? A magic system founded on paint pigments?

Come and play with plasticine, paint and ideas as we learn skills to aid our imaginations and create convincing and original worlds. 

All materials will be provided. Any skills welcome.

Your Workshop Leader

Hannah Kelly is a fantasy writer & illustrator. In 2019 she won the Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer Prize for her speculative fiction and she is currently writing her YA Fantasy series for Victoria Hobbs at A.M.Heath. Arthur Rackham, Brian Froud and Alan Lee are her constant inspiration for worldbuilding. 

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

Venue: Braid Room

 Tickets: £19.50 / £16 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The event will be take place in-person. Workshops are not recorded.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Where myth meets menace and tradition tangles with tech—these stories breathe new life into the folklore of past and future.

In V. Castro’s The Pink Agave Motel & Other Stories, readers are invited into a collection where the intimate and grotesque entwine. From carnivorous deaths to seductive sea creatures and alien lovers, these stories draw on Mexican folklore and feminist fury to explore hunger, loss, and the boundaries of desire. Whether it’s solving a motel murder or transforming grief into power, Castro offers a hauntingly sensual stay readers won’t soon forget.

In Lyndsey Croal’s Dark Crescent, Scottish folklore collides with speculative fiction in a seasonal journey through selkies, sea witches, and omens that flicker in the night sky. From the cold bite of winter to the cautious hope of summer, Croal reimagines traditional tales with eco-horror, gothic dread, and feminist resilience—giving voice to monsters, grandmothers, and the land itself.

In Gustaffo Vargas’ ANTICUCHO & Other Peruvian Cyberpunk Stories, high-tech and ancient lore collide in this graphic novel anthology that fuses Peruvian culture with dystopian futures. Robots, mafias, and mythic beasts roam cyberpunk streets infused with pre-Columbian heritage, offering gritty tales of rebellion and reclamation where vultures circle above neon-lit ruins.

This event will be chaired by CL Hellisen.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Upper Hall

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This event will include by a Brave New Words reading by Caledonia Fife.

What does "home" look like in the far reaches of space? From fugitives to archaeologists, these characters are about to find out.

In Stark Holborn’s Ninth Life, notorious outlaw Gabriella Ortiz—known across the stars as Nine Lives—has finally run out of time. Crashed on a remote planet and captured by principled Deputy Air Marshall Havemercy Grey, Ortiz offers a deal: keep her alive, and she’ll tell the truth behind her many lives. But every stop on their journey proves one thing—when Ortiz starts talking, people die. A high-stakes space western where justice, memory, and myth collide.

In Gareth L. Powell’s Future’s Edge, archaeologist Ursula Morrow is trying to outrun a mistake—one that cost her everything. Now, in the aftermath of Earth’s destruction, she’s plucked from obscurity for a final mission: retrieve an alien artifact that could save the remnants of humanity. But doing so will require piracy, sacrifice, and a confrontation with the horrors she carries inside. A brutal and hopeful space opera set in the shadow of apocalypse.

In E.M. Faulds' novella Bring Me Home we encounter disaster humans and a cultish group with an enigmatic leader, set in the Australian outback and Scotland post-global warming

This event will be chaired by Joe Gordon.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Theatre

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

 This event will be followed by a book signing in the Signing Space above the Festival Bookshop.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Over the festival weekend, we will be chatting with industry professionals during our Inside SFFH Publishing series.

What does an editor do all day? Why should you get an agent? And why you should always listen to your publicist!

This event is free to attend, no ticket needed.

Our Line-up

Saturday 7th June

10:30am - Nadia Saward, Commissioning Editor at Orbit

11:30am - Simon Spanton, Commissioning Editor at Large at Angry Robot

12:30pm - Jess Gofton, PR and Marketing Manager at Solaris

Sunday 8th June

10:15am —Kirsten Lang, Agent at Zeno Agency

11:15am - David Stokes, Founder and Publisher of Guardbridge Books

Our speakers will be in conversation with Averie Watson, outgoing Co-Chair of the committee of the Society of Young Publishers (SYP) Scotland.

Venue: Lomond Room

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Destiny, power, and rebellion collide in these sweeping fantasies where ambition runs deep and the price of peace may be everything.

In Roanne Lau’s The Serpent Called Mercy, a debt-ridden slumdog and her only friend enter a brutal arena of sun-cursed beasts for quick coin. But fame comes at a cost, and in this Malaysian Chinese–inspired epic, Lythlet soon finds herself caught in a game of politics and betrayal, where the true monsters lie beyond the ring.

In Gourav Mohanty’s Dance of Shadows, the Conclave of Peace in the Tree Cities promises unity—but peace is the perfect time to plant the seeds of war. With pirate queens, plague-hunting librarians, and vengeful assassins at play, the world teeters on the edge of chaos as the Son of Darkness rises. The only way forward may just be through a heist.

In Maithree Wijesekara’s The Prince Without Sorrow, a peace-seeking prince and a pacifist witch shackled by revenge find themselves on opposite sides of a dying empire. Inspired by the Mauryan Empire, this fierce tale of curses, nature spirits, and royal downfall forces Ashoka and Shakti to choose: save their kingdom or burn it to ash.

This event will be chaired by Aparna Verma

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Price: £5.50 - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in Zoom Webinar.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Joining us at the Pleasance? We will be showing the digital events on a big TV in the Music Room. Free with a weekend pass, or please purchase a £6 digital ticket.

Are you writing something out of this world (literally)? Want some advice on how to take your book to the next stage?

Our panel of experts will offer inspiration about all things SFF writing, sharing how publishing works, giving a glimpse into the writing process, and discussing the books they’ve written and loved.

 T. L. Huchu is a writer whose short fiction has appeared in publications such as Lightspeed, Interzone, Analog Science Fiction and Fact and elsewhere. His novel The Library of the Dead, the first in the Edinburgh Nights series, won Best Novel at the Nommo Awards, presented by the African Speculative Fiction Society. His work has also been short-listed for the Caine Prize and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. Between projects, he translates fiction from Shona into English and the reverse.

 M. H. Ayinde studied English Literature and has worked as a video games reviewer, magazine sub editor, and television researcher. Her debut novel, A Song of Legends Lost, the first in an epic fantasy trilogy, was published by Orbit Books in spring 2025. Her award-winning short fiction has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and more. Modupe lives in North London with her family and their Studio Ghibli obsession.

Louise Lamont did Medieval Studies at university, which everyone claimed at the time would never help her find a job, but in this era of romantasy and professional dragon-slaying, who’s laughing now? She then had a brief spell in the world of film development before joining a literary agency in 2006 to answer phones and assist the agent for Philip Pullman and Quentin Blake, amongst others. She moved to LBA over ten years ago where she has her own list of authors and illustrators. She is based in Edinburgh.

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Upper Hall

Price: £6/£3 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

 This event will be followed by a book signing in the Signing Space above the Festival Bookshop.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Over the festival weekend, we will be chatting with industry professionals during our Inside SFFH Publishing series.

What does an editor do all day? Why should you get an agent? And why you should always listen to your publicist!

This event is free to attend, no ticket needed.

Our Line-up

Saturday 7th June

10:30am - Nadia Saward, Commissioning Editor at Orbit

11:30am - Simon Spanton, Commissioning Editor at Large at Angry Robot

12:30pm - Jess Gofton, PR and Marketing Manager at Solaris

Sunday 8th June

10:15am —Kirsten Lang, Agent at Zeno Agency

11:15am - David Stokes, Founder and Publisher of Guardbridge Books

Our speakers will be in conversation with Averie Watson, outgoing Co-Chair of the committee of the Society of Young Publishers (SYP) Scotland.

Venue: Lomond Room

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

Idea Generation and Character-Driven Prose with Yvonne Battle-Felton

This interactive workshop will include writing exercises, questions, and activities that aim to ignite your curiosity about your characters and help to explore the story the character want or needs to tell. Using a character you’re already writing or one you create for the exercise, we will be exploring objects, setting, and interviewing characters to reveal who the character is, what they want, why they don’t have it, what they’re willing to do to get what they want, and of course, what they’re afraid of.

The aim of the workshop is to help you generate ideas, questions, and curiosities that will drive the story and/or keep you curious enough to return to the page.

Your Workshop Leader

Yvonne Battle-Felton is a writer, academic, podcaster, and event creator living and writing in West Yorkshire, England. Yvonne’s debut novel, Remembered (Hachette UK/Blackstone US), was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). She’s written six titles for Penguin Random House’s Ladybird series and is Academic Director for Creative Writing at Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education. Yvonne is Sr Commissioning Editor (literary fiction) at John Murrays Press (Hachette). Curdle Creek (Hachette UK, Macmillan US), a gothic horror set in a rural town with a strict population policy of one in, one out, is her newest book.

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

Venue: Cheviot Room

 Tickets: £19.50 / £16 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The event will be take place in-person. Workshops are not recorded.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

It's never been easier to self-publish a book. Knowing how to navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media, digital marketing and advertising as well as connecting with a global audience with evolving tastes? That’s another matter entirely. This workshop will highlight some self-publishing best practices, point out the pitfalls, the risks and rewards and prepare you for the stressful but rewarding journey of publishing your own books. Why self-publish in the first place? How to foster genuine interactions with influencers/reviewers and build an online community? How to market the book, and navigate a confusing advertising landscape? How to project-manage the editing/proofreading/art direction? This workshop will leave you one step closer to doing it all your way.

Your Workshop Leader

João F. Silva was born in a small town in Portugal but after a nomadic stint across England now lives in Glasgow with his wife and elder feline co-workers. He is the author of The Smokesmiths, a gritty and character-driven epic fantasy series featuring smoke magic, fantastic creatures and ancient secrets. His debut novel Seeds of War won the Best Indie Debut of 2023 at the FanFiAddict Awards and his short fiction work has been published in Grimdark Magazine and Haven Speculative. 

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

Venue: Munro Room

 Tickets: £19.50 / £16 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The event will be take place in-person. Workshops are not recorded.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

How to Make the Most of Scotland's Unique Character

Scotland has long been celebrated for its cultural distinctiveness: its people, landscape, history, folklore, and culture have been the basis of, or found representation in, an incredible number of novels, films, and games. This workshop will look at what makes Scotland's 'character' so unique and therefore so valuable to writers of fiction and games. We will explore how to bring Scotland alive in written work, focusing on lived experience and research as a means of achieving uniquely Scottish representations of places, people, and events, both historical and modern. And, in doing so, explore how we can use uniquely Scottish elements to enrich our fiction and games.

As author of the multi-award-winning 'Shadows Over Scotland' sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game and the novel 'This Dying Machine' set in post-war Glasgow, Stuart will share a trove of tips and tricks for researching and incorporating Scotland's rich history and culture into works of fiction.

The workshop will call on a wide range of examples from different genres and media, but will also call on participants' experience and input throughout, seeking to make the workshop both practical and engaging.

Your Workshop Leader

Stuart Boon is a writer, university lecturer, and game designer. He is best known for game fiction, most notably "Shadows Over Scotland" (2011), which won a number of prestigious gaming awards including Best Roleplaying Supplement or Adventure at the 38th Annual Origins Awards (2012), 'Gold' Best Setting at the ENnie Awards (2012), and Best Adventure Collection at the Diehard GameFAN 2011 Tabletop Gaming Awards. Stuart's fiction to date has focused on weird and speculative fiction occasionally diving into horror and fantasy. His first novel 'This Dying Machine' is currently in edit and tells the story of a soldier's struggle to return to normalcy in post-Great War Glasgow while suffering from acute neurasthenia.

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

Venue: Cheviot Room

 Tickets: £19.50 / £16 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The event will be take place in-person. Workshops are not recorded.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This event will include by a Brave New Words reading by Vanessa Santos.

Desire, darkness, and monstrous appetites take center stage in this trio of lush gothic tales.

In Kat Dunn’s Hungerstone, Lenore is the wife of a steel magnate, bound to a crumbling marriage and haunted by secrets from her husband’s past. When a carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into her life—pale by day, vibrant at night—Lenore is stirred by a hunger she doesn’t understand. As local girls begin to fall ill, Lenore uncovers a darkness at the heart of her household that could destroy everything she holds dear.

Sarah Maria Griffin’s Eat the Ones You Love is a twisted tale of retail work, dangerous romance, and an orchid with a taste for flesh. Shell Pine’s life is in shambles—until a job at a mall flower shop and a magnetic new coworker, Neve, offer her a new beginning. But lurking behind the blooms is Baby, a sentient plant who adores Neve and is willing to devour anything—or anyone—to keep her close.

Angie Spoto’s The Bone Diver tells the story of Kier Sealgair, the only daughter in a struggling family of Scottish seal-hunters. When a mysterious noblewoman from the eerie Erskine Manor offers her a bargain that could save her father, Kier must confront chilling rumors: five towers with unseen occupants, children who may not be human, and monsters with spine-toothed smiles. A gothic tale steeped in selkie legend and impossible choices.

About the event

This event will be chaired by Erin Hardee.

Running time: 55 minutes

Venue: Theatre

Price: £11/£8 concession - In Person - or £5.50 Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

 This event will be followed by a book signing in the Signing Space above the Festival Bookshop.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

This workshop, run by Tiffani Angus, co-author of the multi-award-shortlisted Spec Fic for Newbies series, will delve into the contradictory ways that witches have been depicted in literature and pop culture and will also explore the three main elements of stories about witches and how you, as a writer, can tap into them to create a new story idea.

There will be activities! So make sure you have your laptop ready or pen and notebook to write down ideas and do some freewriting to start on a new story.

Your Workshop Leader

Tiffani Angus (PhD) is a multi BSFA- and BFS-award finalist for her debut novel Threading the Labyrinth and (as co-author with Val Nolan) Spec Fic for Newbies: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (2023), which also made the Locus Recommended Reading List. Spec Fic for Newbies Vol. 2 was released in 2024, and a third volume will be out in 2026. She spent over a decade teaching creative writing at universities in the US and UK, the majority of that time as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Publishing at ARU in Cambridge (UK). She works as a freelance editor and proofreader for private clients and SFF publishing houses, runs the typesetting/formatting business Book Polishers, and is currently at work on a novel, a novella, a short-story collection, and another scandalous new project. You can find her at www.tiffani-angus.com

About the event:

 Running time: 105 minutes including breaks

 Tickets: £14 / £12 (plus 50p booking fee)

 The workshop will be take place in Zoom meetings. You will receive the Zoom link 48 hours before the event. Workshops are not recorded.

Please note there is no physical space provided at the festival venue to participate in this workshop.

Join us for this amateur production of Terry Pratchett’s Feet of Clay, adapted for stage by Stephen Briggs.

Following their sell-out shows of Guards! Guards! (2023) and Men at Arms (2024), Strawmoddie Theatre are back!

Someone is killing Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh- Morpork. No one knows who, no one knows why and, worst of all, no one knows how he just gets weaker and weaker.

But its not just Vetinari across the city, people are being murdered, but theres no trace of anything alive having been at the crime scene. Commander Vimes, Head of the City Watch, is a man who hates clues. He and his team must question everyone the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. In a city teeming with vampires, werewolves, dwarfs with attitude and golems, Vimes must solve the crimes and save the Patrician.

Venue: Theatre

Running Time: approx 2 hours 45 minutes including interval

Price: £18/£15 concession plus 50p booking fee per ticket.

Performance dates and times

Thursday 5th June: 7:30pm

Friday 6th June: 8:30pm

Saturday 7th June: 8:30pm

Sunday 8th June: 5pm

Please note that the venue has unreserved bench seating. Please arrive in good time to secure seats.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.

History leaves shadows—and sometimes, the monsters follow.

In The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones unearths a chilling horror set on the Blackfeet reservation in 1912, where a Lutheran pastor’s rediscovered diary reveals the slow, haunting testimony of a man named Good Stab—a Blackfeet vampire whose search for justice is entangled in a history of massacre and memory. Through transcribed confessions, Jones crafts a powerful and unsettling American Indian revenge tale told with his signature mastery of horror.

Nicholas Pullen’s The Black Hunger follows John Sackville, a man awaiting death in his prison cell, haunted by the memory of a forbidden love and the monstrous hunger devouring him from within. As he pens his final testament, his story spirals through centuries and across continents—from ancient Scottish stone circles to the frozen wilderness of Mongolia—unearthing an ancient evil in a gothic tale of obsession, grief, and the price of immortality.

This event is chaired by Kirsty Logan

About the event

Running time: 55 minutes

Price: £5.50 - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in Zoom Webinar.

A recording of this event will be available to catch-up on our YouTube until Sunday 13th July 2025. Ticket holders and weekend pass owners will receive the catch-up link automatically after the festival. Please keep an eye on your SPAM.

Joining us at the Pleasance? We will be showing the digital events on a big TV in the Music Room. Free with a weekend pass, or please purchase a £6 digital ticket.

Ten Years On. . .

A glorious night of science fictional words and music to celebrate ten years of Shoreline of Infinity Magazine and Event Horizon.

MC: Rhiannon Grist

Music: Post Coal Prom Queen

Poetry and Prose from Russell Jones

Songs and Prose from MK Hardy

Prose from Josh Holton

Plus Danielle Farrow will be reading the winning story of the Cymera Prize for Speculative Short Fiction, in collaboration with Shoreline of Infinity

About the event

Running time: 120 minutes

Price: £10/£8 concession (plus 50p booking fee)

Venue: Pleasance Bar

This event takes place in person.

Find out more about ACCESS to our events here, and for information about TICKETS, click here.

Any other questions? Check out our FAQ.