Ecas at The Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival believes that everyone has a story to tell and that stories help us make sense of our world.

Here at Ecas, we couldn’t agree more!

So much so, we’re delighted to announce that our Ecas Reading and Creative Writing Group will be part of this year’s Book Festival.

Beyond words… almost!

In response to this year’s Festival theme of Repair, our Ecas Reading and Creative Writing Group has been invited to perform their own work live at the festival.

This exciting opportunity for our individual writers to share their creativity at one of the world’s most renowned book festivals is almost beyond words!

Alongside a handful of other organisations, Ecas is part of a Book Festival project to challenge local writers and poets to respond to the 2025 Festival theme. Each group then performs their work in Together We Repair – ‘a patchwork of ideas on how to make the world a better place.’

Together we repair

‘This year’s key theme of Repair starts from the belief that the brilliant ideas of writers and thinkers can help us repair a host of seemingly ‘broken’ things in our society…  It’s a statement of hope and resilience, and an invitation for our audiences to think about what repair might mean for them.’  Jenny Niven, Director of Edinburgh International Book Festival

This year’s theme is one that really resonates with our Ecas creative writers, and a rich seam for each member of the group to draw on creatively and in their own unique way. Our Group Leader, John Mackay, confirms,

‘Repair is such a potent word – from the deeply personal to the global and its implications for world politics and the environment – and here at Ecas we aim to reflect that in our writing.’

In preparation, John is bringing a variety of writing and inspiration to the weekly group sessions. In between, he also suggests some gently challenging exercises and homework, to help our writers explore the theme from different perspectives and find their creative flow.

For example,

What or who has helped you heal yourself in the past?

Is there a favourite place that helps you escape the everyday stresses of the world?

How do we fix our broken environment?

If you were to take a part of yourself to The Repair Shop, what would it be e.g. brain, legs?

The Ecas team of writers performing at the Book Festival will include David, Angela, Barbara, Julia and Lee-Ann. All are regulars at the weekly Reading and Creative Writing group and, between them, create a wonderfully diverse range of prose, poems and stories.

Our writers enjoy sharing their work within the group, and occasionally via video, but this will be their first public performance!