We’re fair-trickit tae say aat e Aberdeen & Beyond Storytelling Festival 2025 will be opened bi a 5-star reviewed show Stories & Sangs in the North-East Bothy Tradition. E lineup’ll include ballad singer Allan Taylor, fiddler Karin Paterson an storytellers Phyll McBain an Doric Books' ain Jackie Ross.

E event’ll be a ceilidh featuring lan, laughter an Doric, takin ye throwe time an immersin ye in e heritage o e Noreast. E tickets are £10-£15, pey fit ye can. It taks place at St. Peter’s Heritage Centre an Hall, Peterculter on 3^rd October at 7pm.

Iss event is supportit bi TRACS, Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2025, The Association of Storytellers, Elphinstone Institute. 

Tae book tickets, folla iss link: https://absf25-northeastbothy.eventbrite.co.uk/

Fur info on t’ither braw events in e Aberdeen & Beyond Storytelling Festival, hae a leuk at thir website. estivgrampianstorytellers.wordpress.com/festival/

We are delighted to announce that the Aberdeen & Beyond Storytelling Festival 2025 will be opened by 5-star reviewed show Stories & Songs in the North-East Bothy Tradition. The lineup will include ballad singer Allan Taylor, fiddler Karin Paterson and storytellers Phyll McBain and Doric Books’ own Jackie Ross.

The event will be a ceilidh featuring land, laughter and Doric, taking you through time and immersing you in the heritage of the North-East. The tickets are £10-£15, pay what you can. It takes place at St. Peter's Heritage Centre and Hall, Peterculter on 3^rd October at 7pm.

This event is supported by TRACS, Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2025, The Grampian Association of Storytellers, Elphinstone Institute. 

To book tickets, follow this link: https://absf25-northeastbothy.eventbrite.co.uk/

For the other wonderful events in the Aberdeen & Beyond Storytelling Festival, have a look at their website. estivgrampianstorytellers.wordpress.com/festival/

E Doric Board his lat licht aat plans tae host e third Flora Garry lecture, an event honourin e late North-East poet. Ilka year, tae preserve e wark Garry commitit tae e Doric leid, a spikker is inviteetit tae share thir insicht aboot an area o Doric heritage an culture. Thir’ll be music, sangs an poetry at e event inna.

Iss year’s lecture’ll leuk at e life an work o James Leslie Mitchell, better kint unner e pen name Lewis Grassic Gibbon, e writer o een o Scotlan’s maist weel kint novels, ‘Sunset Song’, e first in e ‘A Scot’s Quair’ trilogy. Iss lecture’ll focus on Gibbon’s writin o lan an fowk, an explore his Doric inspirations inna. 

Iss lecture’ll be providit bi Grassic Gibbon Centre former chair Jim Brown MBE MLitt FSAScot ARAgS. Brown, haein a similar upbringin tae Gibbon, his hid a lifelang admiration o his wark. Efter wirkin in e grain trade an lang involvement wi Hielan Games an community work, at e age o 77 he obtained a Maisters fae e Varsity o Aberdeen.

E lecture’ll tak place at e Grassic Gibbon Centre on 16^th October at 7pm. E event is free tae attend.

The Doric Board has announced plans to host the third Flora Garry lecture, an event honouring the late North-East poet. Each year, to preserve the work Garry committed to the Doric language, a speaker is invited to share their insight about an area of Doric heritage and culture. There will also be music, songs and poetry at the event.

This year’s lecture will look at the life and work of James Leslie Mitchell, better known under the pen name Lewis Grassic Gibbon, the writer of one of Scotland’s most well-known novels, ‘Sunset Song’, the first in the ‘A Scots Quair’ trilogy. This lecture will focus on Gibbon’s writing of land and people, but also his Doric inspirations.

The lecture will be provided by Grassic Gibbon Centre former chair Jim Brown MBE MLitt FSAScot ARAgS. Brown, having a similar upbringing to Gibbon, has had a lifelong admiration of his work. After working in the grain trade and long years of involvement in the Highland Games and community work, at the age of 77 he obtained a Masters from the University of Aberdeen in Ethnology and Folklore.

The lecture will take place at the Grassic Gibbon Centre on 16^th October at 7pm. The event is free to attend.

We’re fair trickit tae be among e gran nominees fur e 2025 Scots Book Awards! Aaron Gale’s beuk ‘Foggie-Bummer Rescue’ his bin nominated fur Best Bairn’s Beuk. ‘Foggie-Bummer Rescue’ is a poem aat tells e story o a quine an her faither fa saves a puggled foggie-bummer. Iss beuk his affa bonnie an bricht picturs an a rare tale aboot giein a haun tae thon fa need it, like iss puggled wee foggie-bummer. E beuk even his a guide on foo tae help puggled foggie-bummers, wi a recipe tae mak succar watter. It cums wi a glossary o Doric wirds tae help new readers o the leid an a link tae an audio file sae ye can listen alang as ye read. Ye can fin a read alang video o e story on oor Facebook page inna.              

Votin’s throw on Sunday 31^st August. Ye can vote bi gaun tae e Scots Language Awards website. A ye hiv tae dee is ging tae e ‘Vote Noo!’ page, fill in yer name an email address, an cast yer vote.  https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotslanguageawards/nominate-noo/ 

We won iss category last year wi Riverbank Primary 5’s beuk ‘Summer e Magic Scurry’. It wid be rare tae bring hame e prize fur e second year in a row! E Scots Language Awards’ll be doon in Dundee on Satudray 6^th September.

We are delighted to be amongst the talented nominees for the 2025 Scots Book Awards! Aaron Gale’s book ‘Foggie-Bummer Rescue’ has been nominated for Best Bairn’s Beuk. ‘Foggie-Bummer Rescue’ is a poem which tells the story of a girl and her dad who saves an exhausted bee. The book has beautiful and vibrant illustrations and tells a heartwarming story about extending kindness to those in need, in this case a tired little bee. The book even includes a guide on how to help exhausted bees, with a recipe to make sugar water. It also comes with a glossary of the Doric words to help keen new readers of the language.

The book also comes with a link to an audio file to listen along with the story, which can help young readers pronounce Doric words that may be new to them. You can also find a read along video to the story on our Facebook page.

Voting closes on Sunday 31^st August. You can vote by visiting their website. All you need to do is go to the ‘Vote Noo!’ section, fill in your name and email address and cast your vote. https://projects.handsupfortrad.scot/scotslanguageawards/nominate-noo/ 

We won this category last year with Riverbank Primary 5’s book ‘Summer e Magic Scurry’. It would be fantastic to bring home the award for the second year in a row! The Scots Language Awards will be held on Satudray 6^th September in Dundee.