Scottish novels, short stories and poems will be invading Sofia in the form of the Scottish Literature Festival from October 3 to 5.

The event was initiated and organized by the British Council in collaboration with the LIK and Plamuk literary magazines as well as literary circles in Sofia. The main goal of the festival is to introduce the Bulgarian public to a wide range of contemporary Scottish writers, to encourage translation of Scottish writing into Bulgarian and the publishing of Bulgarian authors in Scotland, explained Lyubov Kostova, public communications manager with the British Council. The organizers from the council said they hoped that the festival would bring together Scottish and Bulgarian writers, publishers, translators and literary critics.

The first event within the Scottish Literature Festival was an exhibition of books written by Scottish authors from 1920 to the present day which opened in the main foyer of the National Library (across from Sofia University) on Monday. The exhibition, entitled Hold Hands Among Atoms (the title of a collection of poetry by Edwin Morgan), presents a selection of 65 titles, featuring the best and latest works by Scottish authors. Twenty-eight A1 format posters have been posted around the exhibition and feature the most prominent names of novelists and poets from Scotland.

A series of literary readings and discussions have been included in the festival program. People in Sofia will have the rare opportunity to meet some of the great names of Scottish and Bulgarian literature. The discussions, which will take place in the Central Military Club in Sofia from October 3 to 5, will focus on topics such as writing in different genres, writing in exile and literary criticism.

The author of the popular novel Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh, has been invited to participate in the literary discussions at the festival. Other names of Scottish writers who will be in attendance are Liz Lochhead, Val McDermid, William McIlvanney and Robin Robertson, as well as literary critics Martin Macquillan and David Cunningham.

In his essay "Contemporary Scottish literature," David Cunningham expressed the opinion which is shared by authors and critics of other nationalities as well, that for a country with a relatively small population, Scotland has produced an incredibly high proportion of internationally acclaimed authors.

In Bulgaria, the writers will have the chance to meet their colleagues from another small country and exchange opinions about the development of literature in view of the current world situation.