LOCAL writer Janice Galloway is one of the main attractions at this year’s Tidelines Book Festival which promises to be bigger and better than ever.

After the success of last year’s event, the ten day festival is back with double the number of events and covering more towns across North Ayrshire.

Janice, who was born in Saltcoats and educated at Ardrossan Academy, became a teacher at Garnock Academy before writing full time.

Now the author of three novels and three short story collections, Janice will return to the area for an evening event, where she will talk about her memoir ‘All Made Up’ – a Radio 4 book of the week and former winner of the Creative Scotland Literature Award. Catch Janice at Taylors Bar in Kilwinning on Saturday, September 6, at 7.30pm.

Another tempting highlight is a fascinating talk on ‘the truth behind HMS Dasher’ by John and Noreen Steele at Beith Library on Friday, September 5.

Tidelines is an independent book festival that aims to encourage people of all ages with many different interests to get involved in books. This year the festival will run from August 29 to September 7.

Events will be held at various places throughout North Ayrshire and – this year at venues in the Three Towns and Garnock Valley, including Dalry, Beith and Saltcoats Libraries, The Heritage Centre in Saltcoats and The Barony Centre in West Kilbride. Some of the venues are also offering food and drinks as part of the ticket price.

For the full programme of Tidelines Book Festival events, visit: www.tidelinesbookfest.com Other highlights in the Three Towns, Garnock valley and Kilwinning include: Saturday, August 30 and Saturday, September 6 – Roald Dahl Day Celebrations. Check with libraries for times. Free.

Jump into your great glass elevator and visit your local library for games and activities themed around this much-loved children’s author and his classic books.

This year it’s a double celebration as 2014 marks Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’s 50th birthday, so there may even be a whipple-scrumptious sweet treat or two – don’t tell the grown-ups! Some events are ticketed and others are drop-in family sessions. Please contact your local branch for more detailed information.

August 30: Stevenston Library, West Kilbride Library. September 6: Arran Library, Ardrossan Library, Beith Library, Dalry Library, Kilbirnie Library, Kilwinning Library, Saltcoats Library.

Monday, September 1, 7.30pm – Malt Whisky Master Class. Dalry Library. £10.

With six whiskies to sample, selected from some of Scotland’s finest distilleries, let our passionate experts guide you through the history of Scottish single malt whisky and the range of products now available. Learn the reasons behind the different tastes, colours, aromas and finishes that you will experience during the tasting. After a journey encompassing the Lowlands, Speyside, the Highlands and Islands and of course the peated power of Islay, you will come away with a greater understanding and enjoyment of one of Scotland’s greatest exports. For over 18s only.

Monday, September 1, 7.30pm – Zoe Strachan. Saltcoats Library. £5 including light refreshment.

Zoë Strachan is a novelist, short story writer and librettist. Her most recent novel, Ever Fallen in Love, was shortlisted for the Scottish Book Awards and the Green Carnation Prize. Her opera The Lady from the Sea, composed by Craig Armstrong, won a Herald Angel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival.

She also teaches Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. Zoë will be reading from her work, talking about her life as a writer, and answering questions about writing novels and how to get them published.

Wednesday, September 3, 7.30pm – Michael Malone and Sheila Templeton. Barony Centre, West Kilbride. £5. A first-prize winner in the McCash Scots Language poetry competition and the Robert McLellan poetry competition, as well as winning other poetry awards, Sheila’s work has been published in many anthologies, magazines and newspapers. And from 2009 to 2010 she was the Makar for the Federation of Writers, Scotland. At this event she will be reading a selection of her classic and new work. Michael has had over 200 poems published in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. He is a founder member of Makar Press Poets and has had poetry collection In the Raw, joint anthology Running Threads and CD Lip Sync published by Makar Press.

As part of the event you can bring your own poems to read, or sit back, relax and listen to others reading theirs.

Thursday, September 4, 4pm – Metaphrog. Kilwinning Library. £1.

Metaphrog are John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs, creators of the multiple-award-nominated Louis graphic novel series. In a lively interactive session they will reveal some of the secrets behind the making of their graphic novels, discuss character design and give participants the chance to create their own characters.

Thursday, September 4, 7pm – Billy Kay. Heritage Centre, Saltcoats. £5 including light refreshments.

Billy Kay, charismatic and eloquent writer, performer and broadcaster, is one of the great chroniclers of Scottish language and culture and author of The Scottish World. In this special talk he will tell stories from his travels and detail the incredible influence the Scottish diaspora has had in far flung countries of the world, from Hawaii to Malawi, Scandinavia to Brazil. Billy will illustrate the presentation with clips from the many radio features he has made on Scots abroad.

Thursday, September 4, 7.30pm – Evelyn Hood. West Kilbride Library. £5 including light refreshments. Born in Paisley but now living in Largs, Evelyn began her writing apprenticeship around the age of ten, when she discovered Charles Dickens. At first she skipped the ‘wordy bits’, then read his novels more fully as she got older.

Evelyn has published 38 novels, two non-fiction books, six one-act plays, a pantomime, a children’s musical and several short stories. She has worked as a journalist, an adjudicator, a tutor to writers’ groups and a speaker.

Friday, September 5, 7pm – John and Noreen Steele – The Outrageous Scandals of HMS Dasher. Beith Library. £5 When HMS Dasher mysteriously blew up and sank, between Ardrossan and Arran, strict secrecy surrounding the major tragedy was immediately imposed. As the survivors struggled in the cold waters of the Clyde, the sea caught fire. 379 men lost their lives. 94 bodies were brought ashore but only 24 were given an official burial. The rest were secretly taken away.

To this day the authorities refuse to reveal the whereabouts of the missing bodies. One Dasher body – The Man Who Never Was - was stolen by British Naval Intelligence to be used covertly in Operation Mincemeat.

The truth behind this WWII disaster is stranger than fiction, as John and Noreen will reveal.

Saturday, September 6, 10am-4pm and Sunday, September 7, 12-5pm – Meet Your Maker. The Barony Centre, West Kilbride. Free.

Meet Your Maker brings together two resident makers and a poet who will explore the role of the written word within craft, with particular emphasis on book art and paper cutting.

An important part of the project is to explore Scots language, including Gaelic, through poetry, prose and making and to tie this to a celebration of Scots’ role beyond our shores.

Drop in sessions will be open to the public throughout the two days. The audience will be involved in writing and making, with work produced during the event contributing to a book art and paper-cutting installation. Children should be accompanied by an adult Saturday, September 6 – Tony Bonning. Kilwinning Library (12pm) and Saltcoats Library (2.30pm). £1. (For early years.) Come and experience best-selling children’s author, storyteller and musician Tony Bonning as he tells traditional tales as well as his own original stories.

Saturday, September 6, 2pm – Medieval Mayhem. Heritage Centre, Saltcoats. £2. To coincide with the Eglinton 175 exhibition, the Heritage Centre presents an afternoon of crafts, entertainment and demonstrations on a medieval theme for all the family to enjoy.

Saturday, September 6, 7pm – Janice Galloway. Taylors, Kilwinning. £10 including meal deal. Janice will talk about her memoir – or ‘anti-memoir’, as she calls it – All Made Up, a Radio 4 Book of the Week and former winner of the Creative Scotland Literature Award.

Janice reveals how an awkward child evolved through her teenage years, living with her stoical mother and domineering older sister.

In visceral descriptions of puberty, sex and schoolroom politics, Galloway casts her extraordinary gaze on the morals and ambitions of one small town through the stories of three generations of women.