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The Edinburgh Book Lovers' Tour
Led by Allan Foster, author of 'The Literary Traveller In Edinburgh' & 'The Literary Traveller In Scotland', published by Mainstream.
WHEN:
MAY, JUNE, JULY, SEPTEMBER: EVERY SATURDAY & SUNDAY AT 1.30PM
AUGUST (during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe): Daily, 10.30AM & 1.30PM
OCTOBER - APRIL: SATURDAYS AT 1.30 PM
WHERE: Meet OUTSIDE THE WRITERS’ MUSEUM, LADY STAIR’S CLOSE (just off the Royal Mile, behind Deacon Brodie’s Tavern) DURATION: approximately 2 Hours
RATE: $25 USD per person
All dates are subject to availability so book now to ensure space!
Local Contact Information: Allen Foster, 01573 223 888 or 07989 546 791
To discover literary Edinburgh, you have to walk it, defying Robert Louis Stevenson's "bleak winds" and exploring Dorothy Wordsworth's "passes of dark stone", simply because there is no other way of penetrating the ancient wynds, closes and creeper-ridden burial grounds of this city, whose literary past is written on it's dark and hoary face. 'The Edinburgh Literary Traveller' (see 'buy the book' above) recounts many lives and tales, but to squeeze 500 years of literary Edinburgh into one single volume is an impossible task. There is so much more to tell, and so much more to see. Having travelled the length and breadth of Edinburgh researching and photographing the sites featured in the book, I can assure you the pickings are rich, the locations diverse and stimulating, and with over 500 years to choose from, everybody's reading taste is catered for from Robert Burns to J.K. Rowling. So why not accompany Allan Foster on a book lovers' odyssey around the Old Town to explore more of literary Edinburgh's fascinating and never-ending story, complete with commentary, readings, dramatisations and lots of laughter.
All prominent Scottish writers from the fourteenth to the twenty-first century are included and discussed in their literary, historical and cultural contexts, set in the landscapes where they were born and which inspired them. It details the birthplaces, childhoods, former homes and burial places of famous Scottish authors, uncovers sites, restaurants and pubs with a literary connection, and lists notable bookshops, literary museums and other places of relevance in the world of Scottish writing. This attractive tome is lavishly illustrated with photographs, whilst maps enhance many of the entries, including the Kidnapped trail, Boswell and Johnson's Highland journey, Burns country, Richard Hannay's 39 Steps trail, the Pentland walks of Robert Louis Stevenson, a plan of Rosslyn Chapel, Gavin Maxwell's Sandaig, Compton Mackenzie's Barra, the Ettrick Valley of James Hogg, the Mearns of Lewis Grassic Gibbon, J. M. Barrie's Thrums and the ports and pubs of Para Handy, to name a few. There has never been a national literary guide for Scotland until now...JOIN ALLEN FOSTER ON THE EDINBURGH BOOK LOVERS WALKING TOUR!
Tour Review:
"Edinburgh has a rich literary tradition pre-dating the Scottish Enlightenment; small wonder then that it was named UNESCOs first 'City of Literature' two years ago. Allan Foster, author of several literary guides to Scotland, leads you around the Old Town haunts of Edinburgh's literati. From Boswell's rooms, past Scott's legal stomping grounds, over the resting place of Knox and onto the 'birthplace' of Sherlock Holmes. Inevitably JK Rowling, and that bloody dog [Greyfriar's Bobby], crop up along the way, but Allan treats all with humour and intelligence. Aviod the kilted shyters roaming the Royal mile, looking for a quick Harry Potter buck, and take this tour." **** Three Weeks
Also available: The Edinburgh Pub Crawl
This tour is operated by the Edinburgh Book Lovers Tour
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