Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Renowned author Andrew O'Hagan introduces his heartbreaking new novel of an extraordinary lifelong friendship. In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, James and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them, they rush towards the climax of their youth: a magical weekend in Manchester, the epicentre of everything that inspires them in working-class Britain. There, against the greatest soundtrack ever recorded, a vow is made: to go at life differently. Mayflies is a memorial to youth’s euphorias and to everyday tragedy. A tender goodbye to an old union, it discovers the joy and the costs of love.
“Mayflies is one of those novels to press into the hands of friends. Beautifully written – wise, funny, poetic, alert to time, place and the ordinary human... I adored this book” – Carol Ann Duffy
About the author: Andrew O'Hagan is one of his generation's most exciting chroniclers of contemporary Britain. His previous novel, The Illuminations, was longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. He was voted one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2003. He has won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. He lives in London.
You can purchase titles relating to this event from the Festival Bookshop online - bookshop.wigtownbookfestival.com
Renowned author Andrew O'Hagan introduces his heartbreaking new novel of an extraordinary lifelong friendship. In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, James and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them, they rush towards the climax of their youth: a magical weekend in Manchester, the epicentre of everything that inspires them in working-class Britain. There, against the greatest soundtrack ever recorded, a vow is made: to go at life differently. Mayflies is a memorial to youth’s euphorias and to everyday tragedy. A tender goodbye to an old union, it discovers the joy and the costs of love.
“Mayflies is one of those novels to press into the hands of friends. Beautifully written – wise, funny, poetic, alert to time, place and the ordinary human... I adored this book” – Carol Ann Duffy
About the author: Andrew O'Hagan is one of his generation's most exciting chroniclers of contemporary Britain. His previous novel, The Illuminations, was longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. He was voted one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2003. He has won the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. He lives in London.
You can purchase titles relating to this event from the Festival Bookshop online - bookshop.wigtownbookfestival.com
![Stuart Paterson || Workshop: Writing in Scots [AGES 7-17]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TT7XThkG-14/mqdefault.jpg "Stuart Paterson || Workshop: Writing in Scots [AGES 7-17]
Join author Stuart Paterson, author of A Squatter o’ Bairnrhymes to hear a little bit about the history of the Scots language, where you’ll find different dialects, and how many people speak in Scots. Expect entertaining poetry and the chance to write your own Scots poem about something that matters to you.
SEND YOUR QUESTIONS
You or your teacher can send questions to Stuart before or during the event [questions@wigtownbookfestival.com] for a Q&A session at the end of the workshop.")
