The first ever Boswell Book Festival, intended to honour the life of one of Scotland's greatest literary lights, James Boswell, was scheduled for May 2011 at Ayrshire's Auchinleck House. Live talks, discussions, and performances from a select group of writers and actors took place.

People's life stories past and present are at the heart of the Festival, just as people's stories were at the heart of Boswell's writing. His groundbreaking Life of Johnson, has never been out of print. His confessional diaries, long kept hidden by his descendants for their unflinching honesty, finally saw the light of day less than a hundred years ago and became international bestsellers.

When? May

Who? 2012 tba

Where? Auchinleck House,
Ochiltree, Ayrshire KA18 2AU Location,

Perhaps the finest example of an eighteenth-century country villa to survive in Scotland, Auchinleck House is where the renowned biographer James Boswell indulged his penchant for 'old laird and family ideas'. Built around 1760 by Boswell's father LordAuchinleck, its architect is unknown; it seems likely that Lord Auchinleck himself had a hand in the neo-Classical design, perhaps influenced by the Adam brothers. Certainly one of the major influences was the neighbouring Dumfries House, which was built shortly before by the Adam brothers. Once inherited by Boswell, the house was host to much 'social glee', which he recorded in his Book of Company and Liquors.

In 1999 after a long period of neglect, Auchinleck House was bought by the Landmark Trust, a conservation charity whose aim is to 'rescue historic and architecturally interesting buildings and their surroundings from neglect and, when restored to give them new life by letting them for holidays.' They have restored not only the house with its magnificent library looking across to Arran, but also the pavilions, the obelisks and the great bridge across the Dippol Burn, on whose picturesque banks are an ice-house and grotto.

Tickets? Box Office Hotline 01563 554 900, Palace Theatre Kilmarnock (Tickets Only). Lines open 10.00am -5pm Mon -Sat

In Person:
Boswell Book Festival Box Office, Auchinleck House,
Ochiltree, Ayrshire KA18 2AU

Festival website? Boswell Book Festival

Facebook? Yes

Twitter? bozzyfest

Previous Festivals? Kate Adie, Diana Athill (above), Bill Paterson, Alistair Urquhart, Selina Hastings, Allan Burnett, David McClay, Dr. Gorden Turnball, Candia McWilliam