The University of Aberdeen's Special Collections Centre is running a week-long festival of exciting events to celebrate Book Week Scotland next week.
From Monday, November 24 to Saturday, November 29 there will be a range of activities for all ages at The Sir Duncan Rice Library.
One of the highlights of the week is set to be the Bestiary Bake-Off, which asks members of the public to put their cake decorating skills to the test and take inspiration from the Aberdeen Bestiary to create a magnificent bake.
The Bake-Off will take place on Friday (November 28) and bakers are asked to take their creations to the Library between 9am and 10am. They will then be critiqued anonymously and winners selected by the judging panel, with prizes to be won. The winner’s will be announced at 11.30am before the entries are sold in a charity bake sale by Aberdeen University Students’ Association, with proceeds going to their RAG campaign.
Returning this year is The Big Book Theory: Teen Book Quiz. Local teenagers are invited to gather a team together and put their book knowledge to the test on Wednesday (November 26) from 5pm – 6.30pm, with the winning team and most inventive team name taking home prizes.
Other events taking place throughout the week include Collections Close-up, which will allow members of the public to get a close up view of some of the centre’s most rare and precious treasures. And members of the public who can’t make it along to any of the events can also get involved via Twitter. The Special Collections Centre will be tweeting daily from @scc_aberdeen and using the hashtag #BookWeekScot.
The winners of this year’s Flash Fiction Competition will also be announced during Book Week Scotland. For the third year running the Special Collections Centre has challenged writers to be inspired by images from the collections and write a 500 word short story. Judges Caroline Clough and Helen Lynch had a tricky task picking the winners as the standard of writing was very high.
Siobhan Convery, Head of Special Collections at the University, said: “Book Week Scotland is a national celebration of books and reading, and our programme is packed full of fun and creative events that we hope will inspire people of all ages to engage with books in new ways. From creative writing competitions and teen book quizzes, to bookbinding workshops for adults and families, there really is something for everyone.”
To view the full programme and for more information on how to book, visit www.abdn.ac.uk/library/about/special/book-week-scotland, email scc.learning@abdn.ac.uk or telephone 01224 273047. And if you can’t make it along to any of the events, why not get involved via Twitter? The Special Collections Centre will be tweeting daily from @scc_aberdeen and using the hashtag #BookWeekScot.