It is great to have Suzanne Zeedyk back on "Taking Action", albeit in a different role. Suzanne was the instigator and driving force behind the "Getting to grips with Trauma" Book Festival held in the Cumbernauld Theatre on the 6th of September. The event was organised by the Scottish ACEs Action Community. Please check their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/p/Scotlands-ACEs-Action-Community-61578663712550/

It was a remarkable event which I have been trailing one the podcast over the last 5 episodes, so I am delighted at the response to it. Nearly all 300 tickets were sold and the feedback on Linkedin as well as through emails, Vox pops and direct contact has been hugely positive. It felt like a landmark event and I really wanted to reflect on it with Suzanne.

If you attended or were involved in the Festival this offers a great opportunity to reflect on the day and its potential. if you weren't there, it is a great taster for, and description of, the day.

This episode is yet another trailer for a session at the "Getting to Grips with Trauma" Book Festival which will be held at Cumbernauld Theatre on Sunday 6th September from 10.00 - 5.30. You can buy tickets here https://lanternhousearts.org/events/book-festival-getting-to-grips-with-traum/. Remarkably, a £15 day pass allows you to attend 6 sessions from a choice of 24 authors. It is the biggest literary bargain ever!!.

This conversation is with Alex Renton(https://www.alexrenton.com/)and, I think it is really special. We start from his book "Blood Legacy" which was wonderfully reviewed by Margaret Smith in the Scottish ACEs Action Community newsletter.

Here are just a couple of paragraphs from that review

"The book left me wondering all sorts of other things, too. I reflected on the racism that exists today and ways in which it stems from the slave trade. I found myself thinking about how it might be tackled and why our culture often seems to have difficulty in treating particular 'groups' of people with respect. I even found myself reading other books on this topic, researching slavery beyond the African continent.

So yes, I think Blood Legacy is a really well written and informative book that we would all do well to read. That is not only because it is brave and informative but because people like myself will be made aware that slavery was, horrifyingly, not only an English problem. It was very much a Scottish one too. This book will cause us all to look again at our capital city with new eyes. That makes Alex Renton’s efforts very worthwhile indeed."

Our conversation follows Margaret's review and ranges widely over the themes that she identifies. Alex is brave, thoughtful and challenging and I am sure you will love listening to him as much as I did

This episode is another trailer for a session at the "Getting to Grips with Trauma" Book Festival which will be held at Cumbernauld Theatre on Sunday 6th September from 10.00 - 5.30. You can buy tickets here https://lanternhousearts.org/events/book-festival-getting-to-grips-with-traum/. Remarkably, a £15 day pass allows you to attend 6 sessions from a choice of 24 authors. It is the biggest literary bargain ever!!.

This time it is with Sara Cullen, whose novel "Blood Red Sky" features in the Criminal Justice section. That is a real tribute to Sara because she has not only written a gripping, engaging and highly empathetic story, she has also demonstrated remarkable insight into how our justice system operates. Her account raises questions about how far we fail young people despite our best intentions and structures and systems of which Scotland can be rightly proud.

This section from Jackie Galbraith's review of "Blood Red Sky" in the Scottish ACEs Action Community Newsletter captures much of the quality of the novel

"Blood Red Sky is categorised by booksellers as fiction for young adults, but it merits a much wider reach. Storytelling, whether fictional or factual arising from lived experience, is a powerful way to raise awareness, create empathy and accelerate action on the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences. The book helps the reader understand better the pressures young people face in handling difficult and alien situations, especially in getting their voice heard. Aaron(the central character) not being listened to was a theme that ran throughout the book. Very few adults were interested in hearing his view on what happened at the school, largely because they were sure of their assumption that he started the fire. While this situation was not helped by Aaron, who said little for fear of incriminating others, it was heartbreaking how easily all the adults he engaged with accepted his guilt"

It is an excellent read and will be a superb springboard for discussion in Sara's session.

You can find out more about Sara here https://www.sarajcullen.com/

Sara is published by Arkbound https://www.arkbound.com/ Arkbound is a charity publisher and mentoring organisation supporting underrepresented authors and publishing books that explore urgent social issues. They work across Scotland to make publishing inclusive and empowering.

Publishing has historically excluded many marginalised voices. They work to change that by supporting authors facing barriers, mentoring writers in the prison system and working with community leaders whose writing can drive real change. Through mentorship, workshops, events and publishing, we bring important stories into the world.

The goal is to publish writers from disadvantaged backgrounds, challenge injustice, and strengthen communities. We're guided by a simple principle: building futures, bridging divides. So they are taking action too!

Here is another of their books which we hope to have available at the Festival https://www.arkbound.com/bookshop/p/euphoric-recall