This is the fourth year of the Ullapool Book Festival, which runs from Friday to Sunday, May 16-18, and is sponsored by the Ross-shire Journal.

A selection of fiction writers will be reading passages from and talking about their novels, including Canadian author Alistair MacLeod, as well as the well-known James Robertson, Alan Spence, Zoe Strachan and Luke Sutherland.

Louise Welsh will deliver a lecture entitled "Robert Louis Stevenson and the Theatre of the Brain", which is based on A Chapter on Dreams, one of Stevenson's essays, and will discuss the effect dreaming had on the great Scottish writer's creativity.

As in previous years, poetry features prominently in the programme and this year's audience will get the chance to see the established George Gunn — whose new collection of poetry, The Atlantic Forest, will be published in April — Richard Price, as well as newcomer Sam Meekings whose debut, The Bestiary, is also due for publication next month.

And two of the finest Gaelic poets, Rody Gorman and Anne Frater, will be reading excerpts from their works.

Continuing the Gaelic thread is Sutherland-born Essie Stewart, who is the grand-daughter of one of the greatest Gaelic storytellers, Allidh Dall Stewart who died in 1968. During the breakfast stories session, Essie will retell her traditional stories to audiences in both English and Gaelic.

Ethnologist Margaret Bennett will delve into Highland folklore when she reads from and discusses her book, Scottish Customs from the Cradle to the Grave.

The Ullapool Book Festival has received funding from the Scottish Arts Council, Highland Council, Bord na Gaidhlig and the Tom Wright Trust.

Ullapool Bookshop, The Ceilidh Place and Ross-shire-based publisher Two Ravens Press are among the sponsors of the event.

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