26 at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Reviewed by Margaret Oscar

There was a lot of magic at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival. Around the corner, bagpipes parped at both ends of Princes Street, Sir Walter Scott’s monument looked particularly fine in the sunshine, performing artists drew crowds to the grounds outside the National Gallery. And in Charlotte Square Gardens, the home of the Book Festival, 26 was creating a little magic of its own.

‘Dark Angels’ is the latest of John Simmons’s three books, all of which relentlessly champion the power of language. John talked to 26 Scotland’s Jamie Jauncey about his belief in creative writing in business, in how allowing peoples’ creative juices to flow at work can benefit a business and help personal development. He called on companies and employers to encourage their staff to bring their own personalities to the written work they produce. And, as he read a selected chapter from the book to demonstrate, the room stirred in response.

John went on to introduce the latest 26 collaboration in London, the Circle Line project, entitled ‘From Here To Here’. As part of the London Design Festival, members of 26, volunteers from London Underground’s Platform for Art, and students from the London College of Communications worked together to produce a fantastic exhibition, and a series of beautiful posters at each of the 27 stations along the Circle Line. A book of the same title, written by members of 26 plus guest writers, was another demonstration of the power and unexpected results creative writing could bring.

The magic didn’t stop there. Jamie then turned to another key member of 26’s Scottish chapter, Stuart Delves of Henzteeth. A theme close to the heart of Edinburgh was malt whisky. And 26 Scotland had paired 26 writers and 26 designers (including eight southern pairings) to work in collaboration with The Scotch Malt Whisky Society to produce 26 unique bottle labels. Each represents the experience the individual teams had when tasting the malts assigned to them, and each label design is being displayed at the Society’s Edinburgh, and soon, London venues. The book of the project, ‘26 Malts: Some Joy Ride’, tells the fascinating stories behind the development of the labels. And as Stuart read one of the stories by Patrick Bergel, the room lit up with a laughter that showed many people understood the creative journey being described.

That same evening, the magical atmosphere of 26 in Edinburgh continued as the 26 Malts exhibition was launched at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Writers and designers came together to view their labels in place for the first time. The Society members, including the marketing manager and chairman, were clearly excited about the results of the project and what it meant for their future activities. And everyone sampled a dram of malt whisky in recognition of what had been achieved. 26 has made its mark in Scotland. And a beautiful mark it is, too.

All three books are published by Cyan Books and are available in bookstores, from Amazon or by emailing sales@cyanbooks.com. You can also find out more about the projects on www.fromheretohere.com and www.smws.com.

The 26 Malts exhibition will be on display at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s London venue from 5 September to 1 October, as part of the London Design Festival. The address is 19 Greville Street, Hatton Garden – just off Bleeding Heart Yard.
Times: Mon-Sat 12 noon-6pm. Phone 020 7831 4447 or visit www.smws.com for further details.

posted by jim @ 4:43 PM