Inverness will next week host the first conference dedicated to an author whose hit novel was turned into a film starring Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson.
About 20 academics from as far away as Italy, Spain, Australia and the USA will descend on Inverness College UHI on Thursday and Friday for event focussed on celebrated Highland writer, Michel Faber.
The conference – entitled “Defying Genre: Michel Faber” – will explore the award-winning author’s work, whilst Mr Faber himself will give a reading, share some unpublished works and engage directly with the speakers’ papers.
Born in Holland and raised in Australia, Mr Faber has lived and worked in Ross-shire for more than 20 years.
He shot to fame with his first novel, Under the Skin, which was set on the A9 Perth to Thurso road, and adapted into an award-winning Glasgow-set film that was directed by Jonathan Glazer and starred Scarlett Johansson as the main character.
Mr Faber also won last year’s Saltire Book of the Year award for his work, The Book of Strange New Things.
Members of the public are invited to attend the conference, with tickets costing £15, including refreshments and lunch on Friday.
Kristin Lindfield-Ott, programme leader for BA (Hons) Literature and BA (Hons) History and Literature at the University of the Highlands and Islands, will be speaking at the event.
She said: “We are very excited to be hosting the first ever academic conference on Michel Faber’s work here in Inverness.
“Popular at home as well as abroad, his writing is only just beginning to receive critical scholarly attention.
“We look forward to discussing his extensive and varied portfolio with colleagues from around the world and sharing our research with the public.”
Mr Faber’s first published book was a collection of short stories, Some Rain Must Fall, in 1998.
Of the stories, the title piece won the Ian St James Award in 1996, “Fish” won the Macallan Prize in 1996, and “Half a Million Pounds and a Miracle” won the Neil Gunn Award in 1997.
Under the Skin, published in 2000, was translated into many languages and was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award.
