Shakirah Fly Out To Talk 'Bout My Fishy Stepmom - Gine On?!

The Barbadian author was a feature at the Edinburgh International Book Festival with her book My Fishy Stepmom.

Shakirah Bourne was invited to the Edinburgh International Book Festival as a feature author to talk about her children’s book, My Fishy Stepmom (Blue Banyan Books). On the panel was also the amazing author, Lisa Thompson (Goldfish Boy, The Day I was Erased). Shakirah also conducted a reading workshop on “To Kill A Mockingbird”, and delivered a Masterclass on Finding Your Voice. Response was great as the workshops were sold out on the same day they went on sale!

While Bourne was there she also attended numerous author events and book signings. The highlight of those events for me was a private invitation to the residence of Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, where Shakirah met some amazing NYT bestselling and Man Booker Prize winners and other award-winning authors. These include Jason Reynolds (Ghost, Miles Morales: Spiderman), Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things), Ali Smith (Free Love and Other Stories, How to Be Both) and Mark Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

My favourite author events were hearing Holly Black and Samantha Shannon talk about writing female characters in fantasy, Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander and Sarah Crossan discuss Writing Rhythm and books in verse to connect with young readers, and getting a signed copy of #1 Ladies Detective Series from Alexander McCall Smith.
Shakirah Bourne

She also enjoyed events with the two other BURT Award Winners, Elizabeth Jones – who discussed writing history in fiction, and Imam Baksh who was part of a wonderful spoken word performance showcasing the similarities and differences between Caribbean and Shetlandic cultures.

At the end of her trip, Shakirah attended the Northern Lights programme. Here publishers, bookstore owners and agents gathered to discuss key issues in the industry and share expertise around marketing and diversifying readership.