Calling all aspiring authors!

Are you interested in Highland history and culture?

Do you enjoy creating short stories, poems or illustrations?

Do you want to be part of an exhibition?

The Highland Archive Centre cares for thousands of historic documents.  These are full of both well-known and long-forgotten stories from hundreds of years of Highland history.  To mark national Explore Your Archive week and Book Week (Scotland), we invite adults and children to use one or more of these specially chosen documents from our collections as inspiration for a short story, poem or illustration. You are then invited to submit your work to become part of an exhibition in the Archive Centre in 2017.

Your Writing Inspiration

1. Letter by Alexander Baillie of Dochfour, Caribbean, describing hurricanes, epidemics and slaves, 1752
2. Inventory and Valuation of Airy Castle Estate and slaves, Jamaica, 1819
3. Inverness Burgh Minutes describing Jacobite garrison taking over the town, 1702-1720
4. Highland Dress Court Warrant, 1750
5. Letter by William Fraser Tytler to his wife, written whilst holding a court in Alvie Church, 1832
6. Sutherland Estate Gold Miner’s Licence, 1869
7. Kildonan Police Station Daily Occurrence Book detailing gold theft, 1869
8. Extract from scrapbook kept by Mary Gwendoline Mackenzie/Davidson, 1883-1909
9. Memorial of the Magistrates of the Town Council of Dingwall RE: murder and riots in the town, 1740
10. Letter by Elizabeth McDermott, Jamaica to George Grant, Forres, 1800
11. Diary of schoolboy Malcolm Blane, Sep 1903-Mar 1904
12. Jack Lumsden transport photographs, early-mid 20th Century
13. 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map, Inverness-Shire Sheet XII.1 .5, 1868
14. Special Military Area Defence of the Realm Passes, 1916
15. Death Warrant for executing Hugh McLeod (the Assynt Murderer), 1831

Submission Details

The closing date for submissions is Monday, 9th January 2017. You can choose to email, post or hand in your entries.

Address: Highland Archive Centre, Bught Road, Inverness, IV3 5SS.

Email: [email protected]

For any further information please contact us on: 01463256444 or[email protected]