This episode is another trailer for a session at the "Getting to Grips with Trauma" Book Festival which will be held at Cumbernauld Theatre on Sunday 6th September from 10.00 - 5.30. You can buy tickets here https://lanternhousearts.org/events/book-festival-getting-to-grips-with-traum/. Remarkably, a £15 day pass allows you to attend 6 sessions from a choice of 24 authors. It is the biggest literary bargain ever!!.

This time it is with Sara Cullen, whose novel "Blood Red Sky" features in the Criminal Justice section. That is a real tribute to Sara because she has not only written a gripping, engaging and highly empathetic story, she has also demonstrated remarkable insight into how our justice system operates. Her account raises questions about how far we fail young people despite our best intentions and structures and systems of which Scotland can be rightly proud.

This section from Jackie Galbraith's review of "Blood Red Sky" in the Scottish ACEs Action Community Newsletter captures much of the quality of the novel

"Blood Red Sky is categorised by booksellers as fiction for young adults, but it merits a much wider reach. Storytelling, whether fictional or factual arising from lived experience, is a powerful way to raise awareness, create empathy and accelerate action on the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences. The book helps the reader understand better the pressures young people face in handling difficult and alien situations, especially in getting their voice heard. Aaron(the central character) not being listened to was a theme that ran throughout the book. Very few adults were interested in hearing his view on what happened at the school, largely because they were sure of their assumption that he started the fire. While this situation was not helped by Aaron, who said little for fear of incriminating others, it was heartbreaking how easily all the adults he engaged with accepted his guilt"

It is an excellent read and will be a superb springboard for discussion in Sara's session.

You can find out more about Sara here https://www.sarajcullen.com/

Sara is published by Arkbound https://www.arkbound.com/ Arkbound is a charity publisher and mentoring organisation supporting underrepresented authors and publishing books that explore urgent social issues. They work across Scotland to make publishing inclusive and empowering.

Publishing has historically excluded many marginalised voices. They work to change that by supporting authors facing barriers, mentoring writers in the prison system and working with community leaders whose writing can drive real change. Through mentorship, workshops, events and publishing, we bring important stories into the world.

The goal is to publish writers from disadvantaged backgrounds, challenge injustice, and strengthen communities. We're guided by a simple principle: building futures, bridging divides. So they are taking action too!

Here is another of their books which we hope to have available at the Festival https://www.arkbound.com/bookshop/p/euphoric-recall