Triffids, artificial intelligence, cyber-wars, pandemics, nanobots, space travel, bio-warfare, how to kill someone (and get away with it), apocalyptic futures, species extinctions…Is it getting harder to separate fiction from fact? Were your first impressions of a new technology or concept formed, perhaps unshakably, through fiction? How can novelists help us to process the dramatic scientific changes in our world? Join us for a discussion. Our guests are:

Doug Johnstone Nuclear physicist, arts journalist and author of sixteen best-selling science-fiction and crime novels, Doug’s recent novel The Space Between Us, the climax of which is set unnervingly close to Ullapool Village Hall, brings us in contact with alien beings and explores Scottish societal attitudes in the process. It was selected for BBC Two’s Between the Covers and described by The Guardian as 'An entertaining, fast-paced story of first contact … an emotionally engaging read'. His new novel, The Collapsing Wave continues the gripping adventure in Ullapool, Ardmair and Rhue.

Dr Howie Firth  has a passion for the history and philosophy of science. He was the first Director of the original Edinburgh Science Festival and long-standing Director of Orkney International Science Festival. Laden with stories, Howie will reflect on how we have been learning about science through fiction from early mythology to the present day.

LG Thomson was born in Glasgow, grew up in Cumbernauld, and now lives in Ullapool. Her writing has appeared in a wide range of anthologies and literary publications including Epoch Press, Art North, and the sci-fi Wyldblood Magazine. Her novels include noir thrillerBoyle's Law and dystopian thrillerEach New Morn. Her latest book,Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares, is a searingly honest and brutally funny memoir about being part of the first generation to grow up in Scotland’s most ambitious and experimental New Town. It is her first nonfiction book. The sequel will be published by Outcast Press in 2024.