AUTHOR SNUBS FESTIVAL BECAUSE OF PAISLEY ATTENDANCE.

A LEADING Scottish novelist is to boycott one of the country's major literary events as a protest against the presence of Ian Paisley.

The award-winning Morvern Callar author Alan Warner declined an invitation to attend this month's Wigtown Book Festival after learning that the Northern Irish First Minister was to be the guest of honour.
Warner, who now lives in Spain, is believed to have told festival organisers that he regards the veteran Ulster politician as a "sectarian" and that he would not attend the event - despite it being dedicated to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
But the writer's stance has been criticised by a leading Irish writer who claims it is an insult to the people of the province who democratically elected Paisley as the head of a cross-community government.
Festival organisers would make no official comment about Warner's stance but an insider confirmed that the author had ended his proposed involvement after learning that the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party would be giving the opening address.

Read the full story from Scotland on Sunday.