One for the Road (04/06/07)

In honor of Tartan Week, a Scottish selection for our book of the day:

Over 60 years ago, George Orwell came to the Isle of Jura to write 1984. He left crowded London for the remote Scottish island, remaining there until 1950, when illness forced him to return to mainland Britain. Could a stay at this secluded place prove successful for other writers?

The Scottish Trust seems to think so. In late 2006 it launched the Isle of Jura Retreat program, a unique opportunity for three writers per year to spend a month on the idyllic island off the west coast of Scotland.

To celebrate the kickoff of this program, the Trust, along with Jura Whiskey, has produced Jura: Taste Island Life, a collection of stunning photography and works inspired by time spent on the writers haven. It includes a foreword from Alexander McCall Smith and an essay on Orwell on Jura by his biographer Sir Bernard Crick. The featured writing is all a direct response to having spent time on the island, is only available from the Scottish Book Trust or Jura Whiskey.