I took part in this year’s Aye Write! book festival with a different hat on: I was there as a host rather than a panellist.

I was asked to chair three very different events: with former pop star Anthony Kavanaugh, aka Kavana, to discuss his memoir; with Mae Diansangu, Louise Welsh and Lewis Hetherington to discuss the queer spaces anthology Who Will Be Remembered Here; and with debut novelists Seth Insua, Michael Amherst and Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin to talk about their books Human, Animal, The Boyhood of Cain and Ordinary Saints. And I was absolutely terrified, because hosting is way beyond my comfort zone: I’m used to being the panellist, not the host.

I’m glad I said yes, though, because books and book people are often fascinating – and that was definitely the case for all three events here. And we were blessed with three very excellent audiences too, so the events were a real joy to host.

I’m done hosting for now, but I’m not done with book events: I’ll be at Sunny Govan Radio to talk about my own books later this week, and I’m doing a talk with students next week. Or at least I will be if my voice holds out: the downside of doing literary festivals at this time of year is that everybody involved comes out of the event with a stonking head cold.