29 Ticket £18. Concession £16 | Magfest Explorer £5.
29 - A Fire In Their Hearts: Philip Paris
June 24, 2026 at 5:30pm. Duration: 60 mins
Kirkwall Baptist Church, 86 Victoria Street, Kirkwall KW15 1DQ
Philip Paris Writer
In conversation with Huw Williams
“It’s 1662 and childhood sweethearts Violet and Samuel are caught up in the increasingly violent conflict between Scottish people and the monarch over who is head of the Church of Scotland. Captured by Royalist soldiers the couple are held for months in appalling conditions in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Kirkyard before being banished abroad. When their ship sinks off Orkney many Covenanters are killed. Violet and Samuel are separated.”
Philip Paris is the bestselling author of The Last Witch of Scotland, Waterstones’ Scottish Book of the Year 2024, and Blackwell’s Edinburgh Book of the Year 2023. Known for historical fiction and non-fiction about Orkney’s Italian Chapel, Philip now writes novels exploring history and human experience. His latest, A Fire in Their Hearts, is a gripping, emotionally rich story of love, resilience, and humanity. Philip will talk about all of his writing in this event with a focus on his most recent book.