The world-wide fascination with the deserted islands of St Kilda shows no sign of waning, and we all share certain conventional assumptions about and stereotypical images of the islands – remoteness, dramatic landscape and bird-life, a distinctive ‘primitive’ community, the St Kilda Parliament, the mail-boat, the strict teachings of the Church, an economy uniquely dependent on sea-birds, and the sad decline and eventual evacuation of the remaining inhabitants at their own request in 1930. It is a remarkable fact that almost all of the over 700 books and articles written about St Kilda – on which The Island Book Trust images overwhelmingly are based – were written by visitors to the islands, often on the basis of pre-conceptions and very little first-hand knowledge. Outside writers frequently had their own agendas (political, religious, journalistic). It is not surprising therefore that many myths have developed, and been repeated. The voice of the Gaelic-speaking native people has been largely lost or overlooked. In this major conference, held to mark the 80th anniversary of the evacuation, the Islands Book Trust aims to look behind the myths and re-examine some of the conventional wisdom: • What were the motives of writers such as Martin Martin, John MacDonald, and John Sands, whose writings have so in"uenced our impressions of St Kilda? • What is known about how the St Kildans themselves viewed their world? • What was the real role of the Church in influencing the lives and assumptions of the St Kildans and the eventual request for evacuation? • Why did St Kilda produce so little writing from within, in contrast with for example the Blasket islands in Ireland, or the Faroes? • How different was St Kilda from other islands which became depopulated in the 20th century? The conference has attracted a First-class array of speakers to address these and other questions. As always with Book Trust conferences, we aim to bring together people from widely varied backgrounds, and the event will be rooted in a Hebridean community which still has close ties with St Kilda through the rocket range on Uist. In addition to the usual conference sessions, we will be: • Launching two new publications, the autobiography of Calum MacDonald (one of the few St Kildans to write about life on the islands); and a book by David Boddington based on a diary he kept when he was stationed on St Kilda at the beginning of military occupation in the 1950s • Hearing archive sound recordings and looking at rare photographs of the islands • Organising an exhibition of books and other memorabilia about St Kilda • Enjoying a special showing of 19th century lantern slides by the George Washington Wilson company • Arranging a ceilidh featuring local musicians and artists • Comparing and contrasting books about St Kilda with those from island communities in Ireland and the Faroes.