‘In an unprecedentedly challenging year for book festivals, we’re proud to present a programme that we hope will surprise, amuse and inspire audiences new and old,’ says
Adrian Turpin, Artistic Director of Wigtown Book Festival. Here we take a look at what’s coming up
Legendary performance poet Pam Ayres, two of Scotland’s best-known actors, Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson, and popular television presenter Kate Humble are among the well-known faces appearing at this year’s Wigtown Book Festival.
Among the other guests are Scottish comedian Janey Godley, singer and songwriter Cerys Matthews, novelist Irvine Welsh, Channel 4 International Editor Lyndsey Hilsum and Danny Robins, host of the BBC's blockbuster paranormal podcast and TV series Uncanny.
Children’s authors attending include Frank Cottrell Boyce, Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza Yassin, and the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Award 2024 Pari Thomson.
New this year will be the introduction of a ‘festival-within-a-festival’ dedicated to food, from October 4 to 6, featuring talks, interviews and demonstrations.
Guest programmer Coinneach MacLeod (aka The Hebridean Baker) will be joined by, among others, Masterchef finalist Sarah Rankin and Great British Bake-Off winner Peter Sawkins.
Environment is also a strong focus of this year’s event. The central Change the Stories strand will look at new stories to tell about climate change, while the Coastal Fringe will invite visitors to experience for themselves the beautiful Solway shoreline around Wigtown in the company of speakers.
The festival will also be launching a new sustainable transport initiative, encouraging visitors to share transport and providing extra bus links.
Other highlights from the non-fiction programme include: William Dalrymple on how ancient India transformed the world; Helena Kelly on The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens; historian Kathryn Hughes on how Britain fell in love with cats; former Home Secretary Alan Johnson on Harold Wilson’s legacy; Jessica Hepburn on becoming the first woman to swim the Channel, run the London Marathon and climb Everest; and Russell Jones (The Decade in Tory) on the implosion of the Conservative party.
This year’s Magnusson Lecture, in honour of the broadcaster and academic Magnus Magnusson, will be given by Tessa Boase on Etta Lemon, the extraordinary woman who co-founded the RSPB.
The James Mirrlees Lecture, which marks the life of the locally-born Nobel Prize-winning economist, will be given by Sophie Yeo, author of the acclaimed Nature’s Ghosts.
The festival will also see the announcement of the winners of the annual international Wigtown Poetry Prizes for poems in Scotland’s three indigenous languages (English, Scots and Gaelic). Former BBC Scotland political editor Brian Taylor will present the third Anne Brown Essay Prize for Scotland.
Last year’s winner, Rodge Glass, will return to the festival with his memoir Joshua in the Sky.
From the traditional opening-night fireworks and pipe band to the final weekend ceilidh, the festival aims to create an atmosphere of celebration.
As well as author talks, the programme includes music, theatre, topical debates, workshops and walks, including a tour of the dozen and more bookshops, led by Wigtown’s own Diary of a Bookseller author Shaun Bythell and Ben Please of The Bookshop Band.
WBF artistic director Adrian Turpin said: “In an unprecedentedly challenging year for book festivals, we’re proud to present a programme that we hope will surprise, amuse and inspire audiences new and old.”
Wigtown Book Festival runs from September 27 to October 6. It aims to be accessible to all. An accessibility guide is available on the website and concessions include free tickets for carers and for young people aged 15-25.
For more information and the full programme see www.wigtownbookfestival.com
Dumfries & Galloway Life is proud to be regional media partner of Wigtown Book Festival.
