This year, between the 23 September and the 2 October, 150 authors will take part in broad spectrum of literary events including: readings, lectures, and workshops for budding writers. Below are just a few of things to look out for in the 2011 Programme.

Broadcasting legend Peter Jefferson will be discussing his book: And Now the Shipping Forecast, ex BBC Reporter Martin Bell presents his new collection of comic poems: For Whom the Bell Tolls and retired Edinburgh taxi driver Douglas J Findlay will be recalling some of the real life stories from his book: Taxi!.

Fiction lovers will have the chance to hear Chris Brookmyre reading from his new book: Where the Bodies Are Buried as well as discover new writers such as Sue Peebles whose debut novel, The Death of Lomond Friel, won this year’s First Book category at the Scottish Book Awards.

Literary heavyweights are also well represented at the festival. Writer and journalist Stephen Armstrong revisits the George Orwell classic The Road to Wigan Peer, Sorley MacLean’s biographer Peter MacKay, puts MacLean’s poetry in its political and cultural context in this year’s McNeillie Lecture and there is even a dinner celebrating the work of Walter Scott.   

The children’s programme has continued to grow year on year and welcomes back some festival favourites as well as plenty of new faces and hands-on events. It features authors such as Debi Gliori, Alan Bisset, Keith Charters and Franzeska Ewart as well as workshops on hat making and bunting design and a Dr Seuss inspired Treasure Hunt. Puppet versions of The Three Little Pigs and The Canterbury Tales are also being performed and Iain Johnston, from BBC science series Bang Goes the Theory, returns for a second year to reveal more science secrets.

As well as providing a platform for established writers to promote their work, another key objective of the book festival is to encourage new literary talent. Wigtown Ink is described as “a festival within a festival” and this year it will play host to workshops on everything from looking after copyright to adapting your work for television. For those looking to test out their writing, the Unpublished Writers’ Jam offers the chance to read unpublished work infront of a friendly audience as well as a panel of publishing experts. All of the events curated by Wigtown Ink are free of charge.

And finally, a unique addition to the 2011 programme is a series of outdoor pursuits to support the Year of Active Scotland. These include: author walks, canoeing, sea swimming and the opportunity to go blokarting on the beach.

The full 10 day programme as well as details of how to purchase tickets can be found on the Wigtown Book Festival website.

More About Wigtown

Situated in the South West of Scotland, Wigtown is known as ‘Scotland’s National Book Town’. Taking it’s inspiration from Hay-on-Wye in Wales, Wigtown’s status as a book town was planned in order to regenerate the fortunes of the town at the end of the 1990’s.

The town is now home to over 20 book-related businesses including numerous independent book shops,  publishers and book dealers. The biggest bookshop in Wigtown has over a mile of shelving holding 65,000 books!

Wigtown Book Festival receives investment from Creative Scotland.

Share This Article