Wigtown Book Festival reveals all-star line-up

THE 12th Wigtown Book Festival launched its programme yesterday promising book lovers a unique opportunity to meet their favourite authors in unusual venues such as a monastic cave by the seashore or a Second World War control tower.

The ten-day festival which will take place in Scotland's National Book Town in Galloway, south-west Scotland, has 173 main events, making it the largest annual literary gathering in Scotland after the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Speakers due to attend the festival, running from 24 September to 3 October, include Martin Bell, John Byrne, Martin Creed, Jim Haynes, Jackie Kay, Val McDermid, Margo MacDonald MSP, Ian Rankin and Mona Siddiqui.

Adrian Turpin, the festival's director, said: "A good festival should be more than simply a line-up of talking heads. Wigtown is about creating a sense of occasion, a sense of place and a sense of fun."