Wigtown Book Festival

Latest News

We are thrilled to announce the five awardees to the Compass mentoring scheme! The group represents a diverse range of voice and genre, showcasing the best of Dumfries and Galloway's emerging writing talent. As well as a dedicated place for the Fresh Voice 2022 award winner, this year's Compass programme awarded two dedicated places for young people, cultivating a new generation of regional writers.

Big DoG Children's Festival is bounding back to Dumfries 30 March - 2 April

Programme Launch 21 February

Enter the Anne Brown Essay Prize 2022

26 Sep 2022

Anne Brown Essay Prize Winner, Dani Garavelli

Video

19 Dec 2022

In her winning entry, 'The Bequest', Dani Garavelli movingly explores her Italian-Scottish heritage. In this video, she tells the history and inspiration behind her winning essay.

Remembering Anne Brown

An Interview with Jo Lawrence

19 Dec 2022

The James Mirrlees Lecture

Lord Martin Rees

26 Sep 2022

Described as one of Scotland’s greatest minds of the past century, Sir James Mirrlees was the son of a bank teller from the Galloway village of Minnigaff. He went on to win the 1996 Nobel Prize for economics.

A Dairy Story

Wilma and Dave Finlay

22 Sep 2022

Wilma and David Finlay are remarkable – creating the famous Cream o’ Galloway ice cream brand and pioneering a new, kinder approach to dairy farming which avoids calves being separated from their mothers shortly after birth. Their campaign to improve animal welfare has reached a new urgency after Wilma was diagnosed with lung cancer. They will launch a book about their lives, A Dairy Story, at Wigtown Book Festival.

True Heretic

Willie Neill

5 Sep 2022

Willie Neill is widely thought of as southern Scotland’s most outstanding poet since Burns. To mark his centenary two of the region’s poets, Hugh McMillan and Stuart Paterson, edited The Leaves of the Years – an anthology of writing inspired by Neill’s words.

The Horizontal Oak

Polly Pullar

24 Aug 2022

Polly Pullar is a much-loved and respected author and journalist, with a deep love for the wildlife and countryside of Scotland. Her latest book, The Horizontal Oak, follows a different path to her previous nine nature journals and tales of the Scottish countryside.

The Passengers

Will Ashon

24 Aug 2022

Will Ashon’s book The Passengers offers a glimpse into the hearts and minds of people across the British Isles (including Dumfries and Galloway!). From October 2018 to March 2021 he spoke to more than 100 people by phone, in person or online.

Truth Be Told

Sue Divin

5 Sep 2022

Joining the Wigtown Book Festival’s YA programme, Derry-based writer Sue Divin tells us about her fast-paced novel Truth Be Told.

This Week's Favourite from the Video Archive

Shoo Raynor for Big DoG Children's Book Festival 2021

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Looking for your next read?

Relive Wigtown Book Festival 2022 by reading our festival titles. We have a selection of signed titles available on our online bookshop, including award-winning children's books, thrillers and contemporary politics. All purchases go towards supporting our year-round events.