Wigtown Book Festival reveals line-up

WIGTOWN Book Festival has unveiled its online programme, which includes the world premier of author Alexander McCall Smith’s Ninian’s Gift song cycle

Other highlights across the ten-day virtual festival include Alastair Campbell, Maggie O’Farrell, and Andrew Marr.

More than 80 guests will take part in the festival, which aims to promote local businesses affected by the pandemic.

Adrian Turpin, the festival’s artistic director, said: “Digital technology has been a lifeline during lockdown.

“But, as anyone who has sat through a morning of Zoom meetings knows, the online world can feel very disembodied.

“Wigtown is a distinctive place and we want to share its character with new and existing audiences in every way we can, putting the town in the public eye, nose and ear.

“The past six months have been a very difficult time and part of our aim is to offer the chance to have some fun.

“But there’s a serious point: the UK’s book festivals – large and small – are remarkable because they each reflect the places in which they take place.

“We want to cherish that diversity in every way, even at a time when we can’t gather ‘in real life’.”

The festival begins on 24 September and runs until 4 October.

Read more literature stories on Scottish Field’s books pages.

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