Ramaswamy and Harris to appear at Wigtown Book Festival

Chitra Ramaswamy and Robert Harris are among authors appearing at Wigtown Book Festival, which will host more than 200 events this year.

The annual 10-day celebration will take place from 23rd to 2nd October, supported by EventScotland as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories initiative. 

Ramaswamy, author of Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy (Saraband), won the Saltire First Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. She will discuss her new book, Homelands (Canongate) at the festival, along with Harris who will talk about his forthcoming novel Act of Oblivion (Cornerstone), due to be published in September.

Other authors attending the festival include Chris Brookmyre, Jeremy Bowen, Hanna Jackson and Deacon Blue frontman Ricky Ross. Andrew Cotter, Lisa Jewell, Will Brooker, Karen Campbell and Gerda Stevenson are also slated to attend.

Events programmed specifically for children include an afternoon with Kate Greenaway Medal-winner and former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child, an event with Vashti Hardy, and a Scots language celebration.

Other activities include The Bookshop Untold, a storytelling performance set in an "enchanted bookshop" which promises to take audiences on a journey through history, Scottish literature, art, love, and loss, while Into The Night – a night-time walk mixing acoustic art, music and literature – will be led by writer and adventurer Dan Richards and  Elizabeth Tindal.

The town’s own bestselling author and owner of Scotland’s largest second-hand book store Shaun Bythell will talk about his latest work, while an an event dedicated to the Wigtownshire author and historian Jack Hunter is also on the programme. The centenary of poet William Neill will also be celebrated, while farmers Wilma and David Finlay will tell audiences how they have challenged the norms of their industry as champions of ethical dairy farming.

Other pop-ups and activities that will be ongoing throughout the festival period include a regional foods and craft market, a free outdoor big screen, an art installation and a ceilidh.

Artistic director Adrian Turpin said: “The festival will be celebrating the very best in current books and writing, with a multitude of writers – but that’s just the beginning.

“We are at the very heart of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, by inviting people to discover literature and storytelling in many different forms, whether that’s through fiction, non-fiction, poetry, pictures, theatre, music or art.

“And as we continue to rebuild after Covid, we hope people will join us to enjoy hearing and meeting authors in person, to take part in other events of all kinds and to discover the countryside – and literary traditions – of Galloway.

“Something else that’s very close to our heart is the importance, and the joy, of encouraging a love of literature and storytelling among the next generation – so we have compelling programmes for young people and children.”

Tickets are now on sale for the festival.