SCOTLAND’S National Book Town is gearing up for a friendly invasion of book lovers.
The annual Wigtown Book Festival gets under way on Friday. Authors and experts of every kind will be talking about a multitude of subjects including new evidence about the Viking Age Galloway Hoard – one of the greatest discoveries of buried treasure ever made in Britain.
There will be more from the “Dark Ages” with events looking at great European Epics such as the Anglo Saxon Beowulf and the Norse sagas.
One of the festival’s key themes is The Lost Province – an exploration of Galloway’s past as a melting pot of Norse, Gaelic, Anglo Saxon, Scots and Cumbric invaders and settlers and how their languages, art and culture helped shape one of Scotland’s most remarkable regions.
The festival runs until October 6 and will see a host of well-known names take part including Kirsty Wark, Arabella Weir, Sinead Gleeson, Kathleen Jamie, Doddie Weir, Prof. Steve Jones, Ruth Davidson MSP, Geoffrey Roberston QC, Tom Devine, Melanie Reid, supermodel Eunice Olumide and Matthew Parris.
The festival is giving away thousands of free tickets for under-26s in its ongoing work to promote a love of literature and creativity among young people.
Artistic director Adrian Turpin said: “The 21st Wigtown Book Festival looks like being an epic. Advance ticket sales are almost 10% higher than ever before and we are offering more than 275 events. We are really looking forward to welcoming visitors of all ages and from every part of the world.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here