The programme for this year’s Wigtown Book Festival has been announced ahead of the start of the event.
The festival kicks off on Friday and runs until October 6 as Galloway’s 10-day celebration of all things literary.
Famous names, authors, leading thinkers, writers, politicians, poets and international journalists will all be in attendance while events will look at questions including the outcome of the US Presidential election and what the Romand did for Galloway and Scotland.
The town, which has less than 1,000 residents, is expected to welcome up to 8,000 visitors and will host more than 250 events throughout the 10 day event.
That will kick off with a parade of pipers and a firework display while other events include the Big Wig children’s programme and a festival-within-a-festival dedicated to food and cookery.
On Saturday, 28 September, journalist and presenter Gavin Esler will join an expert panel for America on a Knife Edge as they discuss the tight race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to become the next president of the US, while also exploring the fears and hopes for the future of the world’s most powerful nation.
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Adrian Turpin, Wigtown Book Festival Artistic Director, said: "Like Ancient Rome, all roads lead to Wigtown this month as legions of visitors descend on Scotland's National Book Town. Now in its 26th year, the festival a celebration of curiosity and a forum for discussion and debate."
Dr Fraser Hunter, principal curator of Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology at National Museums Scotland will focus on one of the past’s greatest powers. He will look to ‘explode some of the myths’ surrounding the presence of a colonising power which came north and conquered no less than three times.
That’s despite many people often thinking that the Romans didn’t make it north of Hadrian’s Wall.
Dr Fraser said: “I want to address some of the myths. We often think of their world stopping at Hadrian’s Wall – it didn’t, Scotland was in or on the edge of the Roman world. They invaded three times, coming twice into Galloway.
“We also often have a bit of an Asterix view of the Romans, poor Italians shivering in the cold and facing fierce, indomitable tribesman.
“It was much more complex than that. Who was a Roman? The army was a huge ethnic and cultural mix and very few of the solders serving here would have been from the heart of the empire.
“And as for the people living here. What do you do when the Roman army turns up on your doorstep? Fight, run, do a deal? I want to give a sense of how different groups made different decisions.”
For Dr Fraser, it is a homecoming after being born and raised in the area with his father, Jack, being a much-loved historian in the region and being from Wigtown, while his mother was also from nearby.
His event taps into a deep fascination and ambivalence towards the Romans that has passed down through the ages.
Archaeological evidence shows that some people keenly acquired Roman goods and saw them as a source of status, while there was also an upsurge in Celtic artwork, suggesting that others were determined to assert their own cultural identity.
There are plenty of well known-names attending as well including poet Pam Ayres, Hebridean baker Coinneach MacLeod, food legend Sue Lawrence, Scotland’s National Chef Gary MacLean, former BBC Moscow correspondent Martin Sixsmith and author Irvin Welsh.
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes will also make an appearance, as well as musician and author Cerys Matthews, actor James Cosmo and MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin.
This year will also have a strong environmental theme which will include a Coastal Fringe series of activities allowing visitors to experience the beauty of the area’s saltmarshes with guided walks, theatre, music, whisky tasting, lectures and awards also taking place.
Earlier this year, the festival saw its partnership with Baillie Gifford come to an end after pressure from climate campaigners due to the firm’s investment in fossil fuels, with 50 authors also signing an open letter at last year’s festival threatening a boycott in 2024 unless Baillie Gifford divested of billions of investments, or the organisers found a new sponsor.
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