We are joined by Abiola Bello and Helen Lewis from the Diverse Book Awards. They discuss how they started the awards in the middle of the pandemic, the challenges of running them and even a sneak peak of what to expect from Wigtown YA 2021 ..read more

Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of 'Open Water', answers 31 pressing questions for Same Page. If you're not signed up for Same Page, here's the link: https://bit.ly/samepageya ..read more

On this episode we speak to three very versatile guests whose careers have spanned various professions. We chat to award-winning writer and former academic Denise Mina about her recent play Mrs Puntila and Her Man Matti, what it was like to choose a career as a crime fiction writer and her upcoming novels The Less Dead and Confidence. We also talk to screenwriter and former doctor Simon Stephenson, whose novel Set My Heart To Five has been optioned by director Edgar Wright. He talks about how the novel is a love letter to the films he grew up watching - and how this debut novel has been influe ..read more

Join us for a supernatual-themed edition of the podcast this week with host Peggy Hughes. Karen Campbell discusses her new tale of the supernatural, "The Ghosts of Wigtown", which was written exclusively for the Wigtown Book Festival, and how it was inspired by her own research into the women who used to live here. Edward Parnell talks about Ghostland, his moving exploration of what has haunted writers and artists such as M.R. James and W.G. Sebald. In particular he tells us about visiting the locations in Galloway where cult 70s horror film The Wicker Man was filmed. And we chat with Kathleen ..read more

In this week's edition, we consider the pull of home and the lure of the open road. Sara Maitland, author of The Book of Silence, joins us on the phone from her home in rural Galloway and talks about her unique experience of lockdown, her tips for thriving on your own and her upcoming story commissioned by the Festival. Carys Davies discusses her transition from short story writer to novelist, muses on how contemporary events influence her work and talks about her latest novel, West, and her upcoming novel,The Mission House. We share an excerpt from our #WigtownWednesday event with explorer po ..read more

In this pilot episode Peggy Hughes explores the world of literary festivals in lockdown. Critic, chair and programmer at Granite Noir Lee Randall shares her thoughts on how we are adapting to the new landscape with Wigtown Artistic Director Adrian Turpin. We also chat to Sasha de Buyl of the Cúirt International Festival of Literature, fresh from their very successful digital festival over the weekend. Check out their archive of events: https://www.cuirt.ie Find out more about Wigtown Book Festival and our own regular events in lockdown at http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com Incidental music by ..read more

This episode features the entire event from this year’s Wigtown Book Festival with chair Lee Randall in conversation with author Douglas Stuart, who was announced last week as the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize for his novel Shuggie Bain ..read more

On this episode we continue our series of highlights from this year’s festival with two very different authors who are united in emphasising the importance of promoting healthy relationships between us. The ways in which we relate to the world and to the people in our community has been drawn into stark relief this year and bestselling YA author Nicola Yoon and the pioneering campaigner and author Alastair McIntosh take very different approaches to exploring the best ways we can relate to our environment, to our community and to ourselves ..read more

On this episode we revisit two very special events from this year's festival, featuring two of Northern Ireland’s finest exports, poet Michael Longley and novelist Jan Carson. Listen to the short story 'Soup' which Jan reads in its entirety and hear edited highlights from Michael Longley's conversation with diplomat, author and fellow Belfastian William D. Hanna ..read more

On this episode we feature more edited highlights from this year's Wigtown Book Festival with excerpts from our events with wildlife TV presenter and author Kate Humble and former British Army officer, international aid worker and spy thriller writer Simon Conway ..read more