September 26, 2007
Festival

This year the festival celebrates peace in Northern Ireland with First Minister, Rev Ian Paisley, giving the opening address, and a good number of Irish and Northern Irish writers in the programme. We look forward to welcoming a new audience from Belfast and the surrounding area and would like to thank Stena Line, our principal sponsor, for allowing the practicalities of cross-channel links to be undertaken in great luxury.

Amidst a growing number of book festivals, Wigtown continues to set itself apart from the crowd. We are, and always will be, Scotland’s National Book Town, with its unique concentration of bookshops, but we are not content to rest on our laurels. This year we introduce a new theme, “On The Edge,” which will run through this and future festivals.

On the Edge events will reflect Wigtown’s geographical situation on the edge of the mainland, and will include talks on islands, coastlines, peripheral and remote places. Thus, you can hear Brian Keenan on Alaska, Lesley Riddoch on the Outer Hebrides, or Robert Twigger recounting his quest to discover one of Egypt’s lost oases.

On the Edge events will also reflect situations where individuals go against the flow of mainstream culture. Thus, we celebrate Samye Ling Tibetan Centre’s 40th Anniversary, hear Teresa Pascual launch a Catalan poetry anthology and learn about the wild boys of 20th century Scottish art, Robert McBride and Robert Colquhoun.

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