Wigtown Book Festival: Nicola Sturgeon and Justin Currie in line-up
The festival will be closed by Still Game star Greg Hemphill and his wife, Julie Wilson Nimmo, who is famous for playing Miss Hoolie in Balamory. They will discuss a new guide to wild swimming in Scotland, which accompanies their BBC TV series Jules & Greg's Wild Swim.
Nicola Sturgeon, whose memoir Frankly is due to be published later this month, will appear at an event in conversation with broadcaster Gavin Esler. Meanwhile, Justin Currie will discuss The Tremelo Diaries in which he chronicled what it was like for a musician to be told they have Parkinson's. Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie reveals Parkinson's diagnosisDel Amitri singer Justin Currie: I know Parkinson's will stop meOthers lined up to speak at Wigtown include former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, stand-ups Helen Lederer and Robin Ince and broadcasters Reeta Chakrabarti and Louise Minchin. Former BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones will tell the story of how he adopted a Romanian rescue dog, and ex-newsreader John Suchet will discuss his love of Beethoven.
Organisers have also promised a strong focus on Scottish writing, with appearances by Scots language performance poet Len Pennie, and Damien Barr, the host of the BBC's Big Scottish Book Club, among others. The winners of the Wigtown Poetry Prizes and the Anne Brown Essay Prize for Scotland will also be announced. Economist Prof Sir John Kay will deliver the James Mirrlees lecture, in honour of the Galloway-born Nobel-prize winner.Adrian Turpin, the festival's outgoing creative director, said: "Wigtown gives audiences the chance to enjoy famous names, new writers, great storytelling, big ideas and colourful characters in intimate surroundings at the heart of Scotland's National Book Town. "The festival prides itself on being friendly, laid-back, full of surprises and intensely curious."
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