Ken Mann explores how an area facing the ‘grim’ reality of unemployment became a vibrant and nationally respected literary hub

Edinburgh might have cornered much of the international limelight for its book festival, but Scotland has another, more intimate and perhaps even more focused, celebration of the written word – in Wigtown.

Anne Barclay is Operational Director at Wigtown Festival Company, the charitable limited company that takes on the not insignificant task of running this annual calendar highlight for lovers of any genre, and any sub-category you could possibly imagine.

“We have just completed the 17th Festival which ran until October 4,” she explains. “It was actually born out of the ‘Wigtown Book Town’ project; Wigtown became Scotland’s national book town in 1997 – the first festival was held in 1999.  The whole purpose of the Book Town project was for economic regeneration in Wigtown. 

“Our major industry had disappeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s – the local creamery had closed and the distillery had closed, which did away with a lot of local jobs. There were a huge number of properties on the market in Wigtown in the early 1990s because so many families had had to move away to find work elsewhere. 

“It was very grim. I remember it quite well, I was actually at primary school here at the time it applied to become Scotland’s national book town, something that the school was heavily involved with along with the community council and the committee specially set-up to apply.

“One of the reasons Wigtown was chosen was because there were so many properties on the market, so many shops available for people to buy or rent and so much opportunity to build the Book Town. It seemed to make sense that if we were to become Scotland’s National Book Town, that we would also run a book festival around that.”

Wigtown’s event is every bit as proud of its purpose as that of the Capital. But it is a deliberately different experience, one that is shaped by more than comparisons with visitor number statistics. 

“It’s a much more intimate experience, despite the fact that we are looking at an audience of over 22,000,” Barclay adds. “Our smallest venue holds 25 people.  Our largest venue is [for] 350.  The experience you get with an author here in Wigtown is quite different and a number of the authors feel that they become part of the community and part of the town for the period of time they are here, albeit that sometimes that’s a very fleeting visit.”

From previous gatherings, personal appearances have included Joanna Lumley, Claire Balding, the BBC’s Middle East news editor Jeremy Bowen, the last UK Government’s Business Secretary Vince Cable, renowned crime novelist Val McDermid and so called “Tartan Noir” writer, Christopher Brookmyre. It is Scotland’s second book festival, but clearly not second league.

A Festival Book Shop, run on a voluntary basis, allows profits from its operations to be ploughed back to assist funding of the next year’s meeting of book worms.

Taking most of the rest of the year to assemble – inclusive of a parallel children’s and young people’s programme that brings in more than 2,000 school pupils to the town during the 10 days of the Festival – those asking questions of its economic value will surely be quietened by the facts.

“We did an impact assessment on the Festival in 2013,” Barclay replies.

“It brings in £2.1 million for the local economy. We hope it goes some way to helping our local businesses sustain themselves through the winter.”

In October last year, Creative Scotland – Scotland’s national agency supporting and promoting the arts sector and related creative industries – awarded the Festival a funding tranche over three years which allows some security in planning.

That will assist in the development of additional work to encourage the growth of literature and its appreciation across Dumfries & Galloway, still centred on Wigtown’s vibrant activities.