We are just over half way through the annual book bonanza that is the Wigtown Book Festival – and another strong programme by Lee Randall has got the town buzzing.
Thankfully we have such a great team so Lou, Magghi, Isabelle and me, along with support from artist in the back room Fran Raw, that we’ve been able to cope with the crowds. The first weekend was so busy that Magghi described her afternoon behind the desk as ‘like being at the Aldi checkout.’ We’re just not used to that level of busy but it’s great to see so many people visiting the festival and supporting the bookshops and other small independent businesses.
Over the first weekend we also had an interest in several events. The author of The Highland Cowgirl, Louisa MacDougall had travelled all the way from the isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides to present an event with her book in the children’s Big Wig festival. She was also promoting her book Rory and the Snack Dragons which was published by Little Door Books based in Oban. Louisa had a great crowd for her event and they all enjoyed the rootin tootin fun.
Louisa entertaining a fun audience at BIG WIG.
Scots Scriever, Susi Briggs also presented her wonderful books including Wheesht and Yum at an event held at Wigtown Primary School. Susi’s events are always engaging and interactive.
Susi Signing copies of Wheesht.
Craw from Yum pecking at crumbs.
We were also delighted to see Rebecca Cotton at the festival with her book MacSprout: Keeper of the Corncrackers. Foggie Toddle owner Jayne Baldwin had been brought in by Rebecca to provide advice and mentoring as she negotiated the difficult journey of self publishing her book. The story is based on the life she had for nearly ten years working for the RSPB on Benbecula, a life she shared with her spaniel Sprout. The book has been written and illustrated by Rebecca who began jotting down ideas on the ferry back to the mainland. In the book MacSprout writes a series of letters telling his friend Thomas Two-Legs about his adventures as part of this island community – and his fondness for goose sausages. The book is designed for children but it’s immensely informative and moving. Rebecca did a workshop for older children and also gave a talk for adults about her time on the island at New Chapter Books.
Author Rebecca Cotton delivers her new book.
We now have copies for sale in Foggie Toddle Books price £12.99. And if that wasn’t enough we also saw the launch of our new book The Langhill Fairy which features illustrations by Fran Raw and a translation of the Scots poem (with notes) by the co owner of New Chapter Books – Gary Martin. The book was launched as part of Gary’s Kirkyard Chronicles – a wonderfully researched talk about local historical characters from Wigtown. The Langhill Fairy came about after sisters Julie Wingert and Laura Savoie posted on a Whithorn history page on Facebook asking if anyone knew anything about a particular house in the town. It turned out to be Fran’s home and she discovered that the two sisters from Minnesota were looking into their families links to a story relating to the last recorded encounter with a fairy in Scotland. The story had been immortalised in a poem by Whithorn writer James Cannon. Working with genealogist Gary, they were able to find out more about the family tale and Fran felt inspired to create illustrations for the poem. The book has been published by our Second Sands imprint.
Gary, Julie, Fran and Laura after the launch of the Langhill Fairy at New Chapter Books
To add to the excitement Gary and Fran were due to speak about the story at an event hosted by BBC Scotland during the festival – we’ll report on that next time. So here’s looking forward to a busy final weekend in Wigtown – Kriss Nichol and Jayne Baldwin will be leading the Wigtown Women’s Walk at 9am on both Saturday and Sunday – an event celebrated in the Second Sands publication Singing Over the Bones. Hope you can join us in Wigtown.