THE annual buik fest at wir national buik toun Wigtown in Dumfries an Gallowa is in full swing this week. Ah wis doun bidin at Wigtown fir twa/three days at the weekend there.

Wigtown haes bin wir national buik toun syne the 1990s an is hame tae a breengin an gleg set o byordnar buik shoaps that cater fir aa buikish tastes. They reck there’s ower a quarter o a million buiks in the toun!

In its illustrious past it haes hosted the likes o Ian Rankin, Clare Balding, Celia Imrie, John Simpson, Joanna Lumley, Douglas Hurd, Sally Magnusson, Richard Holloway an Mairi Hedderwick.

It’s aye-an-oan a braw eclectic mix o sublime tae ridiculous, wi stuff fir aa ages, frae their excellent weans festival programme til venerable auld politicians hawkin their wares! Ah arrived doun oan the Setterday an straichtweys attendit a richt collieshangie in the main “Big Top” marquee anent the new Snooper’s Charter that this Tory Government ettles oan inflictin oan us.

This event wis hosted bi Scottish PEN (wha support writers o conscience roond the warld – there wis an empty chair oan the stage tae mind us that no aa writers are free tae speik their minds – an chaired bi Nik Williams. Indefatigably battin fir free speech wir Duncan Campbell an the veteran campaigning journalist Dorothy-Grace Elder (wha’s no loast ony o her renowned smeddum!) whiles in the”‘establishment” corner wis thon wily auld Tory fox Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

This wis a richt ding-dong o a debate, wi finger ends gettin wagged an accusations gettin hurled – gin a wrestlin match hud brucken oot oan the stage ah widnae hae bin surprised – but chairman Nik manfully kept the peace an a vital debate wis aired that kythed the kindae democracy that paradoxically the new bill micht stifle.

Eftirhint ah retired tae the Green Room in Sean Bythell’s The Book Shop (aiblins the maist kenspeckle o Wigtown’s buik shoaps). Sean provides a haven o peace, sanity an first-class scran an coffee fir a constant flude o writers wha uise this braw facility. It must be the anely buik festival whaur the buffet is piled wi fresh Wigtown lobster.

El splendido!

The corrieneuchin an crack o the writers gaithert at the muckle dining table is aye fascinatin tae hear. In ae corner ye hud Lord Kenneth Baker (Tory grandee!) in obligatory rid troosers; in anither we hud the Morning TV presenter Sian Williams, whaes spiel at the fest wis anent her brave battle wi breast cancer; Stuart Kelly, the columnist, literary critic an writer sat castin his aigle-ee ower the company – he chaired 35 o the fest events, an their nae shairper an slee mind in Scotland than his tae get inside the heids o writers an their airt!

Wigtown itsel is a richt braw wee mercat toun. Its wide central “boulevard” wis historically a holding pen fir thoosans o cattle in the 17th/18th century, driven there oan the auld drove roads, heidin fir the marts o Embra or England. Thair nae shortage o cafes, bistros, restaurants, etc, aa sellin the finest fresh local produce – the food is amazin! Pubs lik the auld Galloway Inn an Craft provide drams an real ales fir thirsty makars!

Ah taen pairt in a hauntle o events; a launch fir ma new poetry collection, Zero Hours; a panel discussion anent mental health wi the writers Jenny Lindsay, Debi Gliori an the transgender commentator Juno Dawson; Scots language warkshoaps at twa local primary schuils (whaes weans hud guid Scots tungs in their heids. Weel duin the young anes!); an a braw initiative, the Ghost Map, dreamt up bi the indefatigable festival director Adrian Turpin in conjunction wi the local historian Jack Hunter. This wis an illustratit talk anent the auld buildins an haunts o Wigtown that are maistly lang gane, but the braw norrie here wis tae hae a wheen o kenspeckle Gallowa poets tae scrieve poems tae accompany the lecture an eemages.

This wis a luvely event an its success cuid be measuirt bi the packed main hall in Wigtown County Buildings. Crackin poems wir read bi the likes o Liz Niven, Hugh McMillan, Stuart Paterson, Kris Nicol, Carolyn Yates an masel. Auld Jack Hunter wis eftirhint desairvedly awardit his BEM medal fir a lifetime o service tae local history in his community.

Ahint the scenes there is a michty bureaucratic machine churnin awa, led bi the indomitable operations director Anne Barclay, wha daels wi a constant stream o “challenges” frae stranded writers tae last-meenit programme changes, an wha hus tae fuin an arrange accommodation/transport etc fir mair as 300 writers!An she dis aa this wi a winnin smile oan her face. Anne is ably assisted bi her team; Claire, Rebecca, Jane, George, Charlotte, Grace – an an airmy o local volunteers wha juist want tae dae their bit fir the buik toun.

As weel as ma ain gigs an managed tae tak in a hauntle o ither events; Susan Tomes, a classical pianist, giein us a mastercless oan the life o a professional classical musician, interspersed wi byordnar renditions oan the piano; Hope London, Wigtown resident, but American bi birth via New York and Los Angeles, performin an singin her braw torch songs that informed yer heid – an touched yer hairt!; Jaqueline Riding’s wunnerfu new take oan the ’45 Jacobite Rebellion – a really insicht fu an refreshin revision that hus breathed fresh life intil this subject; Josh Sutton (wha ah met bi chaunce sittin in the Green Room), a bluff Yorkshireman wha’s event Food Worth Fighting For wis a tremendously invigoratin trawl throu the history o food riots throu the centuries, accompanied bi songs oan the guitar, wi lessons that are relevant tae us the day. Steerin stuff!!

The Wigtown Buik Festival conteenues until Sunday, sae gin ye hae naethin planned this weekend ye cuid dae a loat waur than heid doun tae Dumfries an Gallowa an tak in ane o the maist interestin, colourful vieve an joyous festivals in Scotland. Ye’ll no be disappyntit – an ye micht even pick up a copy o thon auld comic buik ye goat oan yer 10th birthday!