Book festival line-up begins to take shape

Jo Caulfield said she was looking forward to entering the "magical world" of Wigtown

Some of the first names have been revealed for the 25th annual festival at Scotland's national book town.

Jo Caulfield, Nigel Planer and Kate Mosse will be in Wigtown for the 10-day event from 22 September to 1 October.

This year's guest programmer, Lee Randall, said there was a lot to look forward to.

The full programme will be unveiled when tickets go on sale on 1 August.

"There's so much going on at the festival, our author talks are just the beginning," said Ms Randall.

"There are all sorts of other things to do, in an exquisite region of Scotland, which is why so many people like to spend several days here."

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Comedian Jo Caulfield will talk about her first book The Funny Thing About Death.

"I am so excited to be coming to Wigtown Book Festival," she said.

"It's a name I've heard of for years and I always thought it sounded like something made up, like Brigadoon or Trumpton - a magical town where everyone loved books.

"It was somewhere I'd never get to go to because I'm not an author. But I am now."

She said she could not wait to "enter the magical world of Wigtown".

Kate Mosse will be backed up by The Bookshop Band

Nigel Planer, who shot to fame as Neil in The Young Ones, will discuss his first novel in two decades, Jeremiah Bourne in Time.

Kate Mosse will deliver her talk, Warrior Women, and in a separate event, discuss her latest novel The Ghost Ship.

Audiences at that event will also have a chance to hear the "eerie pirate pop song" of the same name, specially commissioned from Wigtown folk duo The Bookshop Band.

"Since it's my first time visiting Wigtown, I wanted to mark the occasion with something special and what better way than to have a brand new piece of music from the fabulous The Bookshop Band," said Ms Mosse.

"Ben and Beth are amazing – so intuitive, so sympathetic to the tone of the novel - and I love the piece they have created.

"I also adore their description as 'eerie pirate pop' - they might just have invented a whole new genre."