Radio Wigtown: Recent Episodes
Radio Wigtown
Writer in Residence, Skye Loneragan, has been standing at the Edge of the Impossible Rim, where she's been connecting across distances.
Inside this year's Artist in Residence Kate Timney's workshop where she has been running printing workshops.
Charlotte McDonald-Gibson has covered the global refugee crisis for many years. In Cast Away: Stories of Survival from Europe's Refugee Crisis she tells the personal stories of five refugees.
Children's author Philip Ardagh is a popular and regular feature at the Children's Festival at the Wigtown Book Festival. He's got a new collaborator: illustrator and author Elissa Elwick. And a new pet: Leafy.
Kathy Agnew from the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust explains how the house in Dumfries that inspired JM Barrie's Peter Pan is being given a new lease of life to inspire children's literature.
Kathy Agnew explains how DG Unlimited is helping the arts throughout Dumfries and Galloway.
"When he grips you, he never lets go," author Cally Phillips says of 19th Century Galloway writer SR Crockett. "It's Boys' Own stuff," she tells the Wigtown Book Festival, adding he's "more readable" than Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Six years ago Anna Pasternak came to Wigtown Book Festival to talk about her famous great uncle - Boris Pasternak, author of Dr Zhivago. She revealed she was writing a book about the real life inspiration between his nobel prize winning novel. Anna said when she'd finished it she would come back. She did. Her book is called Lara - and it promises to be a gripping and revealing tale.
Dorothy Rayner is a volunteer @WigtownBookFest. Her real job is in a Stately home where she's a Furniture and Textiles Conservator. Dorothy joined the WTF team to talk about how she got her job and what she does. Some of the WTF team would like to follow in her footsteps!
Peggy Hughes chats to Shelley Day about her first novel - The Confession of Stella Moon. Fresh out of the McNeillie Tent where the audience were treated to tea and cakes they talked about Stella Moon and also Shelley's many different lives before writing her novel.
Conducter Paul MacAlindin tells the story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq founded by Zuhal Sultan in his book Upbeat.
Polly Pullar is a writer, photojournalist and field naturalist. As well as hosting events @WigtownBookFest she is helping to organise a new book festival later this month in Mallaig @WriteHoolie. Pauline Moore caught up with her between events to find out more about A Write Highland Hoolie.
Lewis author Kevin MacNeil talks about how his island upbringing has been integral to his writing.
This year's festival guest director Hardeep Singh Kohli is no stranger to a kitchen. The broadcaster, columnist and chef prepared a meal for Dinner with Juno Dawson at the Old Manse. It was in aid of www.fighforsight.org.uk. Pauline Moore tracked him down mid prep for a chat.
Immigration is one of the most contentious issues in Britain. And every immigrant who comes to the UK has a personal story. Some stories are heartbreaking. Some, on the other hand, are a pack of lies. For 16 years retired judge James Hanratty tried to ascertain the truth in court.
Maps are stories that aren't always true. They're sometimes deceits that need to be unravelled, the Geographer Royal for Scotland tells the Wigtown Book Festival. Prof Charles Withers from the University of Edinburgh has been mapping Scotland's islands along with Christopher Fleet from the National Library of Scotland.
Sir John Gielgud launched himself onto the theatrical stage in Richard of Bordeaux written by Inverness crime wirter and playwright Josephine Tey. Jennifer Morag Henderson tells the story of this private and even mysterious mystery writer.
Explorer Jason Lewis is the first person to circumnavigate the world using only human power: walking, cycling, swimming, kayaking... anything that didn't involve motors or sails. He tells Radio Wigtown that "human power keeps you close to the planet and people."
"If you start by burning books, you end up burning people," Kenneth Baker quotes Heinrich Heine as he charts the history of burning books from Qin Shi Huang to Oliver Cromwell and Adolf Hitler.
Sian Evan's book QUEEN BEES is the story of six remarkable society Hostesses who came into their own between the wars. Not only did they shake up Britain's class and gender boundaries but they had an impact on history - from politics to royalty. Sian Evans is a cultural historian and she told Pauline Moore the story of two of these Queen Bees.
Allison Ouvrey has just started people walking. She's also taking part in Of Mice and Men - a choral treatment of John Steinbeck's novel. Performances are at Unit 3, Bladnoch Bridge Estate. As she ambled with purpose around Wigtown she also told Pauline Moore about the innovation academy's This is Your Story on Friday night at the McNeillie Tent. And they also decided on the name of her new business venture!
Adrian Skyes was alarmed to discover that 23 % of Britons thought Churchill was fictional. There were many things which disturbed him about the lack of historical knowledge. He decided to tell the story of the British Isles through 3000 people through their innovations. Pauline Moore joined him on a bench at the bowling green to find out more about why he wrote 'They Made Great Britain'.
Peggy Hughes ducks out of playing 'bubble' football because she's got her good shoes on. She also attempts some side line analysis of the WTF game, but doesn't know who's playing. All this and a look at what's been happening at the Festival and what's coming up.
The Peggy and Pauline show is back. We are on the road, out and about so beware! As well as a look through today's events we discuss the presidential debate, last night's dinner cooked by Hardeep Singh Kohli with special guest Juno Dawson and speculate on Stuart Kelly's Literary Pub Quiz... and lots more.
Bowie or cyborg? YouTuber and historian Nikolas Lloyd, aka Lindybeige, explains how he and illustrator Chris Steininger chose to depict Hannibal in their forthcoming graphic novel In Search of Hannibal, which tells the story of the Punic general's war with Rome.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind talks about his memoir "Power and Pragmatism" at the Wigtown Book Festival.
Claire Fox, Director of the Institute for Ideas, talks to Anne Brown at the Wigtown Book Festival on the importance of engaging with and talking to people one disagrees with.