Another Book Festival

Dear Friends,

Wigtown in Spring is a busy place. The daffodils are still bursting with colour and the cherry blossom is in full bloom. There's a lot coming up and we hope you'll pay us a visit at some time during May.

Wigtown Writers' Gathering
Friday 2 May
9.30am - 4.30pm
County Buildings, Wigtown
£12 (including a sandwich lunch)

After a hugely successful inaugural event in 2013, the Writers' Gathering is back with a day of workshops, one-to-one sessions and seminars from internationally renowned authors and writers. Join Cynthia Rogerson, Debbie Williams, Helen Bleck, Robert Twigger, Helena Nelson and Zoe Strachan for sessions on topics including writing for children, creating characters and having poems published. For more details and booking information see the website or call 01988 403222. You can also find us on Facebook. 

Spring Kist and Tearoom
Saturday 3 May & Sunday 4 May
10am - 4pm
County Buildings, Wigtown

Free entry

Local and national producers and artisans will showcase the best of Scotland's art,

 craft, food and drink. With more than 20 stands and a variety of goods to browse and indulge in, the Spring Tearoom offers a relaxing space to examine your purchases and enjoy morning coffee, a light lunch or afternoon tea. There will also be a floral exhibition by Wigtown Flower Circle Class. More information on each of the exhibitors can be found on our Facebook page.

Wigtown Spring Festival
Friday 2 May - Sunday 25 May
Wigtown & Bladnoch

Organised by the Association of Wigtown Booksellers, the Spring Festival has events throughout May celebrating Scotland's food and drink together with food for the soul - music, poetry, art, nature, history and mystery. In the year of Homecoming 2014, there are speakers and performers galore in the intimate setting of many of the town's book shops. There's everything from whisky tasting, archaeology, tartan tales for children and a ceilidh on the last Saturday. For more information and booking information, go to the Spring Festival website. Wigtown Spring Festival tickets are also available from the Box Office, County Buildings, Wigtown, tel: 01988 403222.

Spring Fling
24-26 May 

Across Dumfries and Galloway

Free entry

This year's Spring Fling is set to be the biggest and most ambitious yet with 95 artists and makers across the region opening their studios to the public over the Bank Holiday weekend. One such artist is Astrid Jaekel whose paper cuttings were on show in the windows of the County Buildings during last year's Book Festival. 

Astrid will be holding a paper cutting workshop on Sunday 18 May as part of WTF 2014. No experience is necessary for this silhouette workshop. Tickets are £3 and can be booked online or by telephoning the box office on 01988 403222.

Applications are now open for the 2014/15 artist-in-residence. It is open to visual artists and makers worldwide and the deadline for entries is Friday 9 May. More details can be found on the Spring Fling website.

Wigtown Poetry Competition
Closing date: Friday 30 May

There is still plenty of time to enter the Wigtown Poetry Competition, which is run in association with the Scottish Poetry Library, The Gaelic Books Council and the Saltire Society. The main prize is £2,000 and there are prizes of £250 each in the Gaelic and Scots categories. More information, including details of how to enter online can be found on the website.
 

Support the Festival
There are many ways you can support the Book Festival, a registered charity, and a range of benefits for doing so:

• Become a Festival Friend.  For an annual fee of £20 (renewable 1 July), you will benefit from 10% discount on Festival events, receive an invitation to the Festival Launch party and receive advance notice of special Festival offers and events.
• Become a Friend for Life.  For £200, this includes all of the above benefits plus a pair of free tickets to an event of your choice every year and two pairs in the first year.
• Become a Benefactor.  For £250, your donation will go towards strengthening and developing the Festival eg. by expanding the children's and community programmes as well as purchasing the technical equipment needed to run a rapidly growing event.  It will not be used for salaries or core costs.  Benefactors will have their names included in a handcrafted Benefactors' Book, as well as in the Festival brochure and on an honour board on public display in Wigtown during the festival, be invited to a dedicated reception with the Festival Trustees, Director and visiting authors.
• Make a Donation.  Donations of any amount are welcomed and it just takes a minute to donate online at www.wigtownbookfestival.com. Please click on the Donate box at the top right of the screen where you will be directed to our Paypal page.

Keep in Touch
We're always delighted to hear from old friends and new so do forward this email to others who would be interested in hearing about what's happening in Wigtown.

You can keep up-to-date with all things related to the Book Festival by liking our Facebook page or following us on Twitter @WigtownBookFest

Wigtown Festival Company is limited by guarantee with charitable status.  Charity number SC037984
Wigtown Festival Company, County Buildings, Wigtown, DG8 9JH.  01988 402036.