The build-up to Kirkcudbright Book Week began with an excellent evening featuring writer William Hussey, who enthralled an audience at Waterstone’s in Dumfries with the story behind his new novel.
Authors are visiting bookshops across Dumfries and Galloway during February as part of the build-up to the fourth annual Kirkcudbright Book Week, which runs between March 3 and 9 (full details on www.kirkcudbrightbookweek.org)
The free events are supported by Kirkcudbright Book Week Society, partly to promote its Book Week, which it stages in the first week of March each year, and also to thank bookshops for the support that they have offered the festival over recent years. The events, staged under the title A Good Read, are being funded by a £1,500 grant from Dumfries and Galloway Council, one of fourteen awards made to cultural and heritage projects across the region, totalling more than £62,000, from the new Regional Cultural Fund 2024/25.
William, an award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, ranging from thrillers and books for Young Adults to Whodunnits, visited the store to promote his new book The Boy I Love, 5, which is set in the First World War.
Further events are
Kirkcudbright Gallovidia Books, 75 St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright Friday February 7 7-9pm. Crime writer Lynne McEwan will visit the Gallovidia Murder Club, a book club which holds monthly Friday evening events at the bookshop to celebrate the art of the classic crime novel. She will give a talk about her series of crime books featuring DI Shona Oliver and set in Dumfries and Galloway.
Dalbeattie – Dalbeattie Books, High Street, Saturday February 8, 1-3pm. Readers can drop in at any time during the two hours for a chat and refreshments with author Alexis Fleming. Alexis, author of No Life Too Small, set up the Maggie Fleming Animal Hospice near Kirkcudbright, the world’s first animal hospice.
Wigtown – Organised by Foggie Toddle Books, of Wigtown, and hosted in New Chapter Books, Main Street, Wigtown. Saturday February 15, 4pm. Des Dillon, poet, author and playwright, will read from his work and take part in a Question and Answer session. There will also be a selection of artworks from the author on display. Spaces are limited and booking via New Chapter Books or online with Eventbrite is advised.
Wigtown – Wigtown Church Hall, Lochancraft Lane, event organised by Foggie Toddle Books, Main Street. Friday February 21, 6pm Crime fiction and thriller author D V Bishop, whose books are published by Macmillan, will talk about writing, science-fiction and his character Cesare Aldo. His book A Divine Fury is published in paperback in January 2025.
This is a free event but tickets are required, available from New Chapter Books in association with Well Read Books, Agnew Crescent, and Foggie Toddle Books, all in Wigtown. All three shops can provide tickets, which are also available online on Eventbrite.
Kirkcudbright Book Week 