THE Wigtown Book Festival attracted audiences of nearly 30,000 people to its 20th birthday events.

The provisional figures show a 20% increase compared to 2017.

Adrian Turpin, artistic director of The Wigtown Book Festival, said: "We’ve been overwhelmed – this year’s festival has been a huge success, the biggest yet.

"The level of support, enthusiasm and enjoyment has been just incredible.

"At one point on Saturday afternoon there were 735 people attending festival events – in a town with a total population of under 1,000.

“We hope that this points to a great future for Scotland’s Book Town, the festival and most importantly of all, for people’s love of books and reading."

He added: "The festival seems to be attracting a growing number of international visitors.

"This year we’ve had people from the USA, South Africa and all over Europe – I even made an 80-year-old Isreali lady who had read about it and decided to pop over for a holiday.

“And with Hollywood buying options on two books by locally based authors which put a major focus on the town, its bookshops and all the people who live here or visit, we could even be looking forward to Wigtown the Movie.”

Shaun Bythell’s Diary of a Bookseller, which has just entered paperback bestsellers list at number six, is about his running Scotland’s largest second-hand bookstore in the town.

Three Things You Need To Know About Rockets is a memoir by Jessica Fox about leaving her job with NASA and ending up working, and finding romance, in Shaun’s bookshop in the town.

It was published in 2012, and has just been reissued.

www.wigtownbookfestival.com

ON National Poetry Day, 4 October, the Scottish Poetry Library (SPL) is marking the day with a partnership with Glasgow Sport that will place a poem printed on mirrors in 21 gyms and a dozen swimming pools in Glasgow.

The poem is Colin Herd’s ‘Meadowbank Changing Manifesto’.

Herd’s poem will be viewable on the windows and mirrors.

The SPL has also worked with the National Library of Scotland, and produced a short film based on ‘Doctor Wha’ by James Robertson. Robertson’s poem depicts, in Scots, Doctor Who and his adventures.

The film features several medical doctors and NLS staff members plus James Robertson himself reading ‘Doctor Wha’.

NPD 2018 takes place three days before the new series of Doctor Who debuts on BBC1 with Jodie Whittaker the first woman in the TV show’s history to play the title role.

Robertson has revised the poem, originally written in 2012, to reflect the change in gender.

www.spl.org.uk

OBAN Live contributed over £1.4m to the local economy this year, according to a recent economic impact survey.

The figure shows a 3% rise in impact from last year.

The 2018 event, in its third year running, attracted more than 8,000 attendees.

Oban’s Mossfield Stadium was transformed into a stadium-sized concert arena for the event, which featured Skerryvore, Skipinnish, Tide Lines, and Peatbog Faeries.

Naomi Hoolahan, the event director for Oban Live said: “Since day one of Oban Live, our main aim has always been to bring positive economic benefits to the town, so the news of a rise in visitor spend is very encouraging.

www.obanlive.com.