Sneak Wigtown Preview: the Director's Cut...

With more than 170 events over 10 days,  it can be easy to miss things in the Wigtown Book Festival programme. In the first of two "Festival Director's Cuts", programmer Adrian Turpin takes a personal pick of some of the gems buried in this year's line-up:

Michael Foley: The Age of Absurdity
12 noon Sat 25 Sept
One man's very funny and astute take on why modern life seem to be slowly driving us all mad.

Granta Magazine Event: Families and How to Survive Writing about Them
1.30pm Sat 25 Sept
Two of Britain's liveliest novelists, Janice Galloway and Rupert Thomson, on the trials of writing about family.

Martin Creed
3pm Sun 26 Sept
The festival's first Turner prize winner: he's also a brilliant performer. He even plays guitar in his talk.

Alex Bellos: Alex's Adventures in Numberland
4.30pm Sun 26 Sept
Multitalented? The author of this much-admired book about mathematical oddities was Pele's ghostwriter.

Sara Wheeler: The Magnetic North
6pm Mon 27 Sept
Everything you have ever wanted to know about the arctic: from inuit life to the race for oil. Fascinating.

Henry Nicholls: The Way of the Panda
3pm Thur 30 Sept
Everyone loves pandas. But until 150 years ago they were unknown outside China. Now they've become diplomatic pawns. Henry Nicholls' black-and-white tale should be read all over.

Suzanne Fagence Cooper: The Model Wife
1.30pm Fri 1 Oct
The love triangle between the model Effie Gray, the critic Ruskin and the painter Millais was the biggest scandal of Victorian times. Today it would have been all over Heat magazine.
HOW TO BOOK

You can book online at www.wigtownbookfestival.com, by phone on 01988 403222 or 01988 402036 (9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday, 10am - 4pm Saturday and 2pm - 4pm Sunday) or simply by popping into our office in the County Buildings, Wigtown.

If you know of anyone else who would like to receive a copy of the programme please send their full address to mail@wigtownbookfestival.com