How lucky to be an American bookseller and get to be a part of Scotland's book town twice in two years!
That is how Fred Powell, owner of Main Street Books, Frostburg, Md., summed up his recent experience at the legendary Wigtown Book Festival. In 2017, he and his wife, Kathy, had spent two weeks staffing the Open Book, a unique Airbnb location that features an apartment above the bookshop and the opportunity to "live your dream of having your very own bookshop by the sea in Scotland."
Although they had no plans then to return so soon, Fred credits Kathy's recent retirement from Frostburg State University and the support of his "well-seasoned staff" at Main Street Books for allowing the couple to come back as festival volunteers last month.
"The Wigtown Book Festival is a huge undertaking," he said. "It started as a weekend event and has now become the second largest book festival in the country after Edinburgh. Many people are repeat customers. What we like about Wigtown's events is how close they are to each other. The village green is the center of the set-up with five other locations used that are a few steps away. This creates such an intimacy for all who attend as well as the town since the authors, staff and festival goers are all together and run into each other all the time."
With only about 900 residents, Wigtown is not large, but for 10 days each year book-lovers make the pilgrimage to this rural village in southwest Scotland. In 2019, more than 29,000 people attended 200-plus events, ranging from author talks and children's/YA programming to forums on current events (Brexit) and music. There were breakfasts, hosted by the Bookshop Band (whom many of us saw perform at last January's ABA Winter Institute in Albuquerque, N.Mex.); and Wigtown Feasts, dinner forums held in the homes of local residents.
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| Fred & Kathy Powell in Wigtown | |
"The streets are full of book lovers as the town is also the home to 16 second-hand book shops. For that reason it is easy to make friends and hold conversations with strangers since you all have books as a common love," Fred said. "We were lucky enough to rent the snug (extra room) above The Old Bank Bookshop and spend time with the owners Ian and Joyce Cochrane and their daughter Helena. When not staffing an event at the festival, we were helping out in downstairs bookshop."
With 30 years bookselling experience, Fred had no problem recommending titles he spotted on the shelves to readers. He said that for Wigtown booksellers, festival week is like the Christmas season for U.S. booksellers: "Kathy and I were often support for the Old Bank staff and made many cups of tea to keep them going. Lots of books are being put in customer's hands and talk of books can be heard in every bookshop, tea shop and cafe."
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| (l.-r.) Fred, Joyce Cochrane, Kathy, Ian Cochrane (photo: Colin Tennant) | |
The Powells arrived in Scotland a few days before the start of the festival and worked in a variety of roles--as a set-up team, stewarding author events and staffing an interactive map exhibit set up in an old bank. Fred noted that the festival would not happen without all the volunteers involved: "This year there were over 150 folks doing everything from parking cars, picking up authors at airports and train stations, selling tickets and so much more. Across the year, the festival office estimates that there were 4,300 volunteer hours to support the Festival Company."
Kathy observed that although southwest Scotland "is very remote, the residents are rather cosmopolitan. The festival has found a way to choose topics--such as farming or bird watching--that tie the locals' interest with the book world.... It's not just a place that loves books but a town that loves ideas. This may be the real draw. Wigtown may be a bit off the map, but you are not really remote if you have a great festival. I loved talking with all the U.K. and international visitors as I volunteered at events during the festival. In a divided world, books can be the great unifier."
A handseller at heart, Fred noted: "Lastly, I couldn't call myself a bookseller without recommending three titles from authors that presented at the festival: The Way Home: Tales from a Life without Technology by Mark Boyle (OneWorld), Our Man in New York: The British Plot to Bring America into the Second World War by Henry Hemming (Quercus); and Dark Skies: A Journey into the Wild Night by Tiffany Francis (Bloomsbury Wildlife)."
When I asked him what his "elevator pitch" might be to handsell a Wigtown Book Festival trip to other American booksellers (or book-lovers, for that matter), he replied: "There is no better place to immerse yourself in the world of books than Wigtown Scotland and their annual book festival. The air is full of 'book talk' from festival goers of all ages, authors and friendly town folks. New books, secondhand books and amazing cakes make it 10 days to treasure. Don't just read about bookshops, go to Wigtown and live it!"