Actors Martin Jarvis and Gregor Fisher, and TV presenter Loyd Grossman, are just three of the big names coming to this year’s Boswell Book Festival.
Held in magnificent Dumfries House, this year’s festival programme was announced this week, and features headline-grabbing authors and uniquely curated talks and events.
These have established the festival, now in its sixth edition, as a landmark in Scotland’s cultural year.
Famously inspired by James Boswell, who was born in 1740, he was the inventor of modern biography, and this is the world’s only festival dedicated to biography and memoir.
World renowned actor, Martin Jarvis, will be reprising his roles of Just William and Jeeves and Wooster, as well as talking about his legendary career on stage and screen.
Fellow thespian Gregor Fisher, the star of Rab C Nesbit, will be exploring his extraordinary childhood with journalist Melanie Reid.
Loyd Grossman will be talking of Americans on the make, while stand-up comic Susan Calman will be revealing her inner life. WWII hero, Victor Gregg will recount his extraordinary survival of the Dresden fire bombing.
Festival director Caroline Knox said: “Our unique theme – ‘biography and memoir’ – chosen in homage to the great Ayrshire writer James Boswell, has led us to uncover the amazing variety of life stories in this year’s programme marking us out from all other book festivals.
“Last year, we were thrilled by the team spirit between the Festival and its volunteers and the wonderful Dumfries House team and we are excited to be back. We are hugely grateful to The Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust, and all our sponsors, for making the Festival possible.”
The cast also includes 87 year-old super-model Daphne Selfe, art sleuth Philip Mould of Antiques Road Show fame, the founder of Mary’s Meals, Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow, as well as James Naughtie, Mona Siddiqui, Charles Moore, A N Wilson, Ben Stewart, Erwin James, Gavin Francis, Ferdinand Mount, Charles Jencks and Dr Gordon Turnbull on the great Boswell himself.
Dumfries House was famously saved for the nation by the Prince of Wales, and sets the scene for portrayals of Queen Victoria, Margaret Thatcher, the Scots in India, traitor, Guy Burgess and many more plus discussions on the lot of writers’ wives and the long tradition of politicians in fiction.
Each year the programme guarantees challenging discourse, creative inspiration and intellectual stimulation as well as fabulous fun and entertainment for all the family.
The Boswell Book Festival is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland Open Project Funding.
Aly Barr, Head of Literature, Languages and Publishing said: “The Boswell Book festival is an outstanding hub for books, ideas and the delicate art of bringing literature to life”.
