John Dean – Crime Writer

The best literary festivals are very clear-eyed about what they wish their programmes to offer and that is certainly true of Kirkcudbright Book Festival, whose line-up features more than 20 events taking in themes including local and national voices, local history, Scottish culture, children’s authors, crime fiction and nature and the environment over four days between March 5-8, 2026.

The thinking behind the programme may be focused but it also allows flexibility to bring audience goers the opportunity to enjoy performers talking about a variety of subjects, everything from the power of the bagpipes to evoke emotions to the revolution in Scottish folk music, debut crime writers talking about their first novels to performances by local writing groups, an examination of political leadership by celebrated journalist Michael Crick (pictured here) to a surprise revelation about the role of a small Scottish community in the early history of football – and much, much more, including appearances by children’s authors to delight young audiences on World Book Day. You can check out the programme at https://www.kbtbookfestival.org Enjoy!