Could visiting book lovers boost our towns' high streets?

Dumfries and Galloway frequently celebrates its literary heritage, but can it translate into economic benefit for its rural communities?

Robert Burns spent his final days in Dumfries and Wigtown has long been branded Scotland's national book town.

The region also boasts links with JM Barrie, Dorothy L Sayers and John Buchan, while independent bookshops are seen by some as engines of literary tourism.

BBC Scotland News has spoken to people involved in the industry to gauge its significance in the region.

Stewart Parsons and his wife, who are originally from Lancashire, run Gallovidia Books in Kirkcudbright.

"We saw this shop up for lease on the corner of St Mary Street and we thought it would make the most idyllic, independent bookshop," he said.

"My wife Elizabeth and I opened this shop in November 2021, after landing in the area a few months before that.

"We were circling the town and we envisaged the lamp lights, the way it would look and how many books we would have inside."

He described it as a "real passion project" from their own imaginations.

"And it's turned out exactly as we pictured it, a book shop for the book lover," he added.

Stewart said he hoped they could play a part in attracting people to the area and encouraging people to read.

"People who set up independent book shops have a deep-seated love of literature books," he said.

"Books can really enhance people's civic pride in the town they're in, every good town deserves a bookshop."

Incoming chief executive of Wigtown Book Festival, Isla Rosser‑Owen, said she loved seeing the town come alive with a "very special energy" for the 10-day event in September and October.

"Dumfries and Galloway as a region has a vast amount of literary heritage, from Robert Burns and John Buchan, to Dororthy L Sayers and Gavin Maxwell," she said.

"There are even rumours that Edgar Allan Poe stayed at a guesthouse in Newton Stewart – so there is huge potential to explore here.

"I think Wigtown is a great Scottish success story of how a small rural town in the midst of an economic downturn managed to reverse its fortunes and reinvent itself through the medium of books and literature.

"There is definitely a movie to be made here!"

The national success of the Wigtown festival has led to smaller events throughout the year including the Spring Book Weekend which is run by booksellers and allows people to experience the town through a smaller-scale festival.

Rosser-Owen has lots of ideas for the future.

"I would love to look at ways to incorporate audiobooks into the festival, perhaps offering pop-up listening stations in our festival bookshop," she said.

"It remains the fastest-growing segment in publishing at the moment so I think festivals need to engage with it far more than we do.

"Gaming is another key area we need to start looking at."

Meanwhile the Gavin Wallace Fellowship has recently been announced - a year‑long £24,000 residency supporting a Scotland‑based writer to develop new work in Dumfries and Galloway.

Tabitha Mudaliar is creative director of the organisation DG Unlimited which says it has more than 600 "creative and cultural members".

Once they join they have access to funding and creative professional development.

"There are little pots of lovely creativity all over Dumfries and Galloway, and that's quite unusual," she said.

"I'm not saying that doesn't exist in other regions in Scotland.

"But I think that Dumfries and Galloway is special, due to our leading authors' success around the world.

"And of course, we can't forget that this was the home of Robbie Burns."