HADDINGTON could take a leaf out of the book of places including Wigtown, Helensburgh and Melrose by attracting successful writers.

Early discussions have taken place about the possibility of bringing a book festival to the county town.

Betsy Fowler raised the idea at a meeting of Haddington and District Community Council, of which she is a member.

Speaking to the Courier, she stressed that it was still very early in the planning and added: “It is in the embryonic stages.”

Lennoxlove House, to the south of Haddington, was previously the home of the Lennoxlove Book Festival.

The event was last held over three days in November 2013, attracting names including Sir Chris Bonnington, William McIlvanney, Rory Bremner, Chris Brookmyre and Jeremy Paxman.

The festival, which also previously attracted the likes of Alexander McCall Smith and JK Rowling and brought thousands of people to the area, ran from 2009 to 2013.

However, it came to an end when the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton decided to make Lennoxlove their family home.

It is unclear what scale the proposed new festival would be on.

Councillor George McGuire, who represents the town on East Lothian Council, is at the helm of the town’s events group.

He felt that it was an idea worth exploring further and said: “We need to be doing more in Haddington.

“It is a lovely town to live in and it is growing.

“There is an audience there for a variety of different things being on, rather than just traditional gala days.

“Other things bring the town to the attention of people, and businesses will benefit and also for new people coming in.”

In recent years, both Philippa East and Susi Holliday, who grew up in Haddington, have gone on to enjoy successful writing careers.

Susi, who now lives in London, has written a dozen books, including The Lingering, The Hike, Willow Walk and Mr Sandman.

She welcomed the idea of a book festival in her home town, where her mum and dad, Alison and Allan, previously ran Inglis Newsagent and The Plough Tavern.

She said: “I think it is a great idea and it would be really nice.

“More and more little book festivals are popping up and there is a lot more interest in books with various television things happening, like Between the Covers.”