In the Peppers Theatre, John Burnside and Don Paterson, both Fifers and currently at St Andrews, are reading from their distinct poetry. The event is chaired by Brian Johnstone, director of the StAnza festival and owner of a glorious moustache.

Waiting in the novelty igloo to see if I've been granted a William Boyd press ticket, I happen to meet someone from BBC Scotland who lived just a few kilometers from my hometown in Canada. As we expound on the hospitality and wild beauty of the Maritime provinces, I'm gifted with the golden ticket, and walk to the RBS Main Tent with a couple of minutes to spare.

Perhaps it's the combination of extreme beauty and violence which add to the allure of some landscapes. This is true in the case of Kashmir and the Indus region, the settings for Justine Hardy and Alice Albinia's books respectively.

I'm in the Scottish Power Studio Theatre, talking with another of the press pod inhabitants about Moscow and waiting for the lights to dim.

I'm beginning to warm to the Writer's Retreat. Today it seems friendly and intimate, a great venue to hear Rana Dasgupta and Suhayl Saadi present their second novels.

The end of the festival is approaching, and there has been shift in the atmosphere in Charlotte Square. Extra journalists have arrived for the last few days of August, and the photographers seem a bit frantic.