DUNFERMLINE-born author Gavin Francis will return to his home town to give a talk for the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) next month.

His book, 'Empire Antarctica', recently won the non-fiction category of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award and is now in the running for the overall accolade.

It comes down to public vote to decide whether Gavin will take the overall prize.

Voting is open until Thursday 31st October and can be done online at www.scottishbookawards.com/vote Gavin, who went to Queen Anne High School, will be speaking at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday 6th November at 7:30pm, drawing on his experiences in Antarctica.

Gavin spent 14 months as base doctor at Halley Research Station, Caird Coast, Antarctica. His lecture will explore those 14 months in pictures and talk about the relevance that Heroic Age explorers like Scott and Shackleton mean to the modern day.

The lecture is free to members of RSGS, but non-members will have to pay a small fee.

'Empire Antarctica' has also been chosen as one of National Geographic's best travel books of autumn.