diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 45ecce48..0bf4874c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,4 +21,5 @@ apidocs/
 .tox/
 .coverage.*
 .vscode
+.idea
 .python-version
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 9cf5013e..a424a8e6 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Install from PyPI::
 .. note::
 
    ``towncrier``, as a command line tool, works on Python 3.5+ only.
-   It is usable by projects written in other languages, provided you give it the version of the project when invoking it.
+   It is usable by projects written in other languages, provided you specify the project version either in the configuration file or on the command line.
    For Python 2/3 compatible projects, the version can be discovered automatically.
 
 In your project root, add a ``pyproject.toml`` file.
@@ -64,13 +64,21 @@ Using the above example, your news fragments would be ``src/myproject/newsfragme
 
     This will keep the folder around, but otherwise "empty".
 
-``towncrier`` needs to know what version your project is, and there are two ways you can give it:
+``towncrier`` needs to know what version your project is, and there are three ways you can give it:
 
 - For Python 2/3 compatible projects, a ``__version__`` in the top level package.
   This can be either a string literal, a tuple, or an `Incremental <https://github.com/hawkowl/incremental>`_ version.
 
 - Manually passing ``--version=<myversionhere>`` when interacting with ``towncrier``.
 
+- Definining a ``version`` option in a configuration file:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+    [tool.towncrier]
+    # ...
+    version = "1.2.3"  # project version if maintained separately
+
 To create a new news fragment, use the ``towncrier create`` command.
 For example::
 
@@ -123,6 +131,8 @@ Towncrier has the following global options, which can be specified in the toml f
     single_file = true  # if false, filename is formatted like `title_format`.
     filename = "NEWS.rst"
     directory = "directory/of/news/fragments"
+    version = "1.2.3"  # project version if maintained separately
+    name = "arbitrary project name"
     template = "path/to/template.rst"
     start_line = "start of generated content"
     title_format = "{name} {version} ({project_date})"  # or false if template includes title
diff --git a/src/towncrier/_settings.py b/src/towncrier/_settings.py
index 57ab2d39..f84dcb99 100644
--- a/src/towncrier/_settings.py
+++ b/src/towncrier/_settings.py
@@ -144,6 +144,8 @@ def parse_toml(base_path, config):
         "single_file": single_file,
         "filename": config.get("filename", "NEWS.rst"),
         "directory": config.get("directory"),
+        "version": config.get("version"),
+        "name": config.get("name"),
         "sections": sections,
         "types": types,
         "template": template,
diff --git a/src/towncrier/build.py b/src/towncrier/build.py
index d1f87b8a..2824598a 100644
--- a/src/towncrier/build.py
+++ b/src/towncrier/build.py
@@ -119,20 +119,24 @@ def __main(
     )
 
     if project_version is None:
-        project_version = get_version(
-            os.path.join(base_directory, config["package_dir"]), config["package"]
-        ).strip()
+        project_version = config.get('version')
+        if project_version is None:
+            project_version = get_version(
+                os.path.join(base_directory, config["package_dir"]), config["package"]
+            ).strip()
 
     if project_name is None:
-        package = config.get("package")
-        if package:
-            project_name = get_project_name(
-                os.path.abspath(os.path.join(base_directory, config["package_dir"])),
-                package,
-            )
-        else:
-            # Can't determine a project_name, but maybe it is not needed.
-            project_name = ""
+        project_name = config.get('name')
+        if not project_name:
+            package = config.get("package")
+            if package:
+                project_name = get_project_name(
+                    os.path.abspath(os.path.join(base_directory, config["package_dir"])),
+                    package,
+                )
+            else:
+                # Can't determine a project_name, but maybe it is not needed.
+                project_name = ""
 
     if project_date is None:
         project_date = _get_date().strip()
diff --git a/src/towncrier/newsfragments/165.feature.rst b/src/towncrier/newsfragments/165.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a8deb68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/towncrier/newsfragments/165.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Allow definition of the project ``version`` and ``name`` in the configuration file.
+This allows use of towncrier seamlessly with non-Python projects.
diff --git a/src/towncrier/test/test_build.py b/src/towncrier/test/test_build.py
index bee1ca1e..3e59445f 100644
--- a/src/towncrier/test/test_build.py
+++ b/src/towncrier/test/test_build.py
@@ -343,6 +343,90 @@ def test_projectless_changelog(self):
             ).lstrip(),
         )
 
+    def test_version_in_config(self):
+        """The calling towncrier with version defined in configfile.
+
+        Specifying a version in toml file will be helpful if version
+        is maintained by i.e. bumpversion and it's not a python project.
+        """
+        runner = CliRunner()
+
+        with runner.isolated_filesystem():
+            with open("pyproject.toml", "w") as f:
+                f.write("[tool.towncrier]\n" 'version = "7.8.9"\n')
+            os.mkdir("newsfragments")
+            with open("newsfragments/123.feature", "w") as f:
+                f.write("Adds levitation")
+
+            result = runner.invoke(
+                _main, ["--date", "01-01-2001", "--draft"]
+            )
+
+        self.assertEqual(0, result.exit_code, result.output)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            result.output,
+            dedent(
+                """
+            Loading template...
+            Finding news fragments...
+            Rendering news fragments...
+            Draft only -- nothing has been written.
+            What is seen below is what would be written.
+
+            7.8.9 (01-01-2001)
+            ==================
+
+            Features
+            --------
+
+            - Adds levitation (#123)
+
+            """
+            ).lstrip(),
+        )
+
+    def test_project_name_in_config(self):
+        """The calling towncrier with project name defined in configfile.
+
+        Specifying a project name in toml file will be helpful to keep the
+        project name consistent as part of the towncrier configuration, not call.
+        """
+        runner = CliRunner()
+
+        with runner.isolated_filesystem():
+            with open("pyproject.toml", "w") as f:
+                f.write("[tool.towncrier]\n" 'name = "ImGoProject"\n')
+            os.mkdir("newsfragments")
+            with open("newsfragments/123.feature", "w") as f:
+                f.write("Adds levitation")
+
+            result = runner.invoke(
+                _main, ["--version", "7.8.9", "--date", "01-01-2001", "--draft"]
+            )
+
+        self.assertEqual(0, result.exit_code, result.output)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            result.output,
+            dedent(
+                """
+            Loading template...
+            Finding news fragments...
+            Rendering news fragments...
+            Draft only -- nothing has been written.
+            What is seen below is what would be written.
+
+            ImGoProject 7.8.9 (01-01-2001)
+            ==============================
+
+            Features
+            --------
+
+            - Adds levitation (#123)
+
+            """
+            ).lstrip(),
+        )
+
     def test_no_package_changelog(self):
         """The calling towncrier with any package argument.