Abdel Bari Atwan

John Gordon Sinclair (2014 event) Two years ago John Gordon Sinclair made his crime-writing debut and now he’s back wrapping a grim tale around the CIA, Serbian gangs and a feisty Glaswegian lawyer with his second novel, Blood Whispers. Hear how Sinclair created a central character… Roger McGough A joyous return to Edinburgh in 2006 by the 'patron saint of poetry' - simply hearing him read his own work is a blissful experience. He has also written an autobiography filled with his usual idiosyncratic humour and humanity - growing up in Liverpool… Christopher Brookmyre Acclaimed Scottish novelist and hugely entertaining speaker, Christopher Brookmyre talks in this 2008 event about his latest book, A Snowball in Hell, which takes celebrity culture and turns it on its head… Edna O'Brien (2016 Event) Philip Roth called it Edna O’Brien’s masterpiece; for John Banville it’s savage, tender and true; Claire Messud described it as arduous and beautiful. The Little Red Chairs is the work of a truly great Irish writer at the height of her powers. A decade… Laird Hunt & Colson Whitehead (2017 Event) Two of the finest writers working in America today take a tour around the dark history of their country. Paul Auster called Laird Hunt's last novel Neverhome 'magnificent'; The Evening Road is his latest, which he discusses in this event, and… Arundhati Roy with Nicola Sturgeon at the Edinburgh International Book Festival What did Arundhati Roy do between the publication of her Booker-winning debut The God of Small Things in 1997 and her extraordinary follow-up, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness two decades later? In a stunning new book of essays, we have the definitive… Michel Faber (2011 Event) The astonishing, triumphant television adaptation of Michel Faber's novel The Crimson Petal and the White represents a radical new step for the previously tired costume drama genre. In this event, Faber discussed his book with Lucinda Coxon… Lola Olufemi & Minna Salami: Critical Reflections on Feminism (2020 Event) Since 2010, the award-winning blog MsAfropolitan has connected feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. Its founder is Nigerian-Finnish writer and lecturer Minna Salami, a powerhouse of feminist… Tracey Thorn at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Returning to our roots can be tough, revealing and, as Tracey Thorn discovers in Another Planet, inspiring. The singer-songwriter behind Everything But The Girl follows up her bestselling Bedsit Disco Queen with a wonderfully witty walk through the… David Mitchell with Sam Amidon: The Music of Utopia Avenue (2020 Event) While the Summer of Love is about to unfold across the Atlantic, life in 1967 isn’t so easy for a young would-be musician in London’s shabby Charing Cross Road. Yet from this modest starting point, David Mitchell builds a joyful fictional biography of a…