John Burnside

Ryan Gattis and Marlon James (2015 Event) Images of the 1992 LA riots were beamed across the world as six days of violence left a city bruised and broken. In All Involved, Ryan Gattis concocts a novel from separate voices of those whose story wasn’t told. The 1976 attempted murder of Bob… Bonnie Greer (2014 event) Best known in the UK as a dispassionate commentator on BBC Newsnight Review and Question Time, even when sitting beside the leader of the BNP, Bonnie Greer has now written the first volume of her memoirs, A Parallel Life. In this event, recorded live at… Margaret Atwood Canadian novelist, poet, critic and essayist of global renown and influence, Margaret Atwood's Book Festival events always sell out in a matter of days and her visits to Edinburgh are much anticipated. In this 2005 event she reads some of her short… John Mortimer Utter delight in the company of one of the most effervescent minds in the land, creator of Rumpole of the Bailey and now a wonderful new comic novel, Quite Honestly. This 2006 event with John Mortimer is great fun… Alan Hollinghurst (2011 Event) It's many years since Alan Hollinghurst's last novel, The Line of Beauty, was published – a story so powerful that it beat David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas to win the 2004 Booker Prize. His follow-up, The Stranger's Child… Arthur Smith The irreverent, hilarious and scandalous broadcaster Arthur Smith began his event at the Book Festival in the dark due to a complete power failure but with his booming voice and general good humour he revelled in the novelty of performing in the dark. And… Andrew O'Hagan (2017 Event) In this keynote lecture recorded live at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival, the country’s foremost essayist and one of our most astute commentators, Andrew O’Hagan, speaks for the first time on the future of Scotland and seeks to define this… Giles Yeo at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Whenever the latest dieting fad comes along, those promoting new theories are well fed on the proceeds, while many people trying to shed pounds are left wondering why nothing seems to work. Meet Giles Yeo, geneticist and presenter on BBC’s Trust Me, I’m a… Nicholas Parsons (2014 event) The much-loved radio show Just a Minute has been delighting listeners for 46 years and every single episode of the programme has been hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Now, Parsons has produced his first book about Britain’s longest-running radio comedy… Serhii Plokhy at the Edinburgh International Book Festival ‘Heartbreaking stories of heroism’ set against a backdrop of ‘political cynicism and scientific ignorance'. That’s how judges described the winner of 2018's Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction – Serhii Plokhy’s Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy. The…