Richard Dawkins

Reading Scotland: Helen McClory, The New Edinburgh Gothic In a northern European city not unlike Edinburgh, three young people’s lives intersect in the flat they share. But as Helen McClory’s eagerly anticipated Bitterhall unfolds, her characters Daniel, Orla and Tom begin to be haunted by something very strange… UNBOUND: The Golden Hour A hellacious hybrid of rakish words and eclectic music: Ryan Van Winkle, Joe Dunthorne, Kelly Link and roofing poet William Leftford… Playing with Books: The Yellow Door by Kathleen Jamie In the fourth year of our celebrated co-productions with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, we present theatrical and musical explorations of scenes from much-loved books, followed by a discussion with the author and creative teams. Kathleen Jamie thinks… Paul Lynch: Let Awake People Be Awake Paul Lynch describes his 2023 Booker Prize-winning Prophet Song as an ‘attempt at radical empathy’. Nicola Sturgeon discusses the power of fiction to illuminate the possible with this writer at the top of his game… Interview - Helle Helle (2015) We were delighted to meet the wonderful Danish writer Helle Helle before her Book Festival event in Charlotte Square Gardens to talk about her first novel to be translated into English, This Should Be Written in the Present Tense. We asked some… Devi Sridhar: How to Prevent (Another) Pandemic As both chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh and a highly effective social media communicator, Professor Devi Sridhar became an invaluable resource for many in the early days of the pandemic, and a household name across the country… David Wengrow: Reimagining Prehistory It’s a pervasive belief that early human history involved a pivotal bargain; when cities and agriculture developed, primitive hunter-gatherers exchanged their freedom and equality for the hierarchies of civilisation. This is far from the truth, argue… Jess Phillips (2017 Event) Journalist Julie Burchill calls her 'a breath of fresh air, with a dirty laugh'. In Everywoman, Labour politician Jess Phillips shouts long and loudly about the things she cares most about: poverty, equality, the rights of refugees and serving her… Juliana Buhring (2017 event) Feats of human endurance never cease to amaze and enthral. In 2012, against all odds, Juliana Buhring became the first woman to circumnavigate the world on a bike, after very little training and with barely any financial backing. In this event filmed live… Outriders: Jennifer Haigh & Malachy Tallack (2017 Event) As part of our Outriders project to explore the Americas, Dakota-based novelist and environmental campaigner Jennifer Haigh travelled with Scottish writer Malachy Tallack on a journey that took in the Midwestern heartlands of Donald Trump's USA…