Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 20–23 August

Christiana Figueres & Tom Rivett-Carnac: How We Can Survive the Climate Crisis ‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words’ — so goes the epochal statement from Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, standing before world leaders at the United Nations last year. With a recent report showing only three EU… Eliza Anyangwe & Emmanuel Iduma: Outriders Africa – Deconstructing the Travelogue As part of the Book Festival's Outriders programme exploring the shifting landscapes of contemporary Africa, writers born in two neighbouring countries interrogate what means to be the 'other' in pan-African society. Originally from Cameroon and raised in… Mark Haddon talks to Charlotte Higgins at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mark Haddon is back with his first novel in seven years – and this could be his masterwork. The author behind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time takes us on another wildly imaginative adventure in The Porpoise, a modern-day reworking of… Laura Bates & Winnie M Li: Misogyny Laid Bare In Winnie M Li’s novel Complicit, a former actress’s experiences at the hands of Hollywood mirror the real violence perpetrated in that arena. Fix the System, Not the Women by Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, unveils the ways in which… Jura Unbound: Illicit Ink & Graphic Scotland (2013 event) Graphic Scotland and Illicit Ink joined forces to combine stories from the page with illustrators on the stage in this lively, late night Jura Unbound event…… Lights Off The Quay - pt1 (A L Kennedy) We commissioned and published new stories and poems from four of the finest Scottish writers: A L Kennedy, Janice Galloway, John Burnside and Don Paterson. Lights Off The Quay, our first publication of new writing, is the result. A sold-out event at the… Joe Sacco and Chris Ware (2013 event) Two of the world’s best graphic novelists reveal the processes behind their first class comic creations… Lea Ypi with Allan Little: What Does Freedom Mean in Europe? Albania was one of the world’s most isolated countries under the rule of Enver Hoxha during its communist period. Lea Ypi grew up under Hoxha, then witnessed communism’s collapse and the country’s transformation to a flawed market economy. Today, Ypi… Rory MacLean (2015 Event) When the USSR dissolved in 1991, a narrow sliver of land next to the Ukraine declared independence. Transnistria now has its own Leninist government, but is still not recognised by any other country in the world. Photojournalist Nick Danziger and author… Kerry Brown, Sam Fowles & David Loyn: Does Power Inevitably Corrupt? China, the USA and Britain: three nations at very different stages in their imperial trajectories. Yet each has fought to retain power – often by questionable means. Three experts come together to compare these superpower states: Kerry Brown’s Xi Jinping:…