Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 24–26 August

John Byrne (2011 event) Painter and set designer, playwright and novelist - one of Scotland's great polymaths talks about his extraordinary life and work… Richard Coles: The Canon of Crime Canon Daniel Clement enjoys a quiet life with his mother Audrey and his two dachshunds in the peaceful village of Champton. But when he decides to add a lavatory to the church, the parish is thrown into discord – leading to murder. Reverend Richard Coles… Interview - John Burnside & Jon Kalmar Stefansson (2015) Bringing myths and fables together from Scotland and Iceland, we caught up with writers John Burnside and Jón Kalman Stefánsson before their joint event in Charlotte Square Gardens. Afterwards we asked fans what they thought about the event… Éric Vuillard & Mark Polizzotti with Amelia Gentleman Writer and film-maker Éric Vuillard was catapulted to fame in his native France when he won the Prix Goncourt in 2017 for his novel The Order of the Day, set in Austria in the lead-up to the Second World War. This also began the working relationship… Gavin Francis & Devi Sridhar: The Cost of Health The result of a pandemic and an ageing UK population: record waiting times for treatment. Conversely, medical advances are saving and prolonging lives – albeit ever more expensively. If the NHS is broken, how can we afford the cure? Writer and GP Gavin… Matt Haig: The Library of Second Chances Matt Haig was already a beloved author for his trademark disconnected outsiders — from vampires to aliens — trying to get to the bottom of what it is to be human. But the 2015 publication of his memoir Reasons to Stay Alive, a powerful account of his… Anne Applebaum: Democracy Under Siege ‘Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will.’ Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Anne Applebaum’s bleak prognosis for liberal democracy lies at the heart of… Peter Scott-Morgan: Rewiring Humanity The first sign that something was not right came to scientist Dr Peter Scott-Morgan when he was getting out of the bath – no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't manage to shake the water from his feet. Not long after, he was diagnosed with MND (Motor… Julia Donaldson and Peter May (2015 Event) With the domination of the English language in publishing, we can often overlook what happens beyond our borders. How does a writer's work travel to other nations? How do authors keep ownership of their translations? Watch two of our finest literary… Jackie Kay with Nicola Sturgeon (2016 Event) Scotland's Makar, Jackie Kay, has a proud history of writing poetry about believable characters; ordinary people like herself. Her poems are genuine, open and often deeply personal. Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has long been an admirer of…