How We Kept The Conversation Going in 2020

Val McDermid & Jo Sharp: Imagine Another Country Two years ago, inspired by Book Festival discussions about the necessity of imagination for political change, Val McDermid and Geographer Royal for Scotland Jo Sharp invited a diverse group of people to share their ideas. This summer a post-pandemic… Roy Hattersley at the Edinburgh International Book Festival The Labour Party was founded to give a political voice to the working classes and to end inequalities. But the challenge has changed; the gap between rich and poor has widened, and many conceive of Britain as two nations. Can the old remedies – trade… A N Wilson: Coming to Terms A N Wilson was at the first Edinburgh International Book Festival 40 years ago. Since then, he has produced millions of words of journalism, 20 novels and a barrage of biographies. Yet somehow he looks back and sees ‘a life of failed promises’… David Peace & Chris Power: Cities That Cast Long Shadows Berlin and Tokyo: two peaceful and thriving cities… yet each haunted by the weight of history, where everything is imbued with ‘the stench of the past, the noise of the future.’ Chris Power’s clever debut novel A Lonely Man is set in Berlin under the… How to book on the first day of sales We're expecting a lot of demand for tickets on our opening day of sales (Tuesday 25 June in 2019). To give everyone a fair chance, there will be a queue to book at the counter, over the phone and on our website. If you plan to book online, this short… Interview - Jussi Adler-Olsen (2015) Bestselling Danish crime writer and creator of the Department Q novels Jussi Adler-Olsen joined us for a quick chat in Charlotte Square Gardens before his event. We also asked some of his fans what they thought about what he had to say. You can see Jussi&#… Douglas Stuart with Damian Barr: The Making of Shuggie Bain In the words of the starred Kirkus review: ‘You will never forget Shuggie Bain. Scene by scene, this book is a masterpiece.’ This astonishing debut is a powerful and heartbreaking story about the love between a boy and his mother, about poverty and… Wayétu Moore & Nadia Owusu: On Belonging Meet two women who combine breathtaking life stories with an uncommon ability to write about them. Wayétu Moore joined us last year with her fictional reimagining of Liberia’s history, She Would Be King. Now she returns to tell her true life story and… Sebastian Barry: Tales from an Uncivil War In his beautiful and unforgettable novel Days Without End, Sebastian Barry continued his epic examination of the Irish experience, this time in Midwest America with the story of a recently-emigrated Thomas McNulty and his lover John Cole. Now, with the… Writers Network Showcase: Scotland's Heritage, Then and Now 'The report that only the poets can make' wrote James Baldwin in 1962. In 2020’s global climate, what might a report by Scottish writers look like? How can poetry speak back to Scotland’s literary heritage and complex relationships with nature…