Ghada Karmi (2015 Event)

When she was forced to leave Palestine in 1948, for Ghada Karmi it meant that she would spend most of her life away from her native land. In Return: A Palestinian Memoir, Karmi describes visits to places she hasn’t seen since her childhood; places that now have to live with the grim reality of occupation. Watch her Book Festival event, filmed live, for a moving account of belonging and exile. Chaired by Scottish journalist and broadcaster Ruth Wishart.

Loading the player... if your browser supports audio and video it should appear in a few moments.

Book Festival News

Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival
Monday 26 August

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Houzan Mahmoud: Smoke Coming From My Soul Houzan Mahmoud: Smoke Coming From My Soul Kurdish Women’s Stories is the brainchild of Houzan Mahmoud, a Kurdish writer, public lecturer and anti-war activist. Unforgettable and deeply moving, it’s a vitally important book which goes beyond the common depiction of women simply as victims of war… Leïla Slimani: Sense of Self Leïla Slimani: Sense of Self Leïla Slimani’s daring and profound thriller Lullaby was an international bestseller, winning her France's most prestigious literary prize: the Prix Goncourt. She joins the Book Festival this August to discuss two vibrant new works: The Scent of Flowers… Malachy Tallack & Kathleen Winter (2015 Event) Malachy Tallack & Kathleen Winter (2015 Event) How do northern landscapes affect the people who live in them? Malachy Tallack’s Sixty Degrees North includes interviews and observations in places which share the same latitude, from Shetland to Scandinavia and as far as Alaska. Canadian writer… George Monbiot - pt3 George Monbiot - pt3 Passionate campaigner for environmental and social change, George Monbiot gives us practical, powerful solutions on a global scale of how to prevent further destruction of our planet through climate change in this 2007 event. The video of this event is… Vashti Bunyan: A Wayward Life of Music Vashti Bunyan: A Wayward Life of Music With her 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day struggling to find its audience, Vashti Bunyan rejected the music world, retreating to Ireland, then Scotland. By 2000, unbeknownst to her, it had become one of the most sought-after records of its day, and a… Billy-Ray Belcourt & Mary Jean Chan: Words Will Set You Free Billy-Ray Belcourt & Mary Jean Chan: Words Will Set You Free Tired of living out their days through the eyes of others, two of international poetry’s best disruptors turn to language for liberation in tender new collections that carve a space for love amongst the creeping violence of the everyday. Parsing through… Raja Shehadeh: The Quest for Peace Raja Shehadeh: The Quest for Peace For many years, lawyer and writer Raja Shehadeh has shared his wisdom about life under occupation in the Palestinian West Bank. Each year he and his wife Penny travel from their home in Ramallah to spend the summer in Edinburgh, and Book Festival… Raven Leilani & Patricia Lockwood: Sharp, Fragmentary Fiction Raven Leilani & Patricia Lockwood: Sharp, Fragmentary Fiction Fans of cutting-edge fiction will not want to miss this brilliant meeting of minds. Both Patricia Lockwood and Raven Leilani have written sizzling debut novels that are being celebrated by critics, loved by readers and gaining recognition from major… Alan Cumming (2016 Event) Alan Cumming (2016 Event) Dividing his time between New York and Hollywood, one of our best-kent Scottish actors has found himself at the centre of an impressive collection of scenes, scrapes and scraps in the world of showbiz. Alan Cumming has now gathered some of his best… Omid Djalili (2014 event) Omid Djalili (2014 event) Acclaimed comedian and actor Omid Djalili has produced a joyously funny memoir about growing up and finding fame as a young Iranian in London. He beautifully captures his unique childhood in his parents’ guesthouse, describing meetings with an array…