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 audience members afterwards what they thought about the event. You can see Helle's hour-long event here on our website and on edbookfest's youtube channel, filmed live as part of Trading Stories at the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

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

Donate

Share

Watch more

Tom Lanoye & James Yorkston (2016 Event) Tom Lanoye & James Yorkston (2016 Event) Two doppelgänger Belgian exiles are on the run in Tom Lanoye’s latest novel, Fortunate Slaves. When they finally meet they realise that each could hold the solution to the other's problems. James Yorkston is familiar as one of Scotland’s finest… Interview - Esther Gerritsen & Amy Mason (2015) Interview - Esther Gerritsen & Amy Mason (2015) Dutch writer Esther Gerritsen and Britain's Amy Mason joined us for a chat about writing the universal theme of mothers and daughters before their joint event in Charlotte Square Gardens. You can also hear from a real life mother and daughter from the… Leah Broad: Singing Women’s Praises Leah Broad: Singing Women’s Praises Classical music has long been a male-dominated affair. Historical musicologist Leah Broad is determined to redress the balance and in Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World she chronicles the lives and work of 20th century composers, Ethel… Michael Ignatieff: Consolation for Our Times Michael Ignatieff: Consolation for Our Times The historian and political theorist Michael Ignatieff began writing a book about consolation before the first lockdown. Now, our lives changed by Covid-19, and with over 80 million refugees fleeing conflicts worldwide, On Consolation feels spectacularly… Alison Bechdel: Can Exercise Fix Us? Alison Bechdel: Can Exercise Fix Us? Yoga with Adriene, wild-swimming, step-trackers, Strava: just a few of the trends that have dominated the fitness industry – and our lives – in recent years. What does our fitful relationship with exercise tell us about who we are today? American… Gavin Francis & Devi Sridhar: The Cost of Health 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… Lights Off The Quay - pt3 (John Burnside) Lights Off The Quay - pt3 (John Burnside) 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… Future Library Announcement: Future Writer, Future Readers Future Library Announcement: Future Writer, Future Readers Since 2014, authors have contributed to Future Library, a collection of writing that will not be published for 100 years. The venerable group includes Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Han Kang, and Judith Schalansky. This project was conceived by artist… John Pilger John Pilger Radical, passionate and often controversial, John Pilger is one of the most important free spirits in worldwide journalism and filmmaking. In these video highlights from his 2007 event, he talks about the long shadow of imperialism, hidden censorship and… Ben Okri at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Ben Okri at the Edinburgh International Book Festival ‘Storytellers sometimes see things before they have been experienced.’ This, from Ben Okri’s new chillingly dystopic novel The Freedom Artist, is a stark warning to readers. His world of truths eroded, of people shambling blindly towards calamity, is…