Highlights of the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival

In August 2016, the Edinburgh International Book Festival welcomed over 800 writers, illustrators, poets, politicians and philosophers from 55 countries to Charlotte Square Gardens in a packed programme of passionate ideas, engaged debates and pure entertainment. Here we feature some of the highlights, along with what authors and audiences had to say about their time at the Festival.

You can view events from the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival in full here in our Video Gallery, or find events and author interviews on our YouTube channel.

Book Festival News

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

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Omar Robert Hamilton, Sanaa Seif & Ahdaf Soueif: A Decade of Resistance Omar Robert Hamilton, Sanaa Seif & Ahdaf Soueif: A Decade of Resistance Egyptian writer and political activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah's British citizenship was ratified in December 2021 while he was in an Egyptian prison, where he has been detained, almost continuously, since 2013. Today, his translators and family members Omar… Colson Whitehead talks to Kirsty Wark at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Colson Whitehead talks to Kirsty Wark at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Following the success of his book The Underground Railroad – named by Barack Obama as one of the most important books of his presidency – Colson Whitehead's new novel The Nickel Boys sees the Pulitzer Prize winning author visit 1960s Florida, a period of… Allan Little's Big Interview with Elif Shafak at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Allan Little's Big Interview with Elif Shafak at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Turkish-British author Elif Shafak is a respected campaigner for women’s rights and free speech. She wrote in the New Yorker that ‘wave after wave of nationalism and tribalism have hit the shores of countries across Europe, and they have reached the… Ian Rankin talks to Phill Jupitus at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Ian Rankin talks to Phill Jupitus at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Since Ian Rankin’s appearance at last year’s Book Festival, his iconic detective Rebus has made his stage debut in Long Shadows and is set to star in a television series by Black Watch playwright Gregory Burke. Rankin’s latest, In a House of Lies, is a… Hallie Rubenhold: The Problem with Great Men Hallie Rubenhold: The Problem with Great Men Of the five women who died in the Autumn of 1888 at the hands of Jack the Ripper, the most salient thing that has remained in the public imagination has been the brutal manner of their murders. While the identity of the murderer has been the subject of… George Monbiot - pt4 George Monbiot - pt4 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… Richard Coles (2015 Event) Richard Coles (2015 Event) He was once part of 1980s pop duo The Communards but later resurrected his career as the Reverend Richard Coles, and is currently tending to his flock in a parish in Northamptonshire. In Fathomless Riches, he explains how he reconciled his old life… Fergal Keane with Allan Little: The Scars of War Reporting Fergal Keane with Allan Little: The Scars of War Reporting ‘The suffering of others was my daily bread.’ This brutally honest, heartfelt assessment of the job of a war reporter is central to Fergal Keane’s memoir, The Madness: a riveting account of how he survived war, fear, and PTSD, against a backdrop of… Max Hastings speaks with Magnus Linklater at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Max Hastings speaks with Magnus Linklater at the Edinburgh International Book Festival In 1975, military historian Max Hastings boarded a helicopter out of Saigon during the Final Evacuation. He chronicled the controversial conflict in his bestselling Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, a compelling account foregrounding the personal stories of those… Alan Johnson (2015 Event) Alan Johnson (2015 Event) Amid a slew of politicians’ memoirs in recent years, Alan Johnson’s This Boy was comfortably among the finest: one critic called it ‘the best political testament I’ve ever read’. Now the former Home Secretary returns with a…