John Burnside and Jon Kalman Stefansson (2015 Event)

Colum McCann: An Infinity of Stories Once every few years, a novel comes along that genuinely opens up new ways of seeing the world. Colum McCann’s new novel Apeirogon might well be such a book. Two protagonists, Rami and Bassam – one a Palestinian, the other an Israeli – are each mourning… Oliver Bullough with Ian Rankin: How Britain Got Addicted to Dirty Money A ‘ghost company’ based in Edinburgh was recently accused of supporting Russian military services, thus aiding the invasion of Ukraine – a stark example of how Britain pimps itself out to international dirty money. Butler to the World is Oliver Bullough’s… Simon Woolley: Shaking Up the Establishment When Simon Woolley created Operation Black Vote in 1996, he inspired hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the democratic process. Raised on an impoverished estate in Leicester, he has become a political force to be reckoned with, the first… Jack Monroe at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Good food should be affordable for everyone. Jack Monroe is an active anti-poverty campaigner and her recipe books – including Cooking on a Bootstrap and Tin Can Cook – are about making simple yet delicious recipes on a shoestring, based on her own… Adania Shibli: When the Present is Haunted by the Past A novel in two parts, Adania Shibli’s Minor Detail is superbly translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette. The narrative begins in 1949 from the perspective of an Israeli soldier, operating with his platoon at the desert border with Egypt. In… Interview - Sophie McKenzie and Salla Simukka (2015) We talked about the complexities of writing young adult fiction and creating female characters with best known author Sophic McKenzie and newly translated Finnish writer Salla Simukka before their event together. Also hear from one of our young audience… Ekow Eshun: Africa is a State of Mind Home to more than 1.2 billion people, Africa is the world’s second most populous continent. Gaining a better understanding of this complex and diverse land, according to Ekow Eshun, rests not simply in thinking about its geography but about ‘looking… Selva Almada: Giving Voice to the Victims of Femicide One of a rising generation of talented Argentine writers, Selva Almada burst onto the English-language book scene last year with the publication of The Wind that Lays Waste, a short but highly-charged novel that won the Book Festival’s 2019 First Book… Cariad Lloyd: Lessons from Loss Aged 15, Cariad Lloyd became someone she never wanted to be: a person-whose-dad-had-died. Years later, she began a podcast, Griefcast, to examine her grief and provide comfort and candour to others. Death is something that connects us all, despite our… Meg Mason: Femme Fatalistic Meg Mason’s breakout bestselling novel of love, family and mental health, Sorrow and Bliss, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and dubbed ‘the book you have to read this summer’ by the Evening Standard. Comparisons have arisen to BBC’s…