Doris Lessing

Alan Hollinghurst (2011 Event) It's many years since Alan Hollinghurst's last novel, The Line of Beauty, was published – a story so powerful that it beat David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas to win the 2004 Booker Prize. His follow-up, The Stranger's Child… Gerry Hassan & Lesley Riddoch (2014 event) Two of Scotland's outspoken commentators reflect on what might happen next in Scotland, after the independence referendum on 18 Sept… Alexander Masters (2016 Event) In 2001, almost 150 tattered notebooks were discovered in a skip in Cambridge. They were a small part of an intimate diary that began in 1952 and ended half a century later. It took Alexander Masters five years to uncover the identity and real history of… Harriet Harman (2017 Event) When Harriet Harman was elected in 1982, she notes in her memoir A Woman’s Work, the House of Commons was 97% male. Since then, she has led the way on all-women shortlists, introduced laws on equality and domestic violence and has twice become… Margaret Atwood Canadian novelist, poet, critic and essayist of global renown and influence, Margaret Atwood's Book Festival events always sell out in a matter of days and her visits to Edinburgh are much anticipated. In this 2005 event she reads some of her short… Roger Robinson: ‘Ordinary Poems Won’t Change the World (2020 Event) Firmly rooted in the dub poetry tradition of his Trinidadian heritage, Robinson’s plain-speaking, fizzy, often joyous verse journeys through our contemporary preoccupations with a seasoned insight few could replicate. From the ongoing injustices of… Chris Brookmyre (2016 Event) For years he’s been regarded as one of Scotland’s best-loved and funniest crimewriters, but Chris Brookmyre’s critical reputation has also steadily grown over that same period and now he counts among the best-respected writers in his field. With Black… Seamus Heaney A chance to hear Seamus Heaney, the great Nobel Prize winning poet, reading his own work in this 2006 event, including his major new volume District and Circle. Pure pleasure… Emma Donoghue and FIona Shaw (2010 event) Listen to two unique writers as they look at love and trauma through a child’s eyes. Emma Donogue’s Room and Fiona Shaw’s Tell it to the Bees are two remarkable works, discussed in depth in this event chaired by Pru Rowlandson… Ian McEwan Unedited audio recording of the 2007 event in which Ian McEwan chats with chair Ian Rankin about his early work, influences and most recent publication, On Chesil Beach. Great fun!…