Alexander McCall Smith

Sophie Mackintosh & Leni Zumas (2018 Event) Fans of Naomi Alderman’s The Power will appreciate these ambitious political novels about women defying restrictions. Sophie Mackintosh’s The Water Cure centres on three women raised in total isolation and the men who come to find them. Leni… Valerie Martin American author Valerie Martin divulges the real-life inspiration for her new novel The Confessions of Edward Day, a dark comedy set in 1970s Manhattan, in this 2009 podcast… David Millar (2016 Event) Those lucky enough to witness David Millar’s spellbinding Book Festival event in 2011 will recall the athlete’s forthright admissions about calorie counting, secret doping and quirky camaraderie on the pro cycling circuit. Now he's back with The Racer, a… Miguel Syjuco reading Be Here Now The bright and brilliant Filipino-born Man Asian Literary Prize-winner reads his story on the theme of Elsewhere… Carol Ann Duffy (2010 event) We welcomed Britain's Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy to the Book Festival in 2010 for three remarkable events. In this beautifully-received event she read new work from The Bees which will be published in 2011, and was joined by chair Don Paterson and… Charles Fernyhough and Ben Marcus (2012 event) From Gulliver’s Travels to 1984, dystopian visions have shaped literary fiction. Why do these flights of fancy influence our reality?… Sarah Howe & William Letford (2016 Event) We were thrilled to open the 2016 Festival with two of the most powerful young voices in British poetry. Sarah Howe's debut collection Loop of Jade won the 2016 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry and was described as ‘original, exquisite, erudite and adventurous.’… The Principle of Capitalism (2014 Event) As part of a series of events examining the key ideas that have shaped the human race, sociologist Saskia Sassen, research director in international economics at Chatham House Paola Subacchi and professor of political economy Robert Skidelsky joined James… Mary Robinson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival While the realities of climate change are not always visible, the realisation that our grandchildren will live in troubled times can catalyse action. After becoming a grandmother, former Irish president and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary… Jason Donald reading Puerta Galera Listen to acclaimed author of Choke Chain read his story Puerta Galera, part of a series of podcasts…