Monica Cantieni and Sunjeev Sahota (2015 Event)

Watch two authors who explore the immigrant experience powerfully in their unforgettable new novels. Monica Cantieni’s The Encyclopaedia of Good Reasons, translated by Donal McLaughlin, tells the deeply moving story of a young girl’s long wait for adoption into a Swiss family, and into a German-speaking community. Sunjeev Sahota’s much-anticipated second novel, The Year of the Runaways, describes the dreams and struggles of a group of young Indian men searching for a new life in Sheffield.

Download MP3

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

Listen to more

Vince Cable Vince Cable Known for his intelligent and honest approach to party politics, Vince Cable has been the Lib Dem's economic spokesperson since 2003 and it is from this viewpoint he has witnessed the storm of the economic crisis. He talks about his new book in this event… Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon Pulitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon has been called 'the most important English language poet born since the Second World War'. Hear the power of his forthcoming work in this 2006 event… Lola Olufemi & Minna Salami: Critical Reflections on Feminism (2020 Event) Lola Olufemi & Minna Salami: Critical Reflections on Feminism (2020 Event) Since 2010, the award-winning blog MsAfropolitan has connected feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. Its founder is Nigerian-Finnish writer and lecturer Minna Salami, a powerhouse of feminist… Casey Gerald talks to DeRay Mckesson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Casey Gerald talks to DeRay Mckesson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Called ‘extraordinary’ and ‘electrifying’ by Marlon James and Colm Tóibín, Texan writer Casey Gerald’s powerful memoir traces fault lines in American racial and masculine identity… Neil Gaiman with Audrey Niffenegger (2011 event) Neil Gaiman with Audrey Niffenegger (2011 event) It’s ten years since the publication of the landmark American Gods, a book that brought Gaiman to international fame. One reviewer even lauded him thus: ‘Saying Neil Gaiman is a writer is like saying Da Vinci dabbled in the arts.’… Sarah Howe & William Letford (2016 Event) 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.’… Xiaolu Guo Xiaolu Guo Xiaolu Guo has won international praise for her work as both writer and filmmaker. In this 2008 event she discusses her latest novel 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth, which draws on her experiences as a filmmaker in Beijing… Audrey Niffenegger (2011 event) Audrey Niffenegger (2011 event) Michigan-born writer and artist, and one of our guest selectors, Audrey Niffenegger is the author of the runaway bestseller The Time Traveler’s Wife. In this event she chats about her various books, the most recent of which is a graphic novel, The Night… David France (2018 Event) David France (2018 Event) How to Survive a Plague is David France’s history of the fight against AIDS, the disease caused by HIV that has killed over 35 million people worldwide. Described as ‘subtle and searing', it won the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2017. In 2018… Jeanette Winterson (2010 event) Jeanette Winterson (2010 event) Legendary writer Jeanette Winterson inspired her audience with tremendous charm on 16 August, speaking movingly of happiness and the pursuit thereof. This brilliant event was full of intelligent questions from the audience and great energy from Winterson…