Ian Rankin

Why I Call Myself a Feminist (2015 Event) In this event entitled “a Rally, a Rant, a Story, a Song, a Protest, a Poem”, women – and men – take to the mike for five minutes each to tell us why they call themselves feminists. Authors Val McDermid, Christopher Brookmyre, Elif… Christopher Brookmyre Acclaimed Scottish novelist and hugely entertaining speaker, Christopher Brookmyre talks in this 2008 event about his latest book, A Snowball in Hell, which takes celebrity culture and turns it on its head… Jenny Erpenbeck with Michel Faber (2015 Event) If you only read one novel this year, make it The End of Days. A book that takes a series of surprising turns, it confirms German author Jenny Erpenbeck as ‘one of the finest, most exciting authors alive’. That reviewer was fellow novelist… John Boyne (2015 Event) Author of multi-million bestseller The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne has unleashed his next book for younger readers, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave. It tells the story of a boy's search for his father during the First World War. For… Anne Applebaum: Democracy Under Siege (2020 Event) ‘Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will.’ Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Anne Applebaum’s bleak prognosis for liberal democracy lies at the heart of… Hanif Kureishi One of the most distinctive and fearless writers in Britain, Hanif Kureishi has been a major and vital presence since Buddha of Suburbia. Sex, middle-age, love, longing, race, regret and psychoanalysis are all wholly present in his latest novel, Something… Outriders: Mariana Enriquez & Kevin MacNeil (2017 event) As part of our project to explore the Americas, Scottish novelist Kevin MacNeil travelled around Argentina with journalist, novelist and short story writer Mariana Enriquez. Starting in Buenos Aires, the writers set off in search of lost voices, both… Candice Carty-Williams & Annaleese Jochems at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Meet two authors chronicling the off-kilter experiences of upbeat millennials. Candice Carty-Williams’s novel Queenie sees a Jamaican British woman search for identity. Jojo Moyes called it ‘brilliant, timely, funny, heartbreaking’… Paul Merton (2015 Event) Not Always Clowning Around. One of the most intelligent and likeable comics in the land, Paul Merton has had his fair share of darkness and tragedy… Jackie Kay A captivating hour of poetry from Jackie Kay, a Book Festival favourite whose events regularly sell-out, this being no exception. Listen to her words, revel in the language. Definitely one to listen to again and again…