Alex Salmond

Martin Stannard Biographer Martin Stannard tackles the grande dame of Scottish literature in his latest work - the late, great Muriel Spark. We were honoured to have her at the Book Festival shortly before she died; her performance sparkled with wit and lit up Charlotte… Billy Bragg Thoroughly at home with an audience, political singer and activist Billy Bragg inspires his hundreds of fans with talk of his new book, The Progressive Patriot in this 2007 event… 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… Andrew O'Hagan: Heydays in the Haçienda (2020 Event) The fine grain of working-class teenagers’s lives; the blether, the binge-drinking and nights on the pull: Mayflies sees Andrew O’Hagan in scintillating, heartbreakingly good form. He talks with fellow Scottish writer, columnist and doyen of the literary… Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Bidisha (2015 Event) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is one of Britain’s most important commentators on multiculturalism: in Exotic England she describes ‘a curious nation’ that has developed thanks to its long history of immigration. Bidisha is a writer and human… Polly Toynbee and David Walker (2010 Event) So what exactly did twelve years of undiluted New Labour achieve? Polly Toynbee and David Walker, co-authors of two previous books on the subject, returned to the Book Festival in 2010 with the definitive assessment… Andrea Levy (2010 event) In 2010 Andrea Levy joined us for a captivating event to discuss The Long Song. Alongside chair Charlotte Higgins, Andrea Levy spoke of her striking new work to an eager audience… Ruth Jones (2018 Event) Acclaimed comedy actress and writer Ruth Jones has turned her talents to novel writing. Never Greener ponders the age-old question of whether the grass is a different shade on the other side. Kate had a fling in her early 20s with a married man and when… Eleanor Thom reading Sassuolo The young Glasgow-based writer reads her contribution to our Elsewhere project - a collection of new writing on the theme of Elsewhere… Jeanette Winterson Lighthousekeeping, in which motherless Silver is taken in by Mr Pew, keeper of the Cape Wrath lighthouse, is an extraordinary homage to R L Stevenson by one of the most startlingly original and brilliant novelists at work today. Jeanette Winterson is also…