Tim Winton at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Only dreamers or the desperate would cross the vast saltland deserts of Western Australia. So which is Jaxie Clacton, the lonely boy at the heart of Tim Winton’s brutal, tender novel The Shepherd’s Hut? It’s the latest masterful work by one of the world’s greatest living novelists. In this event recorded live at the 2019 Edinburgh International Book Festival, Winton’s first visit to Edinburgh since 1993, he looks back over an oeuvre that includes classics such as Dirt Music, Cloudstreet and Breath, in conversation with John Williams, Daily Books editor and writer for The New York Times.

Loading the player... if your browser supports audio and video it should appear in a few moments.
Download MP3

Book Festival News

Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival
Monday 26 August

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Listen to more

Hanif Kureishi 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… Richard Bath and Tommy Macpherson (2011 event) Richard Bath and Tommy Macpherson (2011 event) Rugby writer Richard Bath has tackled a very different kind of battle in aiding Sir Tommy Macpherson with his memoir, Behind Enemy Lines. Britain’s most decorated living war hero with three Military Crosses… Dubravka Ugrešic Dubravka Ugrešic Croatian writer Dubravka Ugrešić has won several major European literary awards and her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. In this event she introduces her new novel, Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, an extraordinary meditation on… Billy Collins (2014 Event) Billy Collins (2014 Event) Billy Collins has twice been poet laureate in the US and says he hopes his poems ‘begin in Kansas and end in Oz’. Aimless Love, his first collection of new and selected poems for 12 years, is elegant, poignant and thrillingly accessible. In… Outriders: Mariana Enriquez & Kevin MacNeil (2017 event) 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… Elizabeth Laird reading Red Wolves in the Mist Elizabeth Laird reading Red Wolves in the Mist An engaging new story by a much-admired author of young adult fiction, read by the author herself… Stuart Cosgrove: The Soul Of Muhammad Ali (2020 Event) Stuart Cosgrove: The Soul Of Muhammad Ali (2020 Event) As well as documenting the meteoric rise of one of the all-time sporting greats, Cosgrove shows how soul music formed a soundtrack to an era of social and political turmoil. Join him in this event recorded for the 2020 Book Festival as he talks to… Jacqueline Wilson Jacqueline Wilson Legions of young fans descended on Charlotte Square Gardens for Jacqueline Wilson's event and book signing (billed for ages 9+). Her writing has made her an international phenomenon and continues to inspire and challenge young readers. In this event she… Shami Chakrabarti with Kate Mosse (2015 Event) Shami Chakrabarti with Kate Mosse (2015 Event) A day after Shami Chakrabarti joined the campaigning organisation Liberty, New York’s Twin Towers were attacked. Ever since, she has fought a passionate campaign for human rights… Tom Kitchin Tom Kitchin One of the UK's most exciting chefs, Tom Kitchin launched his first book in this event at the Book Festival. From Nature to Plate captures his story from trainee to Michelin-star chef while taking us through the seasons and some of his favourite recipes…