UNBOUND: Words Per Minute

Performers got 10 mins to impress with whatever creative talent they could offer in this event. On trial were dazzling playwright and performer Alan Bissett and US phenomenon Adam Levin. This clip, filmed live during an Unbound session at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, features Alan Bissett doing his best to entertain a fully appreciative audience.

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

Watch more

Rosemary Goring: Mary Stuart's Homecoming Rosemary Goring: Mary Stuart's Homecoming Despite spending just 12 years in Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots irrevocably shaped the nation; she inhabits our imagination like no other monarch. In Homecoming, literary editor Rosemary Goring ‘breathes life into this legendary queen’ (Southern Reporter)… Tracy Chevalier speaks to Clare Hunter at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Tracy Chevalier speaks to Clare Hunter at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Two decades after Girl with the Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier is back with another finely rendered story of women. Refusing to tend endlessly to her grieving mother after the Great War, Violet Speedwell begins a new life among the embroiderers of… Rory MacLean (2015 Event) Rory MacLean (2015 Event) When the USSR dissolved in 1991, a narrow sliver of land next to the Ukraine declared independence. Transnistria now has its own Leninist government, but is still not recognised by any other country in the world. Photojournalist Nick Danziger and author… Lisa Taddeo: Violently in Love Lisa Taddeo: Violently in Love In her bestselling non-fiction book Three Women, Lisa Taddeo gave an account of the defining sexual relationships in three real women’s lives. Now the American author turns her hand to fiction, and her debut novel Animal opens with a bang – literally… A L Kennedy: We Are Not Dead Yet A L Kennedy: We Are Not Dead Yet A L Kennedy’s insightful and piercing gaze, evident in all her books, is probably at its most unflinching in her short stories. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the Book Festival with her short story collection We Are Attempting to Survive Our Time… Anne Donovan, Kirstin Innes, Allan Radcliffe and Jason Donald (2010 event) Anne Donovan, Kirstin Innes, Allan Radcliffe and Jason Donald (2010 event) From the word 'Elsewhere' four writers have created very different tales, Not Scotland, Horror Story, Chicago and Puerto Galera, join chair Jenny Brown and the authors as they discuss their commissions from the Book Festival… Gavin Francis & Devi Sridhar: The Cost of Health Gavin Francis & Devi Sridhar: The Cost of Health The result of a pandemic and an ageing UK population: record waiting times for treatment. Conversely, medical advances are saving and prolonging lives – albeit ever more expensively. If the NHS is broken, how can we afford the cure? Writer and GP Gavin… Craig Brown: The Slippery Art of Biography Craig Brown: The Slippery Art of Biography In One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time, Craig Brown gathered a kaleidoscopic mix of letters, news reports, diaries and much more besides into a brilliantly quirky not-quite-biography of the most successful pop group ever. It won him the prestigious… Olesya Khromeychuk & Christopher Miller: Ukraine - The People’s View Olesya Khromeychuk & Christopher Miller: Ukraine - The People’s View Against the tragedy of war, there is power in bearing witness. Olesya Khromeychuk’s brother Volodymyr was killed in eastern Ukraine and The Death of a Soldier Told By His Sister is her vivid account of sibling love and the grief of loss. Meanwhile… Val McDermid: Portrait of a Criminal Val McDermid: Portrait of a Criminal With Val McDermid’s iconic detective soon set to hit our screens, it couldn’t be a more perfect time to revisit Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit and the savvy, no-nonsense DCI Karen Pirie. A thrilling new head-scratcher from the undisputed ‘Queen of…