Edinburgh Festivals, Book Festival

Kids' events

23 Aug 2007

The last few days of the kids programme takes a walk on the dark side with scary-sounding events such as Night of the Living Horror (25 Aug, 6pm) which opens up a world of gothic terror for those aged ten plus, though Justin Somper and his Vampirates…

Lucy Hawking

19 Jul 2007

What do you do when your father is one of the world’s most respected theoretical physicists, author of the bestseller A Brief History of Time and you want to be a writer? The answer was obvious to Lucy Hawking, daughter of Stephen: write a book…

Andrew Marr

16 Aug 2007

Andrew Marr has always used his vast intellect with such wit and verve that he has always come across as a political pundit real people could enjoy. It’s hard to imagine David Frost interviewing Gordon Brown on a Sunday morning, as Marr did last month…

Loung Ung

Edinburgh International Book Festival

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Book Festival Surviving the peace Author, campaigner and victim of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia, bestselling writer Loung Ung talks to Allan Radcliffe about how she managed to carry on after the hell of the killing fields

Beyond the Book Fest

4 Sep 2008

Following their success this summer, The Edinburgh International Book Festival will present a special autumn event with award-winning Australian author David Malouf. Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, his book Remembering Babylon was shortlisted…

Kei Miller

Jamaican voice aching to be heard

21 Aug 2008

In a famous sketch by Bill Hicks, the great comedian is stumped by the question, ‘What are you reading for?’ The enquiry – and its correlative, ‘What are you writing for?’ – are deceptively simple. For Kei Miller, the Jamaican-born poet, novelist and…

Joyce Carol Oates

9 Aug 2007

The legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau once compared the versatility and precision of Oates’ writing to witchcraft. Oates once said of her own work, ‘I’m drawn to failure. I feel that I’m contending with it constantly in my own life’. This perhaps…

Alice Munro

Canadian legend in LongPen revolution

9 Aug 2007

A standard piece of advice given to budding fiction writers eager for publication is to forget airy fairy, uncommercial notions of publishing short stories and dive headfirst into the novel.

Kate Adie

edfest.tv - video

1 Sep 2008

What attracts some people to danger? Kate Adie's new book 'Into Danger' is full of personal insight

5 Questions - Irvine Welsh

21 Aug 2008

Give us five words to describe Crime? Crime is an existential thriller. Which authors should be more famous than they are now? I used to say Ron Butlin, but I think that’s changing now. I think Doug Johnstone will soon be very famous. If I have…

Festival Books - Mark Watson

Eco-friendly, my dear Watson

21 Aug 2008

According to Mark Watson, saving the planet would, at the very least, ‘look pretty smart on all our CVs’. With an already sterling comedy résumé, Watson takes on environmentalism in his latest book, Crap at the Environment, which through the author’s…

Kids events

Getting arty and yucky, all in the same week

21 Aug 2008

If you suffer from Crayola on the carpet and finger-painted furniture, The Big Picture Event (24 Aug) should be the destination of choice for your little ‘uns. Chairman and Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen leads an exquisite event of drawing and…

Home James - Sean Connery

Edinburgh International Book Festival

22 Jul 2008

As Sean Connery returns to Edinburgh for a date in Charlotte Square Gardens, author Ewan Morrison recalls growing up in the ultimate 007’s shadow and wallowing in those iconic one-liners

Germaine Greer

16 Aug 2007

Writer, academic, critic and commentator Germaine Greer has been a particularly bristly thorn in establishment sides for the best part of 40 years. A native of Melbourne, she sprang fully-formed onto the global literary stage with The Female Eunuch, her…

Children's books

Edinburgh International Book Festival

19 Jul 2007

Anna Doherty (14), Lotte Fisher (13), Keira O’Sullivan-Robertson (13) and Archie Fisher (10) take their pick of the Book Festival’s exciting children’s programme

LongPen technology brings Mailer and Munro to Edinburgh

19 Jun 2007

Words: Allan Radcliffe (Image: left to right - Ben Okri, Norman Mailer, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro) With the announcement of its programme for August 2007 an intriguing new chapter has opened for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The…

Barrie Appleby

edfest.tv - video

1 Sep 2008

Barrie Appleby's comic illustrations have been enjoyed by generations of children. Meet the artist behind Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger and watch as your favourite characters come to life!

Simon Armitage

Pop poet turns wordy rock star

21 Aug 2008

Simon Armitage is a very modern poet, as happy to ruminate over Arctic Monkeys’ lyrics as he is to translate 14th century romantic poetry. During the 15 years since he handed in his notice as a probation officer to concentrate fully on his writing, he’s…

Andrew Sean Greer

No one can stop his California dreaming

21 Aug 2008

With his recent impressive run in the literary world, it’s hard to imagine Andrew Sean Greer ever feeling edgy about his work. Since the release of critically acclaimed debut The Path Of Minor Planets in 2001, the San Francisco-based scribe has come up…

Gordon Burn

Upsetting the traditionalists with novelised news

21 Aug 2008

‘I hate plots. Soon as I know that a film or a book or TV show has a plot, my brain can’t cope with it. If I’m watching a film and I don’t know or have forgotten what the storyline is and I’m supposed to work out who this or that person is, I just fall…

Sadie Jones

Orange nominee who won’t stick to the script

21 Aug 2008

‘Not a bad start,’ comes Londoner Sadie Jones’ modest response when she’s reminded of the remarkable success of her debut novel The Outcast – a nominee for the Orange Prize for Fiction and one of 2008’s best sellers to date. ‘I’m just in a constant…

Andrew O'Hagan

edfest.tv - video

19 Aug 2008

Andrew O'Hagan talks about his new collection of essays entitled The Atlantic Ocean.

Katherine Whitehorn

edfest.tv - video

15 Aug 2008

Universally respected and much loved journalist Katherine Whitehorn tells of her long and distinguished career.

Rodge Glass

Analysing icons of football and fiction

14 Aug 2008

‘Faith is something that preoccupies me, definitely, but it is usually the lack of it,’ says Rodge Glass, the Glasgow-based Jewish author of No Fireworks and Hope for Newborns who passed through a staggering range of variously religious, private and…

5 Questions - Laura Marney

7 Aug 2008

Laura Marney’s new novel is My Best Friend Has Issues, about an innocent Scottish lass heading to Spain. Here she takes on our wide-eyed Q&A Give us five words to describe your books? Fun, sexy, dark, page turning. Which authors should be more…