Edinburgh International Book Festival

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Edinburgh International Book Festival

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Interview - Alan Bissett

Writer tackles Scotland’s sectarian shame in fourth novel Pack Men

24 Aug 2011

With the rivalry between the Old Firm reaching dangerously manic levels recently, you’d think that sectarianism would be reflected in our nation’s fiction, but it’s hard to think of many novels that examine our unique bigotry. Step forward Alan Bissett…

EIBF 2011: five lengthy literary works

featuring Adam Levin, Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Stephen King and Tolstoy

24 Aug 2011

The Instructions The story of a megalomaniac 10-year-old boy who may or may not be the messiah takes place over the course of just four frenetic days, but Levin’s massive book takes in Israel’s battle for existence and an entire religion’s search for…

Jane Harris

The author of The Observations and Gillespie and I on making Glasgow an evocative character

24 Aug 2011

‘The secret was what I began with,’ says Jane Harris about her most recent work, Gillespie and I. And what a mystery we unravel, as narrator Harriet Baxter reflects on her time in 1880s Glasgow and the consequences of a chance meeting with ‘soulmate…

Rebecca Hunt

The author of Mr Chartwell creates a credible and empathetic vision of illness

24 Aug 2011

One of the most intriguing and delectably-crafted debut novels of the past year is Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt. The black dog of Winston Churchill’s legendary deep depression is brought vividly to life through the eponymous mutt (also known as Black…

Janice Galloway

The All Made Up author takes on our Q&A

24 Aug 2011

Give us five words to describe All Made Up? True. Funny. Sad. Teen-to-adult. Novel. Which author should be more famous than they are now? VS Naipaul. Because he’s irritating, self-regarding and self-involved enough that massive fame would be in…

EIBF 2011: Christopher Brookmyre adopts subtle pseudonym for latest work - interview

Chris, not Christopher, for Where the Bodies are Buried

23 Aug 2011

When Christopher Brookmyre has three syllables thrown at him, he knows he’s done something wrong. Despite his full first-name appearing on every book jacket since his debut novel in 1997, those around Brookmyre have called him Chris for years. ‘I tend…

Interview: Jon Ronson - The Psychopath Test

Author on madness, public appearances and panicking unnecessarily

19 Aug 2011

During his career, he’s met a sports commentator who believes giant lizards rule the world and encountered Christians who donate human kidneys for Jesus. In his new book Jon Ronson learns the skills for spotting psychopaths. Brian Donaldson wonders…

Profile: Sapphire - The Kid

Author set for appearance at 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

19 Aug 2011

Sapphire is the voice of America. She doesn’t write about the glitz of Manhattan, the subtle discontents of suburbia or the gothic claustrophobia of the deep south. Her terrain is one in which the American Dream has not only failed but is a total joke…

Will Self

The author on his upcoming reading of Fleck with Alasdair Gray

19 Aug 2011

I’ve known Alasdair Gray for a long time now, nearly 20 years. We had the same publisher in England and he came to one of my events in Glasgow, probably in about 1982 or ‘83. We did some other events together around that time and struck up a…

Moon Talking - Ben Mezrich Interview

The Social Network author brings new novel to Edinburgh Book Festival

19 Aug 2011

Ben Mezrich is not finding it hard to find subject matter for future books. The American author started as a novelist but is better known for writing a string of bestselling non-fiction books including The Accidental Billionaires about Facebook founder…

James Yorkston

A droll and heartfelt memoir from the Fife bard

19 Aug 2011

Earlier this year, James Yorkston seduced a full-house in Glasgow, clad with a well-thumbed touring diary. It was not the first time, and it won’t be the last. While the Fife-based singer-songwriter and commended Fence Collective affiliate has long…

David Almond

Crossing the divide from children’s books to adult fiction

19 Aug 2011

Since penning his first children’s novel, 1998’s Whitbread Award and Carnegie Medal-winning Skellig, David Almond has been lauded as one of the UK’s greatest authors for younger readers. In 2010, the Skellig prequel, My Name is Mina, had critics falling…

Julie Myerson

The author's apocalyptic novel 'Then' delves into the heart of darkness

17 Aug 2011

‘Oh dear, I’m sorry!’ says Julie Myerson. She’s apologising for giving me nightmares with her latest novel, Then. ‘Well, I’m only half-sorry as I suppose I do want to have that effect.’ The London-based writer has never shirked from disconcerting…

EIBF 2011: five book-to-screen adaptations

Featuring Joe Dunthorne, Val McDermid, Michel Faber, Alan Hollinghurst and Alexander McCall Smith

17 Aug 2011

Joe Dunthorne With his debut, Submarine, the Welsh poet and author captured the peculiar, rainy-day awkwardness of adolescence, and Richard Ayoade’s film, with Dunthorne’s assistance, did a fair old stab at bringing it further to life. 19 Aug…

Edinburgh International Book Fest 2011: 5 poetry picks

Featuring Michael Longley, Robin Robertson, Czeslaw Milosz, Wendy Cope and John Burnside

17 Aug 2011

Michael Longley One of the most decorated verse-conjurors at this year’s festival, the Belfast-born writer has the TS Eliot Poetry Prize, a Whitbread and the Hawthornden Prize under his belt as well as being the proud recipient of the 2001 Queen’s…

First Writes: Sunjeev Sahota, author of Ours are the Streets

The debut author discusses his first novel, Edinburgh and some of his favourite novels

17 Aug 2011

Give us five words to describe Ours are the Streets? Fathers. Sons. Responsibilities. Belonging. Home. Which author should be more famous than they are now and why? I don’t know how famous or not she is, but I don’t think I hear that much in the UK…

Jo Nesbø

Crafty Oslo crime scribe brings us his fiendish ’tec

17 Aug 2011

There are many ways to cause a fatality, and crime writers are renowned for finding the most imaginative route to the grave possible. But Norwegian author Jo Nesbø has really outdone himself in his latest novel The Leopard. His serial killer’s…

First word: Bob Servant

Hero of Dundee (and creation of Neil Forsyth) on Jesus, Brian Cox and Broughty Ferry

16 Aug 2011

Bob Servant, Hero of Dundee (and creation of Neil Forsyth) talks to The List about Jesus, Brian Cox and Broughty Ferry First record you ever bought The theme tune to Puff the Magic Dragon. I have never heard anything sum up life’s challenges better…

Darren Shan, Barry Hutchison and Alexander Gordon Smith talk horror

Creating terrifying tales for teenage readers at the EIBF

16 Aug 2011

As far as groundings in the horror business go, young adult writer Barry Hutchison knew exactly what fear was from an early age. ‘I lived in a perpetual state of terror when I was a kid,’ says the Fort William-based creator of the Invisible Fiends…

Horror Stories for Kids at 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

Darren Shan, Barry Hutchison & Alexander Gordon Smith talk horror

16 Aug 2011

Gordon Ferris - The Hanging Shed

Evoking the dark side of 1950s Scotland

16 Aug 2011

For an author whose subject matters might be referred to as solidly traditional – a compelling combination of post-war historical drama and ripping crime thriller – Gordon Ferris is at the leading edge of a publishing revolution. The first two novels in…

Grant Morrison - Supergods at 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

Tracing the flashy history of superheroes

16 Aug 2011

If anyone knows what makes a great superhero, it’s Grant Morrison. Having written for both Marvel and DC, the Glaswegian has made valuable contributions to the popular mythology of Batman, Superman and Fantastic Four. In Supergods, he traces his own…

Bella Bathurst - The Bicycle Book

New literary vehicle for Lighthouse Stevensons author

16 Aug 2011

Bella Bathurst’s The Bicycle Book navigates the past and present of two-wheeled travel. From the suffragettes who recognised it as a ‘freedom machine’ to the huge rise in cycling’s popularity in Britain since the millennium, it features a cast of…

Kristin Hersh set for Edinburgh Festival show

Indie rock goddess brings new memoir, spoken word and live music

10 Aug 2011

Alternative rock idol Kristin Hersh is spoiling us. She’s playing four shows in the Edinburgh festival, although she doesn’t realise it. ‘Am I? I don’t know!’ she laughs. ‘I’ll do whatever you say...’ The List is tempted to exploit this congenial…

Interview: Ali Smith - There but for the

Scottish writer appears at 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

9 Aug 2011

There can be few more anxious experiences for an author than turning to the literary section of a newspaper as the book they have slogged over for possibly years is taken apart by a faceless critic. One national paper gave Ali Smith the fright of her…

Ned Beauman set for Edinburgh International Book Festival appearance

Debutant with a palate for the distasteful

9 Aug 2011

Ned Beauman’s first novel, Boxer, Beetle, comes prefaced with the rather haughty caveat: ‘This is a novel for people with breeding. Only people with the right genes and the wrong impulses will find its marriage of bold ideas and deplorable characters…

Five Edinburgh Book Festival guests you'll know from TV

Lucy Worsley, Bettany Hughes, Alexei Sayle, Kirsty Wark and Peter Taylor

9 Aug 2011

Lucy Worsley Delving into the intimate history of old homes and buildings is Worsley’s prime passion and her BBC Four series and book If Walls Could Talk pretty much sums it up. During her years of research, she has uncovered the fact that bedrooms…

Julia Donaldson - Simon Puttock, Vivian French and Guy Bass on the new Children’s Laureate

Author events set for 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

9 Aug 2011

‘Julia Donaldson is unique in the nicest way,’ says former Book Festival Children’s Writer in Residence Vivian French. ‘She’s passionate about stories, whether in the form of books, songs or plays, and her enthusiasm is infectious.’ French is…

Christopher Brookmyre set for Edinburgh Book Festival appearance

Name-shifting Scottish scribe retains his trademarks

9 Aug 2011

Richard T Kelly set for Edinburgh Book Festival appearance

Author of The Possessions of Doctor Forrest

9 Aug 2011

In his second novel, Richard T Kelly conjures up a thrilling romp about three Scottish medics. Here he offers his prognosis on our sickly Q&A Give us five words to describe The Possessions of Doctor Forrest The ones I’d borrow from reviews would be…

Stephen Kelman set for Edinburgh Book Festival appearance

Author of Booker longlisted Pigeon English

9 Aug 2011

Probably most humdrum offices in Britain hide an aspiring creative type who dreams of ditching the day job and succeeding at what they love. For Stephen Kelman, the dream came dramatically true. Penned while he worked as a council administrator, his…

Kevin MacNeil - Revamping a classic RLS tale

Book Festival appearance by author of A Method Actor's Guide to Jekyll and Hyde

9 Aug 2011

A sense of place is very important to Kevin MacNeil. You can see it in his 2005 novel, The Stornoway Way, and it’s there with the evocative Edinburgh setting he’s conjured up for A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde. ‘I like the place where a novel…

Joanne Limburg - The Woman Who Thought Too Much

Author of OCD-themed novel appears at Edinburgh Book Festival

9 Aug 2011

We all have stuff we worry about. Job security; an awful accident happening to our loved ones; what tune we should have played at our funeral? That kind of thing. But when it comes to full-on fretting, most of us are rank amateurs next to poet Joanne…

Jenny Erpenbeck set for 2011 Edinburgh Book Festival

Revisiting Germany’s troubled past

9 Aug 2011

‘An extraordinarily strong book by a major German author, ingeniously translated, produced with love by an idealistic publisher intent on doing something about the shamefully small proportion of foreign literature whose existence our country…

Caitlin Moran set for Edinburgh Book Festival appearance

A self-deprecating take on womanhood

9 Aug 2011

With Germaine Greer’s recent Newsnight debacle dragging the feminist cause kicking and screaming back to the dark days, it’s time to hail the new messiah: Caitlin Moran. Not for nothing has this Brighton-born writer impressed. Aged just 15, the young…

Sapphire

Author of "Push" among highlights of this years International Book Festival

22 Jul 2011

Now in its second year under new directorship, the Edinburgh International Book Festival is striding with yet more purpose across the August landscape. As well as the usual array of dazzling literary talent from around the globe and on our doorstep, the…

Interview: Joe Dunthorne - author of Submarine and Wild Abandon

Edinburgh shows with Unbound, Aisle16, Luke Wright and Tim Clare

21 Jul 2011

The day before our phone interview, Joe Dunthorne was on Radio 4, bantering with Tim Key about the perfect opening line. Chatting to him the next day, it appears the Welsh-born poet, short story writer and novelist has worked out a potential strategy.

Advertising, Mad Men and the future - John Hegarty interview

Advertising guru set for Edinburgh Book Festival 2011

8 Jul 2011

"In the end, virtually everything I work on is, to a certain extent, irrelevant." After the best part of an hour's chat in which John Hegarty has pretty much sold me on the unparalleled joys and benefits of advertising, it's a refreshing shock to the…

Debut novelists at 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival

Rebecca Hunt, Adam Levin and Mary Horlock among visiting authors

8 Jul 2011

Charlotte Square Gardens will be teeming with quality first novels for the whole of August, one of which will receive the EIBF's Newton First Book Award. Brian Donaldson looks at the cream of this year's debutants

Highlights of the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011

Alasdair Gray's Fleck, Kristin Hersh and Heather Brooke among picks

8 Jul 2011

An event with the writer of landmark works such as Lanark and Poor Things is exciting enough, but the Book Festival has cranked up the fever to 11 with another excellent first. In 2007 Gray wrote Fleck, an adaptation of Goethe's Faust and the closing…

But what books do children actually like?

Never mind publishers and literary critics, what are the readers' favourites?

8 Jul 2011

Of course, stuffy literary critics shouldn't always have the final say. Kelly Apter finds out which authors actual children (including List critics' own) are getting excited about

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 programme

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 line up highlights

Grant Morrison, Will Self and Jo Nesbø among highlights

16 Jun 2011

A selection of international authors, a bunch of Scottish novelists, an array of top non-fiction scribes, a host of children’s writers and a series of exciting innovations: yes, it’s just another Edinburgh International Book Festival programme. A cliché…

Timeline - Summer music festivals 2011 from Scotland and beyond

A chronological list of the best festivals in Scotland and beyond

27 May 2011

A chronological list of the most significant festivals happening in Scotland this summer, along with the biggest and best from the rest of the UK and beyond.

Why Edinburgh remains unrivalled as a festival city

A huge number and variety of festivals take place each year

16 Feb 2011

In 1961, a theatre director made a proposal. It was his opinion that the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was getting too big. It would be much better, he said, ‘if only ten halls were licensed’. Nobody listened. Had the director been able to travel…

The best upcoming events in Scotland 2011

The best upcoming events in Scotland in 2011

Highlights of the 2011 cultural calandar from Film, Music, Comedy, Theatre and Visual Art

3 Jan 2011

Huge gigs, inspiring theatre productions, comedy legends and two cute little waving bears – just a few of the things coming up in ‘11 that we can barely contain our excitement about

Leanne Shapton

Crafting a wholly original literary conceit

22 Aug 2010

Title aside, Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry is one of the most intriguing US publications from the last 12 months. The story of a couple’s…

Top 5 kids shows at Edinburgh Book Festival 2010

The festival’s last lap features some iconic characters, authors and places

22 Aug 2010

Julia Donaldson Along with Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, JD’s first event contains an impressive amount of songs, stories and drawings, while event number two is a solo affair in which she will regale the nippers and their guardians with a tale…

Rupert Thomson and Maggie Gee set for Edinburgh Book Festival appearance

Author of This Party’s Got to Stop

22 Aug 2010

With This Party’s Got to Stop, the author of Death of a Murderer and Divided Kingdom has penned a darkly humorous account of how he and his brothers returned to their Eastbourne family home for seven months after their father passed away in 1984. This…

Peter Mandelson appearing at Book Fest

The Dark Lord Cometh

20 Aug 2010

Love him or loath him, it’s sure to be a fascinating night at the Edinburgh International Book Festival when the Prince of Darkness heads to the capital. Following the recent furore surrounding the penning of his swiftly scribed memoirs, Peter Mandelson…

Mark Beaumont to give talk at Edinburgh Book Festival

Enduring the elements on two wheels and two feet

18 Aug 2010

It’s been an incredible year for Mark Beaumont. Nine months cycling and mountaineering, solo, down the backbone of America were followed by three months of back-to-back public appearances. But before writing his second book – the first covers his…

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