Podcasts from the 2007 Book Festival

Author interviews, interesting snippets, a bit of chat and a few event excerpts will give you a taste of what happened at last year's Book Festival. Featuring a fantastic cast of extraordinarily talented folk such as Margaret Atwood, Ian Rankin, William Dalrymple, Alexander McCall Smith, Anita Nair and Julian Clary... enjoy!

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Helen Tse27 August 2007
Xinran XueHelen Tse & Xinran Xue on China

The extraordinary economic and cultural transformation of China and its effects on the rest of the world provided one of the major themes for our festival last year. Here Helen Tse talks about her memoir - the first ever by a British-born Chinese woman - all about the generations of women in her family in China. While radio presenter, columnist and novelist, Xinran Xue sheds new light on her homeland.

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Ian Rankin24 August 2007
Ian Rankin

Always a favourite and always entertaining, Ian Rankin is the UK's biggest-selling crime author and recipient of countless awards. Here he chats to Tom Rice about Rebus, crime, writing and much more.

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Julian Clary19 August 2007
Julian Clary & Rhona Cameron talk about their first novels

Rhona CameronA bit of chat, a sneaky listen at each event and some audience feedback with Julian Clary and Rhona Cameron as they both launch their very first novels at the Book Festival.

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William Dalrymple19 August 2007
William Dalrymple & Anita Nair focus on India

Anita NairA momentous year for India: the 60th anniversary of independence. Join Anita Nair, one of India's most exciting writers and William Dalrymple, whose new book illuminates the siege of Delhi.

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18 August 2007
Screenwriting with William Nicholson & Charlie Fletcher

Screenwriting with William Nicholson & Charlie FletcherAcademy Award nominee William Nicholson (Shadowlands and Gladiator) and Charlie Fletcher (Taggart, Afterlife) are both currently adapting their novels for the screen - what will that mean for the stories? They talk to Tom Rice before their event at the Book Festival and offer a few insights.

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15 August 2007
Interview with multi award-winning author Margaret Atwood

Margaret AtwoodIn an interview with Tom Rice, the great Canadian writer Margaret Atwood talks about her poetry and fiction following sell-out events at 2007 Book Festival. Here she describes her ingenious invention the LongPen: technology that allows authors to sign books on one side of the world, when they are on the other. Norman Mailer and Alice Munro were two such authors who did exactly that at the Book Festival in Edinburgh in 2007.

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Margaret Atwood13 August 2007
An interview with Alexander McCall Smith

An international publishing phenomenon, Alexander McCall Smith chats to Louisa Donaldson about life, the festival and his series of books.

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13 August 2007
All about food with Claire MacDonald and John Dickie

Food and Drink: Best-loved chef and food-writer Claire MacDonald imparts a few tips for making special occasions special with her customary energy and enthusiasm. Italian expert John Dickie chats about Italian cities and their importance to Italy's world-famous cuisine. Both at Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2007.

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12 August 2007
Escape from the East from two young writers

Lewis AlsamariLewis Alsamari fled conscription into Saddam's elite forces, survived being shot, a gruelling desert trek, and an attempt to free his family from Abu Ghraib. Since arriving in the West, he has starred in United 93 about the 9/11 attacks. Marina NematMarina Nemat, an Iranian Christian was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Guard aged sixteen and was saved by her jailer in return for a secret marriage. Powerful personal accounts from two young writers fighting back against fanaticism, both here talking at Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2007.

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Other podcasts and video

Here are the links to some other podcasts and video webcasts, featuring the Book Festival and our authors, on different websites:

Ian Rankin on his new Rebus book (guardian.co.uk)

Douglas Hurd, Andrew Marr, David Davidar, Andrew O'Hagan and others (edfest.tv)

Julia Donaldson and the Gruffalo (bbc.co.uk)

 

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