News Archive

"It's an act of executive speech even if it’s insane and absurd": Masha Gessen on President Trump

"It's an act of executive speech even if it’s insane and absurd": Masha Gessen on President Trump
Sun 30 August 2020

Russian-American author and journalist Masha Gessen discussed power, President Trump and their book Surviving Autocracy with human rights QC Philippe Sands at the Book Festival Online this afternoon…

Kit de Waal: “They should be afraid of the working class”

Kit de Waal: “They should be afraid of the working class”
Fri 28 August 2020

A formidable line-up of artists took to the Book Festival's digital stage for an impassioned conversation about the value of working class voices and representation in the arts…

“Seize it – it will not be given” – Samantha Power in Conversation with Allan Little

“Seize it – it will not be given” – Samantha Power in Conversation with Allan Little
Thu 27 August 2020

In a conversation which covered her time from a war correspondent in Bosnia to her roles as Human Rights Advisor to President Barack Obama and US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power spoke this evening to BBC special correspondent and Chair of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Allan Little in the Frederick Hood Memorial Lecture…

Ann Goldstein: The Forgotten Art of Translation

Ann Goldstein: The Forgotten Art of Translation
Thu 27 August 2020

“It’s good for translators to be public because they’re sort of forgotten” Ann Goldstein, translator of the internationally successful novels by Elena Ferrante, said in conversation with Lennie Goodings at Edinburgh International Book Festival Online. She went on to say that huge amounts of text will be quotes “as if the author wrote that, but they didn’t, the translator did”…

 Susan Abulhawa: Internationally Bestselling Palestinian Writer

Susan Abulhawa: Internationally Bestselling Palestinian Writer
Thu 27 August 2020

One of Palestine’s most accomplished and internationally best-selling novelists, Susan Abulhawa, discussed her new novel Against The Loveless World with the prize-winning Egyptian novelist and political commentator Ahdaf Soueif at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Online this afternoon…

“I’m as happy as a cow with seven udders”: 2020 International Booker Prize Winner Marieke Lucas Rijneveld Speaks

“I’m as happy as a cow with seven udders”: 2020 International Booker Prize Winner Marieke Lucas Rijneveld Speaks
Wed 26 August 2020

Following the announcement of The Discomfort of Evening as the winner of the 2020 International Booker Prize this afternoon, winning author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and translator Michele Hutchison, along with their interpreter Johanna McCalmont, joined Chair of the Judges Ted Hodgkinson in their first public interview at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Online this evening…

Helen Macdonald discusses her new collection, Vesper Flights

Helen Macdonald discusses her new collection, Vesper Flights
Wed 26 August 2020

Helen Macdonald, award winning author of H is for Hawk, introduced her new collection of essays Vesper Flights at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Online, in a reflective hour of conversation with Charlotte Higgins, Chief Culture writer for the Guardian…

Maryse Condé: "You have given yourself the right to laugh and to enjoy laughing"

Maryse Condé: "You have given yourself the right to laugh and to enjoy laughing"
Tue 25 August 2020

Maryse Condé was joined by her husband and translator, Richard Philcox, in a conversation with Maya Jaggi at the Book Festival Online today, discussing her recent novel, The Wondrous and Tragic Life of Ivan and Ivana…

"We need to treat connectivity as a water supply": discussing the digital divide at the Book Festival

"We need to treat connectivity as a water supply": discussing the digital divide at the Book Festival
Tue 25 August 2020

Iain MacRitchie and Richard Thanki discussed the importance of being connected – especially now – in an event chaired by Marjorie Lofti Gill at the Book Festival Online this morning…

Democracy Activist Calls for Hong Kong Voices to be Heard Around the World

Democracy Activist Calls for Hong Kong Voices to be Heard Around the World
Sun 23 August 2020

23 year old Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong called for the voices of Hong Kongers to be heard around the world in a live conversation at the Book Festival online this afternoon…

Bernardine Evaristo Speaks on Representation for Black Writers in British Publishing

Bernardine Evaristo Speaks on Representation for Black Writers in British Publishing
Sat 22 August 2020

Bernardine Evaristo spoke to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, at the Book Festival Online this evening about her ground-breaking novel Girl, Woman, Other…

Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the Europe Green Deal: “We are poisoning our own habitat at an incredible rate”

Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the Europe Green Deal: “We are poisoning our own habitat at an incredible rate”
Sat 22 August 2020

Gordon Brown called for a message of hope in his conversation with Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Commission’s Green Deal this evening at the Edinburgh International Book Festival online…

Lola Olufemi & Minna Salami: “The core of black feminism is anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist."

Lola Olufemi & Minna Salami: “The core of black feminism is anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist."
Sat 22 August 2020

“The past few months has us talking about race and gender in ways we haven’t before” said author Minna Salami in a conversation with Lola Olufemi chaired by Jade Bentil at the Edinburgh International Book Festival online this afternoon…

Winners of James Tait Black Prizes Announced at the Book Festival Online

Winners of James Tait Black Prizes Announced at the Book Festival Online
Fri 21 August 2020

The winners of the James Tait Black Prizes were announced by broadcaster Sally Magnusson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Online this afternoon. A memoir by poet George Szirtes whose mother was a survivor of the Holocaust and Lucy Ellman’s novel told entirely via the internal monologue of an Ohio mother of four have won the UK’s longest-running literary awards. Szirtes and Ellman join the illustrious list of authors who have won the James Tait Black Prizes, awarded annually by the University…

Global Audiences Tune In to Opening Weekend of the Book Festival Online

Global Audiences Tune In to Opening Weekend of the Book Festival Online
Thu 20 August 2020

The opening weekend of the Edinburgh International Book Festival online was always going to be a leap of faith – for authors, audiences and for the Book Festival’s own team…

Marian Keyes Announces Sequel to Rachel’s Holiday

Marian Keyes Announces Sequel to Rachel’s Holiday
Wed 19 August 2020

“I wondered how Rachel from Rachel’s Holiday was getting on. I’ve started a sequel and I’m a good way into it” said Marian Keyes, to the delight of her fans and event chair Jenny Colgan at the Book Festival Online this evening…

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi Shines a Light on Ugandan Feminism

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi Shines a Light on Ugandan Feminism
Wed 19 August 2020

Today, the recipient of the 2018 Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi joined editor and culture columnist of The Economist, Fiammetta Rocco at the Edinburgh International Book Festival online,…

Helen Skelton and Lily Dyu challenge young audiences to get adventurous at home

Helen Skelton and Lily Dyu challenge young audiences to get adventurous at home
Tue 18 August 2020

In a Baillie Gifford Children’s Programme event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Online this afternoon, BBC presenter and adventurer Helen Skelton and runner, writer and wannabe astronaut Lily Dyu challenged their young audience to get adventurous on their own back doorstep…

Hallie Rubenhold On History and The Problem with Great Men

Hallie Rubenhold On History and The Problem with Great Men
Tue 18 August 2020

“We don’t learn history from statues in our squares. You learn history from books, and we learn history from public discussion” said historian and author of The Five, Hallie Rubenhold in conversation with Sheena McDonald at her Edinburgh International Book Festival Online event today…

Linn Ullmann: "Memories are stories, they are not documentaries”

Linn Ullmann: "Memories are stories, they are not documentaries”
Mon 17 August 2020

“Memory is who we are. When we tell stories about ourselves it isn’t about memory. Memories are stories, they are not documentaries.” Linn Ullman, daughter of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman and Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullman, discussed Unquiet, her heavily autobiographical novel with Lee Randall at the Book Festival today…

Hilary Mantel Hopes to ‘Surprise Herself’ with New Short Stories

Hilary Mantel Hopes to ‘Surprise Herself’ with New Short Stories
Sun 16 August 2020

The author of Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light spoke about her groundbreaking historical novel trilogy, and what life after Thomas Cromwell might look like…

Rutger Bregman: "Changing the world often starts with telling a different story"

Rutger Bregman: "Changing the world often starts with telling a different story"
Sun 16 August 2020

Dutch historian Rutger Bregman set out the fascinating argument for adopting a positive view of the human race today at the Edinburgh International Book Festival…

Alycia Pirmohamed wins the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2020

Alycia Pirmohamed wins the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2020
Sat 15 August 2020

The Edwin Morgan Trust has announced Alycia Pirmohamed as the winner of the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2020 in a special online Book Festival event…

Our New Bookshop is Now Online

Our New Bookshop is Now Online
Mon 10 August 2020

The Bookshop offers titles from every author in the 2020 programme and showcases a range of books from Scottish publishers…