Fascinating Non Fiction
About our events
From the Bard to the Barrowlands, forensics to football – the best of the year’s non-fiction offers revolutions, revelations, and the intimate human stories behind the headlines.
How many FOI requests does it take to tell an accurate story? Andrew Lownie’s Entitled meticulously charts the rise and fall of the modern House of York, while Oliver Bullough explains how dirty money is buying up democracy.
Fiction writers turn to new forms as the legendary Anne Enright enriches us with her essays from across the decades, novelist Mark Haddon reveals the darkly hilarious story of his own childhood, and Louis de Bernières uses his diaries to reflect on his writing life.
Simon Kuper shares the thrill of being at every World Cup since 1990; Nandini Das presents Tudor England anew via its international connections; and in an age of impunity, when violent actions seemingly go unchecked, human rights barrister Philippe Sands reflects on a decade since the publication of East West Street.
Intimate events collide with public narratives as Darren McGarvey examines how personal stories are exploited for wider consumption and David Turner shares untold journeys of disability and resistance from history. Stephen McGinty recounts the devastating events at Dunblane Primary School and examines their legacy, while Baroness Brenda Hale unpacks how the law can be used to protect all of our rights.
List of Events
Anne Enright: Attention
For 30 years, Anne Enright has been paying attention – to literature, to Ireland, to the voices and bodies of women – and writing about it…
Gavin Francis: The Unfragile Mind
Between 30-50% of GP consultations now concern mental health. As a GP for over 20 years, Gavin Francis has had a front row seat to…
Len Pennie & Sophia Smith Galer: Use It or Lose It
When a language disappears, what else are we at risk of losing – culturally, politically, and personally? In her powerful new book, How to…
Mark Haddon: Leaving Home
As an artist and multi-million copy bestselling writer, Mark Haddon is known for constructing vivid worlds through his imagery and…
Orlando Swayne: How to Use a Fork
A consultant neurologist with a particular interest in neurorehabilitation, Orlando Swayne’s work has taught him that a brain that’s been…
Amber Husain & Rebecca May Johnson: Eating Their Words
Why are domestic kitchens deemed ‘women’s spaces’ while most Michelin-starred chefs are men? What does it mean to follow your appetite,…Ashley Douglas, Kate Lister & Jean Menzies: Ladies of Pleasure
Women’s sexuality is often missing from the history books, but reading between the lines can reveal a lot about how female pleasure has…
Emma-Lee Moss: My Cantopop Nights
Singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss, AKA Emmy the Great, reflects with Katie Goh on her personal journey through music, fandom, and identity…
Rachel Aviv & Catherine Carr: It’s All Relative
Two skilled storytellers meet to mine the rich vein of family dynamics. In You Won’t Get Free of It, The New Yorker journalist Rachel Aviv…
Rachel Aviv: Strangers to Ourselves
Join long-time New Yorker journalist Rachel Aviv, renowned for her in-depth reporting on topics ranging from police shootings in…
Andrea Wulf: The Traveller
Step into the shoes of the most consequential man you’ve maybe never heard of. Award-winning historian Andrea Wulf talks to Fiammetta Rocco…
Aonghus MacKechnie: City of Romanticism
A castellated, stone city draped over a dramatic landscape – travellers have been drawn to the romantic beauty of Edinburgh’s architecture…How Can We Build a Feminist Scotland?
In Building a Feminist Nation, social justice campaigner Talat Yaqoob, modern historian Helen O’Shea, and Law professor Kim Barker…
Janina Ramirez: Legenda
Cultural historian Janina Ramirez is turning history on its head again. Following the success of Femina – her instant bestseller exploring…
Tari Lang: My Neighbour, The Dictator
At the age of 14, Tari Lang’s life took a turbulent turn when both of her parents were imprisoned without trial during Indonesia’s 1965…Colin Grant: What We Leave We Carry
Colin Grant is renowned for his compelling work documenting the experiences of migrant communities, from the Windrush generation to his own…
Susan Orlean: Joyride
For four decades, legendary New Yorker journalist Susan Orlean has illuminated other people’s lives with wit and forensic curiosity. In…
Marc Mierowsky: A Spy Amongst Us
It’s 1706, and Edinburgh's streets are a powder keg as the Scots protest the planned union with England. But as Marc Mierowsky’s A Spy…
Tiffany Jenkins: Strangers and Intimates
Perceptions of privacy and our right to it have changed across centuries and cultures, but in the age of surveillance and social media,…
Simukai Chigudu: Chasing Freedom
Oxford University’s associate professor of African politics, Simukai Chigudu is part of the ‘Born Free’ generation, raised as colonial rule…
Sophie Pinkham: The Oak and the Larch
From the Mongol invasion to the days of the Tsars, the Soviet Union to Putin’s war in Ukraine, Russia is a nation with a difficult and…
Alistair Moffat: The North Sea
Alistair Moffat has always combined lyrical prose with fascinating storytelling, leading to over 30 acclaimed books delving into the…
Steve Brusatte & Jackie Morris: Birds – Evolution and Extinction
Every Jurassic Park fan knows dinosaurs eventually evolved into birds, and in The Story of Birds, leading palaeontologist and film adviser…