How to Live a Meaningful Life
About our events
We like our books to uplift and inspire us as well as to inform us. Our programme is full of moments of joy and connection, and ways to explore the things that make our hearts sing and ache in equal measure.
Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, issues a call to arms to protect childhood; Katy Hessel shares her insights on How to Live an Artful Life; Poorna Bell explores women who have defied society’s ‘rules’; Prue Leith extols the liberty and expected joys of aging; Sarah Perry looks at death and dignity with devastating grace; iconic Agony Aunt Philippa Perry hosts a very special live edition of Ask Philippa; and Buffy’s Book Club returns with a brand new event, Brief Encounters.
Philosopher Julian Baggini dives into what coffee means to us (alongside a special tasting with Santu Coffee), Norway’s Future Library announces its next sensational writer, and our new series, Pen Pals, highlights glorious creative friendships between some of our favourite writers, including Ann Patchett and Meg Mason.
You can also enjoy the fruits of the Festival’s year-round Communities Programmes, with our special Where We Are exhibition, and young people from the Spartan Foundation’s Alternative School share their imaginative writing.
List of Events
Open House
You’re invited to our Open House! Bring your friends and join Festival director Jenny Niven and Festival guests as they take you through…
Ask Philippa – Live
Sometimes we need a helping hand to untie life’s trickier knots, be it falling out with a close friend or a messy situationship. Fear not:…Catherine Opie & Del LaGrace Volcano: Radical Imagery
This year, EAF (Edinburgh Art Festival) welcomes the radical work of two cult American photographers: Catherine Opie and Del LaGrace…Eating and Waiting to Eat: Podcast Live – with Ben Lippett
Two Americans walk into a bakery and leave with a podcast. Not the start of a joke, but the origin story of Kevin Rivers and Carlos…Word Salad
Hungry for some hearty food chat? Peter Simpson, editor of The Skinny’s food magazine GNAW, hosts a spirited round table with Times…
Frank Cottrell-Boyce: A British Childhood
What does it mean to be young in Britain today? As Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce has met children from many – often…
Meera Sodha: A Life Well Fed
When craving comfort and nourishment, Meera Sodha is a name we all trust. As a food columnist for the Guardian and author of bestselling…Benny Higgins: A Life in Reading
At fifteen, growing up football-mad on a Glasgow housing scheme, Benny Higgins received a letter from his grandfather — a Clydeside docker…
Polly Atkin & Gillian Best: Pain, Presence, Possibility
How do we live well in bodies that don’t make life easy? In Swimming the Seasons, Polly Atkin finds relief, freedom, and joy in year-round…
Jack Parlett & Imogen Willetts: Burn Bright All Night
Flamboyance shines throughout culture in art, entertainment, protest, and fashion. It’s at its shiniest when darkness descends and bars and…
Daisy Fancourt & Wayne McGregor: The Art of Health
What if you could dance yourself smarter? Or paint away pain? This fascinating discussion between world-leading scientist Daisy Fancourt…
Donna Ashworth & Hannah Richell: Life Beyond Loss
Navigating loss is a path we will all have to tread. Donna Ashworth and Hannah Richell help us plot a course. An Ocean and a Day is…Brief Encounters with Buffy's Book Club
Lizzy Hadfield has long been a tastemaker, but with Buffy’s Book Club she took London and New York’s literary scenes by storm. Join her at…
Pen Pals: Tash Aw & Édouard Louis
From the moment they met at a literary festival, Tash Aw and Édouard Louis’ friendship was intertwined with their creative processes. Aw,…The Compassion Salon: Book Festival Edition
Compassion is at the heart of community, something which social entrepreneur, healthcare academic, and author Dr Marti Balaam has nurtured…Poorna Bell: She Wanted More
She Wanted More is Poorna Bell’s urgent and wise exploration of women who have shunned society’s ‘rules’ to forge their own paths, no…
Stephen Grosz: Love’s Labour
If Stephen Grosz’s bestseller The Examined Life was a guidebook for living well, Love’s Labour is a roadmap for how to love better: our…
Lauren Elkin & Astrid Jorgensen: Raise Your Voice
Pitchy or pitch-perfect, our voices hold power. In Average at Best, Astrid Jorgensen details her journey from introvert to stage star,…
Hannah French: The Rolling Year
Eating with the seasons is one thing, but have you ever tuned your ear to them? Dr Hannah French did while writing The Rolling Year:…
Brigid Collins & Christine De Luca: Such Fragile Futures
What does it mean to bring tender attention to our encounters with nature? Join artist Brigid Collins and poet Christine De Luca as they…
Immortalising Sisterhood: The Salon
Connection lies at the heart of sisterhood and tonight, Gemma Cairney takes over the Speigeltent for a cabaret-style evening of music,…
The Book That Changed My Mind
Books can soothe, expand, and stimulate our minds – but can they change them completely? In this thought-provoking panel event - chaired by…
Peter Meades & Frank Tallis: Midlife, Masculinity, and Meaning
How do you keep going when the old ways of coping no longer work? Clinical psychologists Frank Tallis and Peter Meades approach this…