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
Prue Leith: Being Old and Learning to Love It
Only the lucky grow old – so why is the thought of aging filled with fear and judgement for so many? Former judge of The Great British Bake…
Fuchsia Dunlop: The Magic of Flavour in a Chinese Kitchen
There aren’t many Brits who’ve immersed themselves in Chinese food culture quite like Fuchsia Dunlop – lauded as a ‘world authority’…
Katy Hessel: How to Live an Artful Life
As modern life pulls our attention in every direction, how can we carve space for our creative lives? Katy Hessel has a few ideas – 365 to…
Hélène Giannecchini & Joelle Taylor: Chosen Families
Joelle Taylor (Maryville, C+nto & Othered Poems) and Hélène Giannecchini (An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail) consider the political…Future Library
Norway’s Future Library is a powerful gesture of hope for a world beyond our lifetime. Created by Scottish artist Katie Paterson in 2014,…
Ian Patterson & Cathy Rentzenbrink: Reading Remedies
We suspect that telling you about the radical importance of reading is a bit preach-to-the-choir. Humour us though, as poet and translator…
Pen Pals: Meg Mason & Ann Patchett
You’ll know Meg Mason for her poetically funny Sorrow and Bliss and Sophie, Standing There. You’ll know Ann Patchett for her dazzling Bel…Michael Pedersen and Friends
Get ready for a glorious, riotous, chat-show style evening, hosted by one of Scotland’s best-loved poets and novelists, the Edinburgh Makar…
Pen Pals: Jenny Colgan & Mike Gayle
The friendship between novelists Jenny Colgan and Mike Gayle constantly yields inspiration and cup-filling conversations. When they met in…Julian Baggini: The Book of Coffee
What does coffee mean to you? Perhaps it’s fuel, a morning ritual, a grounding moment of mindfulness. In The Book of Coffee, philosopher…
Victoria Bennett: The Apothecary by the Sea
With the years of early motherhood behind her, Victoria Bennett uprooted her family and moved from Cumbria 500 miles north to Orkney, where…