Paddy Ashdown

Elizabeth Laird reading Red Wolves in the Mist An engaging new story by a much-admired author of young adult fiction, read by the author herself… Tariq Ali One of the most impassioned and eloquent orators and thinkers of them all, Tariq Ali's events are inspiring and unmissable. In this, his 2008 Book Festival event chaired by Ruth Wishart, you can hear him discuss British politics, South America and much mo… Howard Jacobson Howard Jacobson, the celebrated novelist and leading cultural critic renowned for his ebullient wit and passion for literature and art, talks about his new novel An Act of Love in this 2008 event… Dyslexia debate (2012 event) In this event, recorded live at Edinburgh International Book Festival, prolific children’s writer Vivian French… John Burnside (2017 Event) One of the most acclaimed writers of his generation, poet, memoirist and novelist John Burnside treats us to two new works. The hugely praised Ashland & Vine is the beautifully woven tale of an unlikely friendship between a grieving, semi-alcoholic widow … Jenny Erpenbeck with Michel Faber (2015 Event) If you only read one novel this year, make it The End of Days. A book that takes a series of surprising turns, it confirms German author Jenny Erpenbeck as ‘one of the finest, most exciting authors alive’. That reviewer was fellow novelist Mic… Miguel Syjuco reading Be Here Now The bright and brilliant Filipino-born Man Asian Literary Prize-winner reads his story on the theme of Elsewhere… Fatima Bhutto & Fay Weldon (2010 event) The celebrated Fay Weldon and the superb Fatima Bhutto captivated Book Festival audiences in this 2010 event chaired by Ruth Padel. Despite their widely different backgrounds, both Fay Weldon and Fatima Bhutto share the way in which a parent’s loss affe… Michel Faber (2016 Event) The acclaimed author of Under the Skin and The Book of Strange New Things reads from a collection of deeply moving poems entitled Undying. In tender, bittersweet verse, Michel Faber grieves for his wife Eva who died in 2014 after a six year battle with ca… Outriders: Mariana Enriquez & Kevin MacNeil (2017 event) As part of our project to explore the Americas, Scottish novelist Kevin MacNeil travelled around Argentina with journalist, novelist and short story writer Mariana Enriquez. Starting in Buenos Aires, the writers set off in search of lost voices, both lite…