Gordon Brown - 25th Anniversary Opening Event

Ruth Jones (2018 Event) Acclaimed comedy actress and writer Ruth Jones has turned her talents to novel writing. Never Greener ponders the age-old question of whether the grass is a different shade on the other side. Kate had a fling in her early 20s with a married man and when… Nate Silver (2013 event) Statistician, political forecaster and creator of the New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver shot to world fame when he predicted the outcome of all 50 states in the 2012 US Elections… Laura Bates (2016 Event) The founder of the influential online project Everyday Sexism, Laura Bates was in the 2014 Woman's Hour Power List Game Changers Top 10 and is becoming well known for her refusal to accept the female stereotypes peddled by a normative mainstream media… Richard Ford with Kirsty Wark (2017 Event) Richard Ford is one of America’s greatest writers, capturing the changing face of the USA since the late 70s. He writes of the human condition with wit, passion and an uncanny observational eye. His beloved country has gone through seismic shifts in the… Michel Faber (2011 Event) The astonishing, triumphant television adaptation of Michel Faber's novel The Crimson Petal and the White represents a radical new step for the previously tired costume drama genre. In this event, Faber discussed his book with Lucinda Coxon… Ian Rankin - interview Always a favourite and always entertaining, Ian Rankin is the UK's biggest-selling crime author and recipient of countless awards. He is a hot favourite at the Book Festival, where he regularly wins more fans. In this 2007 podcast he chats to Tom Rice… Rutger Bregman: There is Hope for the Human Race (2020 Event) Superbly readable and full of fascinating evidence, historian Bregman’s book Humankind looks at how his optimistic analysis of human nature could play out in policy terms. Hyper-local participatory democracy? Schools with little or no curriculum? A change… Alan Hollinghurst (2011 Event) It's many years since Alan Hollinghurst's last novel, The Line of Beauty, was published – a story so powerful that it beat David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas to win the 2004 Booker Prize. His follow-up, The Stranger's Child… Packie Bonner (2016 Event) The idea that footballers stay with one club throughout their career is almost laughable in these cash and ego-driven times. But Patrick ‘Packie’ Bonner was one such man, keeping goal for Celtic across three decades while making a global name for himself… Ben Mezrich (2011 Event) His last book was adapted to become The Social Network, one of the most successful movies of 2010. Mezrich then turned his attention to another strange-but-true American tale in his novel Sex on the Moon…