Richard Dawkins

Mike Berners-Lee at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Warnings of looming environmental catastrophe rain down on us with increasing frequency, and only the most ardent climate change sceptics deny we live at a crucial point for the Earth's future. Join sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee in a live convers… Jasper Fforde (2018 Event) Jasper Fforde has spent years on the bestseller lists with his Thursday Next books. Now he’s written a standalone novel, Early Riser, creating a world where all humans hibernate except for the Winter Consuls. Fforde’s ability to write alternat… Hallie Rubenhold: The Problem with Great Men (2020 Event) Of the five women who died in the Autumn of 1888 at the hands of Jack the Ripper, the most salient thing that has remained in the public imagination has been the brutal manner of their murders. While the identity of the murderer has been the subject of re… Charley Boorman (2017 Event) Motorcycle adventurer Charley Boorman experienced every rider’s worst fear when he was involved in a major road accident in 2016. Doubts were raised whether he would ever walk again, never mind get back on his bike, but in this event, recorded live … Paul Durcan (2012 event) 'If there were a prize for best reader of one’s own poems, Paul Durcan would probably win it hands down,' proclaimed the… Bill Paterson Bill Paterson, one of Scotland's most renowned and best-loved actors, talks with Ruth Wishart about his much-awaited memoir Tales from the Back Green in this 2008 event. It's a wonderful portrait of growing up in Glasgow's East End in the 1950s… Martin Amis We were delighted when Martin Amis agreed to speak at a special Book Festival autumn event at Edinburgh's Queens Hall in 2006. A rare visit to Scotland by one of the most admired and influential writers of his generation was indeed cause for celebration. … Vince Cable Known for his intelligent and honest approach to party politics, Vince Cable has been the Lib Dem's economic spokesperson since 2003 and it is from this viewpoint he has witnessed the storm of the economic crisis. He talks about his new book in this event… Etgar Keret & Alain Mabanckou (2015 Event) Hear two internationally acclaimed novelists who now turn their hands to memoir. Etgar Keret was declared ‘a genius’ by the New Yorker: The Seven Good Years, translated into English… Eleanor Thom reading Sassuolo The young Glasgow-based writer reads her contribution to our Elsewhere project - a collection of new writing on the theme of Elsewhere…