Don Paterson: A Poet's Life

Captioned

Famous for his poetry, Don Paterson’s new book barely mentions it. Toy Fights is a raw, brutally honest, and painfully funny memoir about his first 20 years, shot through with a passion for music. Paterson explains, this is ‘a book about schizophrenia, hell, money, narcissists, debt and the working class, anger, swearing, drugs, books, football, love’… and bags of Dundonian self-deprecation. He talks with the director of V&A Dundee, Leonie Bell.

Book Festival News

Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival Celebrating the 2024 Book Festival
Monday 26 August

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Can Artists Still Break the Rules? Revisiting Strategy: Get Arts Can Artists Still Break the Rules? Revisiting Strategy: Get Arts In August 1970, Richard Demarco collaborated with the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf to stage Strategy: Get Arts, an exhibition at the Edinburgh College of Art. It featured works by Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke and other now-canonical artists from… Jack Monroe at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Jack Monroe at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Good food should be affordable for everyone. Jack Monroe is an active anti-poverty campaigner and her recipe books – including Cooking on a Bootstrap and Tin Can Cook – are about making simple yet delicious recipes on a shoestring, based on her own… Eimear McBride: Disgust Eimear McBride: Disgust ‘Women are really angry. I am… I do feel a really deep, burning sense of injustice at the way women are treated in our world and I want to write about that.’ So said Eimear McBride in a recent interview and she has seen through that impulse with a… Arundhati Roy: Portal to a New World Arundhati Roy: Portal to a New World We are thrilled to welcome back one of the world’s best-respected authors to discuss her new book of essays, Azadi. The slogan of the struggle in Kashmir for what Kashmiris regard as the Indian occupation, ‘Azadi!’ is the Urdu for ‘Freedom!’. It also… Lisa Taddeo: Violently in Love Lisa Taddeo: Violently in Love In her bestselling non-fiction book Three Women, Lisa Taddeo gave an account of the defining sexual relationships in three real women’s lives. Now the American author turns her hand to fiction, and her debut novel Animal opens with a bang – literally… Joanne Harris at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Joanne Harris at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Vianne Rocher is back, but trouble could be brewing in Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. Joanne Harris revisits the world of Chocolat 20 years on. In The Strawberry Thief, life has settled down for Rocher, but the death of a local florist brings fresh upheaval to… Cherie Jones: Behind the Barbadian Picture Postcard Cherie Jones: Behind the Barbadian Picture Postcard Barbados: the iconic location of runaway honeymoons, white sandy beaches, turquoise and diamond seawater, palm trees and cocktails. Cherie Jones tells a different tale, revealing the hidden – or rather ignored and invisible – side of this supposedly… Hans Ulrich Obrist: Art for Earth’s Sake Hans Ulrich Obrist: Art for Earth’s Sake What is the role of an art exhibition space, if not a forum for ideas and a catalyst for change? That’s the view of Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries in London and one of the world’s most prominent curators. An inveterate… Pat Nevin with Val McDermid: Scottish Football’s Indie Star Pat Nevin with Val McDermid: Scottish Football’s Indie Star At the height of a luminous playing career, Pat Nevin spent evenings at theatre and ballet performances, and wrote a column in the Chelsea club newspaper, championing his favourite indie bands. He even had the joy of helping John Peel with the admin for… Susan Calman (2018 Event) Susan Calman (2018 Event) The popular broadcaster, talented comedian and, as she recently demonstrated on Strictly, very nifty ballroom dancer is on a mission. With a culture of hatred and vitriol brewing in public and on social media, how can we stimulate more kindness in…