Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 20–23 August

Highlights of the 2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival In August 2016, the Edinburgh International Book Festival welcomed over 800 writers, illustrators, poets, politicians and philosophers from 55 countries to Charlotte Square Gardens in a packed programme of passionate ideas, engaged debates and pure… Éric Vuillard & Mark Polizzotti with Amelia Gentleman Writer and film-maker Éric Vuillard was catapulted to fame in his native France when he won the Prix Goncourt in 2017 for his novel The Order of the Day, set in Austria in the lead-up to the Second World War. This also began the working relationship… Adrian Tchaikovsky: Future Tense (with Aliens) Arthur C Clarke Award-winning Adrian Tchaikovsky is a sci-fi legend, celebrated for his epic world-building. He talks to Ann Landmann, exploring what imagining distant futures can teach us about our earthly world. Have sci-fi writers been ahead of the… Nick Bryant with Allan Little: The History of Donald Trump Any journalist reporting from the USA over the past 50 years was in for a fascinating experience, but to have been there during the Trump era was something else entirely. As one of the BBC’s senior TV reporters in the States, Nick Bryant witnessed a… Helle Helle (2015 Event) In Denmark, Helle Helle’s novels have garnered a mixture of critical acclaim, literary awards, and popularity with readers. Now, the highly-respected Danish author’s work has been translated into English for the first time by Martin Aitken… Melvyn Bragg at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg returns to the Festival with a fresh take on a classic love story. Novelist Arthur travels to Paris to retell the tale of Heloise and Abelard, 12th century lovers whose affair was doomed. The surprise appearance of his… Andy Burnham & Steve Rotheram: Another Way – Politics Post-Westminster 25 years since the Devolution Act, two English city Mayors come together to offer rare insight into politics from outside the Westminster bubble. In Head North, the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, Andy Burnham and Steve… Peter Ross: The Stories and Glories of Graveyards How is it possible that a book about graveyards can be so full of life? The colourful characters who populate Peter Ross’s non-fiction book, A Tomb with a View, include a bisexual Italian Bohemian hedonist named Marchesa Luisa Casati, who is buried in… Marina Warner (2016 Event) Marina Warner's defining, shapeshifting presence in British literature finds new form in a book of short stories, Fly Away Home. Currently Professor of English at Birkbeck College, Warner was also chair of the Man Booker International Prize jury in 2015… Howard Jacobson (2015 Event) A welcome return to Charlotte Square Gardens for the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2010 who was also shortlisted last year for his acclaimed Huxley-esque dystopian drama, J. Recently, Howard Jacobson has been reflecting in the media on one of his early…