Valerie Martin

Laird Hunt & Colson Whitehead (2017 Event) Two of the finest writers working in America today take a tour around the dark history of their country. Paul Auster called Laird Hunt's last novel Neverhome 'magnificent'; The Evening Road is his latest, which he discusses in this event, and… Jokha Alharthi at the Edinburgh International Book Festival In May 2019, Jokha Alharthi became the first Arabic language writer to win the Man Booker International Prize for her searing novel Celestial Bodies. She also became the first female Omani novelist to be translated into English thanks to Marilyn Booth… Caroline Lucas (2015 Event) In Honourable Friends? the first UK Green MP, Caroline Lucas reveals the secret workings of parliamentary life and suggests that we could be governed so much better. As a lone voice at her workplace, Lucas is the perfect outsider – ideally… Alan Warner An immensely welcome visit in 2007 from one of Scotland's most dizzingly talented and original writers, now living in Spain. Listen as Alan Warner, author of Morvern Callar and The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven, discusses the scope and ambition of his work… Michel Faber: The ‘Evil Is In The ‘Etail (2020 Event) Reminiscent of Charles Dickens and of Lewis Carroll, Michel Faber’s fable D is a delightful sideways look at the evils of our times. He joins us to discuss Dhikilo’s wild odyssey with literary critic Stuart Kelly in this event recorded for the 2020 Book… A L Kennedy Linguistic brilliance from A L Kennedy, one of the most remarkable writers of her generation. In this 2007 event she talks about her latest novel Day - a moving, profound, beautifully realised story of a bomber in the Second World War… James Kelman James Kelman is the single most influential Scottish novelist of modern times and Scotland's only Booker Prize winner. Listen to him discuss his groundbreaking early work in 2007, the year of its reissue… Sophie Mackintosh & Leni Zumas (2018 Event) Fans of Naomi Alderman’s The Power will appreciate these ambitious political novels about women defying restrictions. Sophie Mackintosh’s The Water Cure centres on three women raised in total isolation and the men who come to find them. Leni… Blake Morrison (2018 Event) The Sunday Times called him ‘One of our most sensitive and stylish writers’ and with his latest book, The Executor, it’s easy to see why. The bestselling novelist and poet Blake Morrison has created a biting portrait of male friendship… Val McDermid: Portrait of a Criminal (2020 Event) Inspired in part by the wildly popular Portrait Artist of the Year competition, the ever-inventive Val McDermid teases the mysterious connection between Still Life and the Sky Arts series in a conversation with one of its widely-admired presenters, Dame…