Valerie Martin

Alexander Masters (2016 Event) In 2001, almost 150 tattered notebooks were discovered in a skip in Cambridge. They were a small part of an intimate diary that began in 1952 and ended half a century later. It took Alexander Masters five years to uncover the identity and real history of… Cecilia Ekbäck & Graeme Macrae Burnet (2016 Event) In the mid-19th century, what unites the Sami people of Lapland and a band of crofters in north-west Scotland? In the fictional worlds of Cecilia Ekbäck and Graeme Macrae Burnet, each community has witnessed a brutal triple murder. Ekbäck’s In The Month… Amy Sackville and Evie Wyld (2013 event) Her debut The Still Point was inspired by the Arctic, and Amy Sackville heads north again with her second novel, Orkney, which confirms that this startlingly original writer is… Powering the Planet (2010 Event) How do we provide fuel for the world without destroying it in the process, and can Scotland really be a key player? Part of our popular debates and environment strand in 2010, this event features a panel of experts to discuss the options… Nadeem Aslam (2013 event) Described by Colm Tóibín as ‘one of the most exciting and serious writers working in Britain now’, Nadeem Aslam’s new book will undoubtedly build his reputation still further… Andy Hamilton (2017 Event) Comic Andy Hamilton has most likely had you bent double with laughter. As well as appearances on panel shows like Have I Got News For You, he co-created Outnumbered and Drop the Dead Donkey, and has written for everything from Not the Nine O’Clock… Chris Packham (2016 Event) As the presenter of BBC's Springwatch, Chris Packham has become one of the nation’s favourite naturalists. But Packham was far from popular as a child: in his brave and lyrical memoir, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar, he recalls life as a solitary child… Norman Mailer - live from America Live from America, the inimitable man of letters Norman Mailer chats via video link-up to Scottish writer Andrew O'Hagan in Edinburgh. Topics discussed in this extraordinary 2007 event include Mailer's career, his ambitions and his latest novel The Castle… Griff Rhys Jones Comedian, writer, broadcaster and presenter, Griff Rhys Jones spoke at the Book Festival about Britain's rivers, taking the audience on a tour of the most beautiful and extraordinary waterways, exploring their place in the country's soul and their… Edwyn Collins & Grace Maxwell with Ian Rankin (2015 Event) ‘Moving beyond words’ was one critic’s response to The Possibilities Are Endless, a documentary charting Edwyn Collins’ return to relative good health after two massive strokes in 2005. That film, and a recent book, were the…