Michèle Roberts & Helen Simpson (2010 event)

Andrew O'Hagan A magnificently intelligent essayist, novelist, critic, and a mesmerising speaker. Andrew O'Hagan talks to Magnus Linklater in this 2008 event about politics, Scotland and his recent collection of reportage on a declining Britain and a rising America, The… The Voices in Our Heads: Creating Characters in Fiction (2014 event) The first sign that a book works is when the characters talk back to their author, and books can represent our internal voices unlike any other art form. A panel of award-winning novelists, Nathan Filer, Edward Carey and Matthew Quick talk about their rel… Shokoofeh Azar: After the Iranian Revolution (2020 Event) When Shokoofeh Azar received the news that she was the first ever Iranian writer to be shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, she was transported back to when she was 15 years old, ‘in the village, surrounded by rainforest and rice fields, and … Steven Berkoff Stunning performer and actor, commander of the stage. Steven Berkoff discusses theatre, travel and world cuisine, focussing on his lastest book, My Life in Food, in this 2008 event… Billy Bragg Thoroughly at home with an audience, political singer and activist Billy Bragg inspires his hundreds of fans with talk of his new book, The Progressive Patriot in this 2007 event… William McIlvanney (2013 Event) Two years ago, fans flocking to see William McIlvanney at the Book Festival shared his exasperation that his seminal crime novels were out of print. Attending that event was Francis Bickmore, editorial director of Canongate, who immediately took action… Jesse Jackson (2015 Event) One of the best-respected and most formidable civil rights activists of the 20th century, the Reverend Jesse Jackson worked for Martin Luther King in the 1960s… Patrick McCabe and Colm Tóibín These two superlative writers explore small-town Ireland in their latest novels and we were delighted that they were both able to come to the Book Festival to talk about their work… Alan Hollinghurst (2011 Event) It's many years since Alan Hollinghurst's last novel, The Line of Beauty, was published – a story so powerful that it beat David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas to win the 2004 Booker Prize. His follow-up, The Stranger's Child,… Charles Fernyhough (2016 Event) Two years ago, authors at the Book Festival took part in a major study into the multiple inner voices that make up human consciousness. Now the leader of that project, psychologist Charles Fernyhough, has completed a major book on the subject, which he di…