Alex Salmond

Anne Applebaum: Democracy Under Siege (2020 Event) ‘Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will.’ Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Anne Applebaum’s bleak prognosis for liberal democracy lies at the hea… Outriders: Harry Giles & Katherena Vermette (2017 Event) As part of our Outriders project to explore the Americas, poet Harry Giles travelled across Canada with Métis writer Katherena Vermette. Starting in Montreal amid the buzzy Quebecois writing scene, the two writers travelled to Winnipeg, where Lord Selkir… Zakes Mda (2014 event) Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Zakes Mda is regarded as one of the most important novelists to have emerged on South Africa’s literary scene since the end of apartheid. The author of more than 20 novels and plays, Mda is now resident in th… David Hare (2015 Event) One of the most celebrated writers of his generation, David Hare’s notable plays include Plenty, Skylight and The Absence of War. In this event, recorded live at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hare discusses his powerful and often very f… Alistair MacLeod Much to our delight, Alistair MacLeod agreed to travel across the Atlantic from his home in Ontario to be with us at the 2009 Book Festival. One of the foremost novelists and short story writers, he is a master craftsman, an exquisite stylist whose work i… Tariq Ali One of the most impassioned and eloquent orators and thinkers of them all, Tariq Ali's events are inspiring and unmissable. In this, his 2008 Book Festival event chaired by Ruth Wishart, you can hear him discuss British politics, South America and much mo… Viv Albertine with Ian Rankin (2015 Event) ‘You’re in for a hell of a ride now,’ says Viv Albertine in Clothes, Music, Boys. And she’s dead right: with breathtaking honesty, Albertine… Kirstin Innes (2015 Event) Winner of the Guardian’s Not the Booker prize, Kirstin Innes’ bittersweet debut, Fishnet takes us deep into the world of sex workers, tracing one woman’s obsessive quest for answers following her sister’s mysterious disappearance. … Frank Close with Peter Higgs (2012 event) The race to identify the Higgs Boson has led to multi-billion dollar investment in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The return promise… Stuart MacBride with Stephanie Merritt (2018 Event) Just what does it take to write a page-turning bestselling crime novel? Dumbarton-born, Aberdeen-raised Stuart MacBride can offer plenty of advice on that front, given his Logan McRae series keeps on hitting the heights of popularity. Fellow writer Stepha…