Tracey Thorn at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Returning to our roots can be tough, revealing and, as Tracey Thorn discovers in her book Another Planet, also inspiring. The singer-songwriter behind Everything But The Girl follows up her bestselling Bedsit Disco Queen with a wonderfully witty walk through the maligned suburbia of her youth. In this event, recorded live at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Tracey Thorn shares hilarious recollections of the physical and emotional cul-de-sacs of her Green Belt upbringing and its lasting impact in a lively and wide ranging conversation with BBC Arts producer Serena Field.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Philippe Sands with Ian Rankin: On the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive Philippe Sands with Ian Rankin: On the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive Philippe Sands’s celebrated 2016 memoir East West Street, expertly interwove the personal story of his ancestors in the Ukrainian city of Lviv with a professional interest in the establishment of international law in the aftermath of the Holocaust. His… Philip Long & Joanna Norman at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Philip Long & Joanna Norman at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Philip Long is director of the V&A Dundee and co-editor of The Story of Scottish Design. Together with Joanna Norman, curator of the museum’s Scottish Design Galleries, Long presents a broad survey of 500 years of great Scottish design and pioneering… Stories and Scran Stories and Scran Returning for its third year, Stories and Scran celebrates the dynamic and thought-provoking work created by participants in Citizen, our long-term creative programme offering local people a platform to explore identity and place. Enjoy a snack and a… Kit de Waal: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood Kit de Waal: Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood Kit de Waal’s influence across contemporary British literature is so broad as to be almost immeasurable. So how is it that one of our titans of the written word grew up with only the Bible to read? De Waal comes to this year’s Festival to chat about a… Benjamin Labatut & Adrian Nathan West with Jay G Ying Benjamin Labatut & Adrian Nathan West with Jay G Ying Anyone who studied physics at school might remember the mysterious way in which light is said to hover somewhere between wave and particle. In a similar way, according to Philip Pullman, the thrilling new work by Benjamin Labatut hovers somewhere between… Val McDermid: Portrait of a Criminal Val McDermid: Portrait of a Criminal With Val McDermid’s iconic detective soon set to hit our screens, it couldn’t be a more perfect time to revisit Police Scotland's Historic Cases Unit and the savvy, no-nonsense DCI Karen Pirie. A thrilling new head-scratcher from the undisputed ‘Queen of… David Cannadine at the Edinburgh International Book Festival David Cannadine at the Edinburgh International Book Festival It’s easy to feel fatigued by continual political crises and the nation’s uncertain future. In a world of chaotic news headlines, how can we find understanding and perspective on what is happening? Hear one of Britain’s most renowned historians and… David Reynolds (2015 Event) David Reynolds (2015 Event) Watch David Reynolds discuss his journey to discover whether the American Dream is keeping its sheen with Sheena McDonald. In Slow Road to Brownsville, Reynolds embarks on a fascinating road trip along 2,000 miles of Highway 83, a road that starts in… Michael Pedersen: Boy Friends Forever Michael Pedersen: Boy Friends Forever Are friendships the greatest love affairs of our lives? Join us to celebrate the publication of Michael Pedersen’s much-anticipated prose debut and intimate memoir Boy Friends. Along with two pioneering artists, Shirley Manson and Charlotte Church… Fintan O'Toole: The Unknown Knowns of Ireland Fintan O'Toole: The Unknown Knowns of Ireland One of Ireland’s finest journalists shares an intimate account of how the country has changed during his lifetime. There are many contradictions in Ireland’s history and the title of Fintan O’Toole’s personal history, We Don’t Know Ourselves, is one of…