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 describes her wild and often shocking experiences as a guitarist in the all-girl 1970s reggae-punk band The Slits. Equally fascinating is her account of life after punk; of motherhood, family and a return to music. She discusses her rollercoaster story with crime writer and music fan Ian Rankin, in an event recorded live at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Loading the player... if your browser supports audio and video it should appear in a few moments.
Download MP3

Book Festival News

Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024 Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024
Sunday 14 April

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

Donate

Share

Listen to more

Donal Ryan & Kamila Shamsie (2018 Event) Donal Ryan & Kamila Shamsie (2018 Event) Donal Ryan's novels are a thrilling journey into the psyche of everyday Irish folk, but From a Low and Quiet Sea departs from his previous three books by extending its setting beyond rural Ireland into war-torn Syria. Kamila Shamsie’s highly praised Hom… Hadley Freeman (2016 Event) Hadley Freeman (2016 Event) For many, the 80s was a decade that taste didn’t just forget, but totally bypassed. Guardian and Vogue columnist Hadley Freeman does not subscribe to that one bit and is so passionate about 80s American movies that she’s written a book about them. Lif… Allan Radcliffe reading Chicago Allan Radcliffe reading Chicago Edinburgh-based Allan Radcliffe reads his contribution to our Elsewhere series of stories… Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins, one of the world's greatest living scientists, talks to Muriel Gray in this 2005 event about his extraordinary investigations of evolution and his passion for the wonders it contains and reveals… Jokha Alharthi at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 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, wi… Gordon Brown (2014 event) Gordon Brown (2014 event) Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown talks about his new bestseller My Scotland, Our Britain: A Future Worth Sharing… Rachel Kushner (2018 Event) Rachel Kushner (2018 Event) Rachel Kushner’s much-anticipated follow-up novel to the dazzlingly successful The Flamethrowers is The Mars Room, a fearless and brutally honest portrayal of Romy, a woman starting a double life sentence in a US correctional facility, leaving her young… Charlie Adlard & Robbie Morrison (2014 event) Charlie Adlard & Robbie Morrison (2014 event) Graphic novel dream team Charlie Adlard and Robbie Morrison came to Edinburgh to talk about White Death, a frank graphic novel account of two dead bodies discovered almost 100 years on which highlights how snow was used as a military weapon. In this event… Kay Ryan (2013 event) Kay Ryan (2013 event) Kay Ryan is widely regarded as one of America’s great living poets. Her book The Best of It: New and Selected Poems won her the Pulitzer Prize in 2011… Philippe Sands (2016 Event) Philippe Sands (2016 Event) There is no lawyer quite like Philippe Sands QC. Outspoken on a range of human rights issues, from the illegality of the Iraq war to torture in the Bush administration, the Professor of Law at University College London is also a highly respected barrister…