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Hundreds of events for adults, teenagers and children feature authors, illustrators, musicians, poets, policians, thinkers, prize-winners and rising stars every August.
Last year Val McDermid launched a major new series of connected thrillers. After the stellar success of 1979, McDermid discusses its follow-up with Allan Little. In 1989 Allie Burns is older, wiser and a senior journalist on a Scottish tabloid. Against...
Canon Daniel Clement enjoys a quiet life with his mother Audrey and his two dachshunds in the peaceful village of Champton. But when he decides to add a lavatory to the church, the parish is thrown into discord – leading to murder. Reverend Richard...
Albania was one of the world’s most isolated countries under the rule of Enver Hoxha during its communist period. Lea Ypi grew up under Hoxha, then witnessed communism’s collapse and the country’s transformation to a flawed market economy. Today,...
Whether it’s discussing linguistics with Foucault in a televised debate, authoring more than 100 books or being a fierce critic of American foreign policy, Noam Chomsky has been a highly influential figure for nearly seven decades. Now in his mid 90s,...
In 2015, Anne Enright was appointed as the inaugural Laureate of Irish Fiction. ‘It’s great to have Ireland to write about,’ she said, ‘It’s a great resource.’ The appointment recognised Enright’s status as a chronicler of the times, of...
Two years ago, inspired by Book Festival discussions about the necessity of imagination for political change, Val McDermid and Geographer Royal for Scotland Jo Sharp invited a diverse group of people to share their ideas. This summer a post-pandemic...
What does recovery mean, when a person has been through something they never could have prepared for? When the Dust Settles is crisis management expert Lucy Easthope’s memoir of existing in the aftermath of disaster. In Recovery, GP and author Gavin...
Ocean Vuong’s reckoning with the death of his mother – and the grief, trauma and love that attends such a loss – lies at the heart of his new poetry collection, Time is a Mother. Vuong’s work is infused with stories of migration, identity and...
Candice Carty-Williams’s joyous and vital debut Queenie had readers falling in love with its fabulous and flawed protagonist, and her latest work promises nothing less. Award-winning writer and creator of the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story...
We welcome three exceptionally perceptive writers radically reshaping our understanding of the African continent. Tsitsi Dangarembga explores the intersections of her identities in Black and Female. Dipo Faloyin paints a vivid picture of modern Africa...
Announcing our Communities Programme and Citizen events this August 
