There are events for just about every age and interest at the Book Festival, bringing readers and writers together for inspiration, entertainment and discussion. Over 900 authors appear in around 800 events, including novelists, poets, scientists, sportsmen, illustrators, comics creators, historians, musicians, biographers, Nobel and Booker prize-winners and many more besides.
To infinity and beyond! Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing by taking part in some intergalactic willow weaving. Join willow weaver David Powell to create an enormous willow sculpture of an astronaut.
Join one of our Festival authors each morning for a magical half hour of storytelling, poetry, song or rhyme. This daily changing event is suitable for children of all ages. Appearing today: Edinburgh for Under Fives.
A small yet perfectly formed reading from one of our Festival authors to start your day. Check the screen in the Entrance Tent to see who's reading today.
Sergei Yesenin burns like a comet through the darkness of revolutionary Russia. The young poet was a superstar in his day; adored by millions, he met everyone from the Romanovs to Rasputin, and his poems went into space with Yuri Gagarin. His life,...
Tom Leonard was a Scottish poet, writer and critic who explored the relationship between language, class and culture. Ideas around identity ran through his poetry, written in Glaswegian Scots: the words we speak, streets we live in and the way we treat...
Calling all fans of Werner Holzwarth’s classic tale, The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it was None of His Business. Drop in for activities inspired by the mole with some very unpleasant business dropped on his head. Help him discover who did the...
As the centre ground erodes and culture wars rage, two intersectional books challenge beliefs and topple foundational myths. In Stop Being Reasonable, rising star reporter Eleanor Gordon-Smith speaks to people who have profoundly changed their opinions....
Festival favourite Tracey Corderoy tells a story all about storytelling itself. Come along to take a thrilling trip from Starry Space to the Deep Dark Ocean as lost characters from different worlds visit the One-Stop Story Shop hoping to find a new...
In Women of Westminster, Labour MP Rachel Reeves tells the overlooked stories of leading and lesser known British politicians who have shaped a nation, from the earliest suffrage campaigns to Harriet Harman’s legislation on the gender pay gap. Join...
Popular children’s author Philip Ardagh dives into the surreal and joyful world of The Moomins. Originally released across five decades in a series of nine books, five picture books and a comic strip, Tove Jansson’s characters have captured the...
2019 Programme Launched: We Need New Stories 
