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.
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: Chris Haughton.
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.
Step inside The Butterfly House with Alice Pattullo and take a look at some of her intricate illustrations of the world’s most beautiful insect. Learn lots of fantastic facts about butterflies, moths and caterpillars, and have a go at drawing some of...
How It Was is the second novel from former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis. A haunting exploration of a woman’s interior life as she sits at the bedside of her dying husband, it will delight fans of Elizabeth Strout. In My Coney Island Baby,...
Daddy Frog thinks Baby Frog needs lavish gifts – including the moon! But all Baby Frog wants is to spend time with her Daddy. Hear from this lovely, heart-warming tale as award-winning author of the You Choose books, Pippa Goodhart, guides you through...
When Walker finds his dream job as a dog walker, he discovers he can talk to dogs, which comes in very handy when there are doggy mysteries to be solved. Shoo Rayner has written over 200 books for children and he’s back with a tale that will have you...
Join writer Alan Taylor as he delves into Patricia Highsmith’s cool and unsettling psychological thriller The Talented Mr Ripley. Highsmith’s protagonist and the story’s narrator, Tom Ripley, seduces readers to empathise with him even as his...
Distinguished academic Michael Anderson – a stalwart at the University of Edinburgh for 40 years who has been honoured with an OBE – discusses the change in Scotland’s population since the 1850s. Exploring issues such as rural settlement,...
Get creative with award-winning Iranian illustrator Amin Hassanzadeh Sharif. Drop in to discover how he drew the stunning pictures in The Phoenix of Persia and have a go at making some vibrant and colourful artwork of your own.
Hop aboard the Super Power Agency Bus and become a literacy superhero! Special agents show you how to take a book out of your head and onto the page, where it can change the world, with fun bookmaking and storytelling activities.
2019 Programme Launched: We Need New Stories 
