Explore Events

Showing all events.

Use one or more of the search filters below to find events.

Browse this year's themes
 

ReaderBank: Unlocking the Mind and Mental Health

Wednesday 13 August 17:30 - 18:30

ReaderBank: Unlocking the Mind and Mental Health Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
ReaderBank is an ambitious attempt to create the world's largest study of reading, imagination, and mental health.A collaboration between our Festival and researchers from Durham University, ReaderBank returns with new insights about what happens when we…
 

Tariq Ali: Fighting the Empire

Wednesday 13 August 17:45 - 18:45

Tariq Ali: Fighting the Empire Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
At 81 years old, political activist, journalist, and filmmaker Tariq Ali has witnessed countless global conflicts and world-defining movements. Through a series of eyewitness accounts and reflections, Ali's memoir, You Can't Please All, recounts modern…
 

Writing Social and Political Satire: A Workshop with Nussaibah Younis

Wednesday 13 August 18:00 - 19:00

Writing Social and Political Satire: A Workshop with Nussaibah Younis Find out more
  • Attend in person
A well-crafted work of satire can interrogate complex political or social issues, be accessible to non-specialist audiences, and also be tremendously fun (to read and write!). Bring your novel ideas to this workshop with Dr Nussaibah Younis (author of 202…
 

David Keenan: Adventures in the Underground

Wednesday 13 August 18:00 - 19:00

David Keenan: Adventures in the Underground Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
Following the success of the Fringe Firstwinning show, This is Memorial Device, at our 2022 Book Festival, Gordon Burn Prize-winner David Keenan is back with new book, Volcanic Tongue…
 

Susan Choi & Youssef Rakha: Geopolitics and Family Life

Wednesday 13 August 18:30 - 19:30

Susan Choi & Youssef Rakha: Geopolitics and Family Life Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
Author of the acclaimed Trust Exercise, Susan Choi's Flashlight is a twisting, character-driven mystery about the tensions of family life, spanning the Korean diaspora, Japan, and ultimately the US. And Youssef Rakha's hallucinatory The Dissenters…
 

Ilan Pappé & Avi Shlaim: The Long and the Short of Israel and Palestine

Wednesday 13 August 18:45 - 19:45

Ilan Pappé & Avi Shlaim: The Long and the Short of Israel and Palestine Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Watch online
  • Captioned
Ilan Pappé (A Very Short History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, Lobbying for Zionism) and Avi Shlaim (Genocide in Gaza: Israel, Hamas, and the Long War on Palestine) have decades of experience in analysing Israel and Palestine, and their impact on…
 

Together We Repair

Wednesday 13 August 19:15 - 20:15

Together We Repair Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
We believe that everyone has a story to tell and that stories help us make sense of our world. We've challenged local writers and poets, this year, to respond to 2025's Festival theme: Repair…
 

Michael Hutchinson: Understanding Endurance

Wednesday 13 August 19:30 - 20:30

Michael Hutchinson: Understanding Endurance Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
Few know what it takes to navigate the intense mental and physical demands of professional cycling quite like Michael Hutchinson. A writer and former champion professional cyclist, his latest book, Further, is a deep dive into the world of extreme…
 

Simone Seales and Mele Broomes: Dearest

Wednesday 13 August 20:00 - 21:30

Simone Seales and Mele Broomes: Dearest Find out more
  • Attend in person
Cellist Simone Seales' Dearest (a debut poetry and music album with an accompanying zine) is a reflection on the warmth and nostalgia of first love, drawing on Patricia Highsmith's classic romance, Carol…
 

Future Library

Wednesday 13 August 20:15 - 21:30

Future Library Find out more
  • Attend in person
  • Captioned
Norway's Future Library is a powerful gesture of hope for a world beyond our lifetime. Every year, for 100 years, an author writes a new book to be placed inside its walls; every text remains unread until 2114…