All Events

There are events for just about every age and interest at the Book Festival, bringing readers and writers together for inspiration, entertainment and discussion. Around 1000 authors appear in over 800 events, including novelists, poets, scientists, sportsmen, illustrators, comics creators, historians, musicians, biographers, Nobel and Booker prize-winners and many more besides.

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    Browse this year's themes

    James Kelman

    Fiction’s Master Craftsman

    Friday 18 August 1:30pm - 2:30pm

    James Kelman
    James Kelman, according to Alan Warner, 'brings alive a human consciousness like no other writer can'. That’s true of his short stories as well as his novels, and is certainly true of his latest collection (his 13th) That Was a Shiver, and Other...

    Farmyard Fun with Helen Peters

    Age 6-9

    Friday 18 August 2:00pm - 3:00pm

    Farmyard Fun with Helen Peters
    Have fun on the farm with Helen Peters and discover the host of farm animals that appear in her delightful Jasmine Green series. Find out what life on a farm is really like and go on an adventure with Jasmine, who is always getting in trouble caring for...

    Tessa Strickland: Hold Onto Your Hat

    Age 4-7

    Friday 18 August 2:00pm - 2:45pm

    Tessa Strickland: Hold Onto Your Hat
    Tessa Strickland introduces her beautiful book, The Barefoot Book of Children. Bring along your favourite hat to help Tessa uncover the similarities that hide in our differences. A fun, inclusive event celebrating the diversity of humanity (and...
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    Michael Luders

    ISIS and Us

    Friday 18 August 2:00pm - 3:00pm

    Michael Luders Sold Out
    Why not try? Tahir Abbas & Kaya Genç Tahir Abbas & Kaya Genç Whither Turkey Sat 19 Aug 4:00pm - 5:00pm

    Juno Dawson & C N Lester

    Transitions

    Friday 18 August 2:15pm - 3:15pm

    Juno Dawson & C N Lester
    What makes a woman a woman? Is it her biology? Is it a rite of passage? Is it society? As she transitions from male to female, Juno Dawson's The Gender Games explores feminism and femininity in culture, science and society. Co-founder of the first...

    Alexis Jenni

    Winner of France’s Coveted Prix Goncourt

    Friday 18 August 2:30pm - 3:30pm

    Alexis Jenni
    How bad does a country have to be before patriotism stops? That’s the question posed by Alexis Jenni. His fascinating novel, The French Art of War, explores the legacy of French colonial wars in Algeria and Indochina and it won him the Prix Goncourt,...

    Kristina Stephenson's Big Draw

    All Ages

    Friday 18 August 2:30pm - 4:30pm

    Kristina Stephenson's Big Draw
    Help our 2017 Illustrator in Residence Kristina Stephenson create a work of art worthy of Sir Charlie Stinky Socks on his 10th anniversary. Cut, paste, colour and draw to make a medieval mural telling the story of all of Sir Charlie’s exciting quests.

    Story Shop

    Friday 18 August 3:00pm - 3:30pm

    Story Shop
    Immerse yourself in short stories at Story Shop, hosted by Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust. Hear up-and-coming writers living and working in Edinburgh today. Check www.cityofliterature.com or our website in July for the line-up.

    Siri Hustvedt with Elif Shafak

    Bodies of Experience

    Friday 18 August 3:15pm - 4:15pm

    Siri Hustvedt with Elif Shafak
    From Dickens to Vermeer and psychoanalysis to neuroscience, Siri Hustvedt is a writer of remarkable range and insight. In today’s event she talks to acclaimed Turkish novelist and writer Elif Shafak about the self, bodily experience and the role of...

    Omar Robert Hamilton & Aleš Šteger

    Caught in the Fire

    Friday 18 August 3:30pm - 4:30pm

    Omar Robert Hamilton & Aleš Šteger
    You had to be there. In his debut novel, Omar Robert Hamilton's The City Always Wins is a pen-portrait of intensity as two ordinary people are caught up in an extraordinary moment trying to change the world. The forces of good and evil also collide in...

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