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 award-winning novelist Sally Gardner who shares her insights on erotic writing in today’s masterclass. Gardner has sold over 2 million books in the UK and her work has been translated in to more than 22 languages. Drawing on the sexually explicit...
Global bestselling sensation Xinran Xue's The Promise is a state-of-the-nation masterpiece, showing modern China through the eyes of a family caught in the winds of history. Those winds start with Mao according to Julia Lovell, professor of Modern...
If you’ve enjoyed the many nature-themed picture books at the Festival, then drop in to try your hand at creating some stunning artwork all about the changing seasons. Whether it’s the icy blues of winter that inspire you, or the warm reds of autumn...
Amir is frightened of the monster living under his bed. What if it tries to eat him in the night? Perhaps he should try to befriend him instead… Multi award-winning author Elizabeth Laird presents her timeless picture book tale Grobblechops, based on...
Two decades after Girl with the Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier is back with another finely rendered story of women. Refusing to tend endlessly to her grieving mother after the Great War, Violet Speedwell begins a new life among the embroiderers of...
Sulaiman Addonia fled Eritrea in 1976 and spent his early life in a Sudanese refugee camp. Those days inform Silence Is My Mother Tongue, which also explores gender identity and a close sibling relationship. Azeri author Olga Grjasnowa moved to Germany...
Relax with an Edinburgh Gin cocktail and a spot of colouring in; you'll be in the capable hands of our illustrator-in-residence Eilidh Muldoon, whose art is featured in our bookshops and on unique Book Festival souvenirs, and drinks expert Nikki Welch....
Storytelling is a human gift that’s been handed down for thousands of years. In The Science of Storytelling Will Storr, the AIB International Award-winning journalist and popular novelist, speculates on whether humans should actually be better at this...
To coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament, we welcome author and researcher Dr Gerry Hassan to the Book Festival. He has written and edited a series of books assessing its impact on the nation, in the context of Britain, Europe...
While Europe’s future is foremost in many minds right now, the ancient parts of this continent are the concern of Julia Blackburn and Simon Winder; today they turn your thoughts toward history. Blackburn’s Time Song tells of an old region that once,...
2019 Programme Launched: We Need New Stories 
