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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    Laurence Davies on Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent

    Reading Workshop

    Wednesday 23 August 11:00am - 12:30pm

    Laurence Davies on Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent Sold Out
    Why not try? Cressida Cowell Cressida Cowell Fri 25 Aug 5:30pm - 6:30pm

    Live Poetry Lab

    70 Years of Festival Memories

    Wednesday 23 August 11:00am - 2:00pm

    Live Poetry Lab
    Drop in to see live writing from Jennifer Williams, our resident poet, or watch it unfold online as she weaves in your contributions. Her task is to create responses to people’s memories of the festivals in Edinburgh since they began 70 years ago....

    Become a Storyteller with Pam Wardell

    Age 3-6

    Wednesday 23 August 11:45am - 12:30pm

    Become a Storyteller with Pam Wardell Buy Tickets
    Bring a picture book to life with interactive storyteller Pam Wardell. Use your voice plus the costumes, props and musical instruments that you might find in a theatre, and join in the drama of some cracking tales. Tickets admit 1 child and 1...

    Bashabi Fraser & Alan Riach

    From Scotland to India

    Wednesday 23 August 12:30pm - 1:30pm

    Bashabi Fraser & Alan Riach Buy Tickets
    Born in West Bengal, Edinburgh-based Bashabi Fraser’s poetry reflects an ease at living in two cultures; for fellow poet and academic Alan Riach, the new convener of the Saltire Society, such openness and connectivity is a key part of Scottish...

    Nothing But the Poem on Douglas Dunn

    Reading Workshop

    Wednesday 23 August 1:00pm - 2:30pm

    Nothing But the Poem on Douglas Dunn Buy Tickets
    Douglas Dunn’s powerful works, including collections like Terry Street and Elegies, are well loved. His poems also evolve in style over time. Join this relaxed reading group discussion with Lilias Fraser, from the Scottish Poetry Library, to sample...

    Become a Storyteller with Pam Wardell

    Age 3-6

    Wednesday 23 August 1:30pm - 2:15pm

    Become a Storyteller with Pam Wardell Buy Tickets
    Bring a picture book to life with interactive storyteller Pam Wardell. Use your voice plus the costumes, props and musical instruments that you might find in a theatre, and join in the drama of some cracking tales. Tickets admit 1 child and 1...

    Jamie Bartlett & Steve Richards

    Inside Stories of Outsiders

    Wednesday 23 August 2:00pm - 3:00pm

    Jamie Bartlett & Steve Richards Buy Tickets
    As top social media analyst for Demos, it’s Jamie Bartlett’s job to guess future trends and, in Radicals, he argues that lots more of us are going to be lured by oddball idealists, extremists and groups rejecting mainstream ideas. Politically, says...

    Josie Billington & Rick Rylance

    Why Reading is Good for You

    Wednesday 23 August 2:00pm - 3:00pm

    Josie Billington & Rick Rylance Buy Tickets
    Engineering and maths are hard. Humanities are soft. Science is useful. Literature is, at best, an optional extra; at worst, frivolous and wasteful. So say many. But two British researchers who have studied the benefits of literature over more than five...

    Thomas Enger & James Oswald

    Past Crimes Haunt the Present

    Wednesday 23 August 2:15pm - 3:15pm

    Thomas Enger & James Oswald Buy Tickets
    The latest instalments from two celebrated kings of crime have their protagonists digging up the past and delving into their cities' dark hearts. In Cursed, Thomas Enger’s veteran crime reporter Henning Juul finds the professional clashing with the...

    Oliver Emanuel & Rory MacLean with Gerard DeGroot

    History, Truth and the Spaces Inbetween

    Wednesday 23 August 2:30pm - 3:30pm

    Oliver Emanuel & Rory MacLean with Gerard DeGroot Buy Tickets
    Good history can be mistaken for its faithfulness to the facts but purely factual history is often deadly dull and incomplete. The assumption is that facts are the opposite of lies, yet it's much more complicated. Join history professor Gerard DeGroot...

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