Sunday 17 August 18:30 - 19:30
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What a delight to welcome Anthony Joseph – one of our greatest living poets – back to the Festival for 2025, sharing his lyrical, incisive new collection, Precious and Impossible: Selected Poems…
Sunday 17 August 18:45 - 19:45
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- Watch online
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Following the runaway success of her debut novel, How to Kill Your Family, bestselling author Bella Mackie joins us at the Festival. Her new hilarious murder mystery, What a Way to Go, centres on the thoroughly repugnant Anthony Wistern and his equally……
Sunday 17 August 18:45 - 19:45
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Edwin Morgan was many things: the first Makar of Scotland, a prolific writer (with over 60 published works), a passionate translation advocate, and a person with a kaleidoscopic range of interests. Although sensationally generous with his words and…
Sunday 17 August 19:30 - 20:30
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In his new poetry collection, [ ... ], Palestinian-American poet, translator, physician, and winner of the 2024 Jackson Poetry Prize Fady Joudah responds to the annihilation of Gaza in real-time. Offering multiple views of the world through a Palestinian…
Sunday 17 August 20:00 - 21:00
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Meet the authors of two poetic novels where young queer characters come of age. In Dylin Hardcastle's A Language of Limbs, the aftermath of one summer night ripples across decades as two teenage girls decide whether to act on their desires. In Open…
Sunday 17 August 20:30 - 21:30
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Science fiction has always had a unique capacity to address the big philosophical questions, especially those asking us to extend our purview beyond a human-centric view. In Bee Speaker and Shroud, Arthur C Clarke Award-winning writer Adrian Tchaikovsky…
Monday 18 August 10:00 - 11:00
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Start your day with the facts. High quality, thorough, and trustworthy journalism has never been more important in helping us understand the world as it really is, so in our First Edition events you can join leading journalists from across the media (and…
Monday 18 August 10:15 - 11:15
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Writers Roger Clough and Kerri Andrews are both walkers and both at a crossroad. Clough's Oldenland interrogates how we learn to be old, while Andrews' Pathfinding brings mothers in the outdoors to the fore…
Monday 18 August 10:30 - 11:30
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Dive into history, the environment, and the Scottish Isles in this conversation with environmental journalist Marianne Brown and Gaelic Literature Awards-shortlisted Joni Buchanan…
Monday 18 August 11:00 - 12:00
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Though small in landmass, Scotland and her people have had a mighty impact on the world over many centuries. In Connecting Scotland's History, Anna Groundwater demonstrates the richness, depth, and diversity of Scotland's story…
Monday 18 August 11:30 - 12:30
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From foraging to seed saving, and the joy of rediscovering nature, Adam Alexander, Andy Hamilton, and Mo Wilde offer practical wisdom and philosophical insights. Join them for a wide-ranging discussion about how cultivating a deeper connection with…
Monday 18 August 12:00 - 13:00
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As more writers discover their work has been 'scraped', can AI ever be harnessed positively, or is it destined to damage both storytellers and the art of writing itself? After a year of public consultations and pushback on issues around copyright and…
Monday 18 August 12:00 - 13:00
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America has two powerfully competing stories: the home of Liberty which welcomes all, and the isolationist nation which fears difference. Join New Yorker staff writer, PEN Award-winner, and daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Alexis Okeowo, to discuss…
Monday 18 August 12:15 - 13:15
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The remarkable, dramatic story of Maggie Dickson ('Half Hangit Maggie') has intrigued and horrified Grassmarket drinkers for decades. In The Mourning Necklace, Kate Foster breathes new life into her story…
Monday 18 August 12:45 - 13:45
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Steph McGovern is no stranger to television; as an award-winning broadcaster, podcaster, and host of her own live daily show, she has seen her fair share of sets. But none as terrifying as the backdrop to her debut novel Deadline. Go behind the scenes of…
Monday 18 August 13:15 - 14:15
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Political fiction helps us to make sense of, interrogate, and criticise the realities of enforced political systems on our daily lives. Today, we meet two eminent authors, Richard Lloyd Parry and Andrey Kurkov, to question - resistance at what cost?…
Monday 18 August 13:30 - 14:30
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Known to many simply as ‘Super Ally’, Ally McCoist is one of Scotland's best-known sportspeople. Today he’ll take audiences on an unforgettable journey through his sporting career, reflect on the highs (and lows) of following Scotland, and share some of…
Monday 18 August 13:45 - 14:45
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As the granddaughter of notorious Russian double agent Kim Philby, Charlotte Philby knows a thing or two about mysteries. But her detective duo novel, Dirty Money, isn't like other crime-solving fiction: there are two women at the helm…
Monday 18 August 14:00 - 15:00
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Now in its centenary year, the National Library of Scotland is a treasure trove of Scotland's literary past - but did you know it also cares for the archives of our nation's contemporary writers? Today, we explore the idea of a 'living archive' with…
Suitable for age 0 - 2
Monday 18 August 14:00 - 14:30
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- Learning disability friendly
Join Dog, T-Rex, Mermaid, Penguin, and lots of That’s Not My… friends for this sensory storytelling adventure for little ones. Led by Usborne’s incredible professional storyteller, Vanessa Woolf, with great songs, bubbles, and more – it will be SO MUCH…
Full 2025 Book Festival programme is announced with key theme of Repair 
