Tuesday 19 August 19:15 - 20:15
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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. Join us as we bring them together to perform their work: a…
Tuesday 19 August 19:30 - 20:30
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From East China's geopolitical ambitions to South Korea's huge cultural influence and recent political turmoil, East Asia looms larger than ever in global news cycles. Yet beyond the headlines, how much do we understand these major international powers'…
Tuesday 19 August 20:00 - 22:00
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Queen of Crime, the iconic Val McDermid, is bringing her forensic gaze to bear on one of the theatre's most enduring mysteries - the death of Christopher Marlowe in Deptford in 1593. A forbidden love story, a double-crossing spy story, or Shakespeare's…
Tuesday 19 August 20:15 - 21:15
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They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but does it really make us feel better? Is getting our own back on the person who scorned us the best way to get even? Obsession, toxic-love, and power dynamics are at the core of both Sweat by Emma Healey…
Tuesday 19 August 20:30 - 21:30
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How do we live among a population capable of both the worst atrocities and the profoundest kindness? Daniel Hahn joins one of Spain's most lauded writers, Javier Cercas, to discuss Fortress of Evil, the latest in his ambitious Terra Alta series…
Wednesday 20 August 10:00 - 11:00
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Sharing their deep understanding of what we're lucky to have in nature and how to repair the damage done, Wainwright Prize-shortlisted author of Groundbreakers, Chantal Lyons, To Have or to Hold author Sophie Pavelle, and photographer and rewilding…
Wednesday 20 August 12:45 - 13:45
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Rosemary Goring's Exile: The Captive Years of Mary, Queen of Scots and Jade Scott's Captive Queen shed remarkable new light on the duplicitous years of Mary's English imprisonment. Meanwhile, Kate Anderson's Art & Court of James VI & I reconsiders Mary's…
Wednesday 20 August 13:15 - 14:15
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Post-war Britain can seem increasingly distant, yet Geoff Dyer's delightful new memoir, Homework, brings it back to life with verve and wit. Recalling his working-class Cheltenham childhood of the SOs and 60s, Dyer (a Fellow of the Royal Society of…
Suitable for age 9 - 11
Wednesday 20 August 13:30 - 14:15
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We’re over the moon to welcome a dynamite duo to the Schools Programme this year: multi-award-winning Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce and fantastic and funny illustrator Steven Lenton…
Wednesday 20 August 13:45 - 14:45
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Join us for a fascinating event exploring the art and politics of listening. Bodies of Sound, an anthology edited by Irene Revell and Sarah Shin, brings together poets, musicians, and writers to offer new insights into how we listen and hear. Alice……
Wednesday 20 August 14:00 - 15:00
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The Women in Conflict programme funded by the Scottish Government and run by international dialogue and cultural exchange platform Beyond Borders Scotland - brings together women from all over the world who are working at the frontlines of peace-making…
Wednesday 20 August 14:15 - 15:15
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With access to over 3,000 letters penned by Muriel Spark, distinguished professor Dan Gunn has spent five years decoding the enigmatic author while compiling The Letters of Muriel Spark. Meanwhile, journalist Frances Wilson's fascination with Spark led…
Wednesday 20 August 15:00 - 16:00
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Ten years ago Andy Wightman – a former Member of the Scottish Parliament with the Scottish Greens and a tireless campaigner over issues around land ownership and reform in Scotland – published The Poor Had No Lawyers, a definitive investigation into just…
Wednesday 20 August 15:30 - 16:30
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For her unimpeachable fashion sense, her role in the abdication of her husband, and her shameful connection with Adolf Hitler - fascination with Wallis Simpson continues unabated nearly 40 years after her death. Now, award-winning historian Paul French…
Wednesday 20 August 15:45 - 16:45
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Leading Norwegian author Vigdis Hjorth writes novels that are 'like major fires: destructive and difficult to contain', according to Literary Review. In her latest, If Only, she explores how an impulsive affair at an unremarkable conference descends into…
Wednesday 20 August 16:00 - 17:00
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Number one Sunday Times bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, Elly Griffiths, returns with a brand new crime series. With 26 novels under her belt, how does Griffiths continue to keep her characters fresh, plot lines exciting, and twists…
Wednesday 20 August 16:45 - 17:45
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One of the most original and entertaining storytellers at work today, Etgar Keret is known for his dark humour, off-the-wall imagination, and deceptively whimsical short fiction. The internationally acclaimed Israeli author of books including Suddenly a…
Wednesday 20 August 17:30 - 18:30
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Sharp writing and incisive perspectives are the hallmarks of Lucía Lijtmaer (Cautery) and Monika Radojevic (A Beautiful Lack of Consequence). Join them for a vital conversation about the pressures and the possibilities of female experiences…
Wednesday 20 August 17:45 - 18:45
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Guardian central and eastern Europe correspondent Shaun Walker joins us in conversation with Charlotte Higgins, discussing his secret history, The Illegals, where he puts a decade reporting from Moscow to good use, revealing, with the pace and intrigue…
Wednesday 20 August 18:00 - 19:30
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Whether you’re ready to hit the mic or just keen to soak up the vibes, this event has you covered. Our friends at Push the Boat Out host a special edition of their vibrant monthly open mic to celebrate dynamic contemporary poetry and performance…
Full 2025 Book Festival programme is announced with key theme of Repair 
