Thursday 21 August 16:00 - 17:00
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How do we survive the era of the authoritarian strongman leader? Why do these men hold a monopoly on political power? And what are the alternatives to their rule?…
Thursday 21 August 16:45 - 17:45
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Eimear McBride (Women's Prizewinning author of A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing and The Lesser Bohemians) often dwells in dark, confronting subject matter, yet her writing style is infused with playfulness. Nouns become verbs, sentences fragment, time……
Thursday 21 August 17:00 - 18:00
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After his wife – theatre director and radio producer, Marilyn Imrie – died, author James Runcie wrote the intensely moving memoir, Tell Me Good Things. Runcie offers his poignant reflections on loss, bereavement, memory, and what it means to love again…
Thursday 21 August 17:30 - 18:30
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Poetry can be bewitching: the words on the page enchant your mind and rearrange the way you think. Join the writers today as they explore poetry's magical grip on all of us…
Thursday 21 August 17:30 - 19:00
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Exciting news! We’re collaborating with magazine The Bookseller again to host 2025’s YA Book Prize award ceremony. Come along to discover the best Young Adult fiction coming from the UK and Ireland right now. Hosted by Laura Bates…
Thursday 21 August 17:45 - 18:45
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Podcaster, comedian, and bestselling author of The Guilty Feminist, Deborah Frances-White wants to know when we stopped talking and, more importantly, listening to each other…
Thursday 21 August 18:30 - 19:30
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Booker Prize-longlisted Elaine Feeney is steeped in poetry and storytelling, and echoes of her west of Ireland origins resonate throughout her work. Today hear an author whose characters create shadow histories that stand as a corrective to received…
Thursday 21 August 18:45 - 19:45
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Where did the AI arms race begin, and where will it take us next? Few writers are better placed to explain the former and speculate on the latter than the Atlantic's Karen Hao, who has covered OpenAI and its founder, Sam Altman, since 2019…
Thursday 21 August 19:30 - 20:30
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How do we talk about the really tough stuff? Luckily for us, Munroe Bergdorf is an expert in communicating across divides. The writer, activist, model, and contributing editor of British Vogue returns with her new book Talk to Me. Covering everything…
Thursday 21 August 20:00 - 21:30
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Scotland and New Zealand are separated by 11,113.48 miles. Yet in a cultural and literary sense, the distance isn't quite so great. Join us for a vibrant celebration of the poetic connections between the two nations, based on a shared love of performance…
Thursday 21 August 20:15 - 21:15
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Identity is not a tick box, but so often it's reduced to one. Join Anna Sulan Masing for an exploration of selfhood, representation, and the diverse lived realities of East and South East Asian people in modern Britain…
Thursday 21 August 20:30 - 21:30
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Deepfakes, cyber brothels, AI girlfriends, sex robots – thanks to the new wave of AI-powered technologies, misogyny is getting a chilling modern makeover. Laura Bates exposes the frightening dimensions of this trend in The New Age of Sexism…
Suitable for age 9 - 11
Friday 22 August 10:00 - 10:45
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Join superstar author Cressida Cowell for the launch of How to Train Your Dragon School, the first novel in her Dragon World series for over 10 years!…
Friday 22 August 10:15 - 11:15
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When a freak accident irreversibly changed Grace Spence Green’s life at just 22 years old, she developed a resilience she never thought possible. Join Spence Green, in conversation with Gavin Francis, to challenge the way we think about disability…
Friday 22 August 11:45 - 12:45
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Aged 20, surgeon Gabriel Weston enrolled in a pioneering degree programme encouraging arts students to become doctors. She joins us to discuss our fragile, frightening, miraculous bodies…
Friday 22 August 11:45 - 12:45
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In 2022, Aotearoa-New Zealand author Becky Manawatu broke through with her international bestselling debut novel, Aue, a multi-perspective exploration of a family’s relationship with violence and grief…
Friday 22 August 12:00 - 13:00
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Most romance novels are all about the happily ever after. But what happens when ever after doesn’t end up looking so… happy?…
Friday 22 August 12:15 - 13:15
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It’s lunchtime, and (hallelujah!) there’s no need to doomscroll over a sad desk salad. Be the first to discover the literary stars of the future, instead…
Friday 22 August 13:30 - 14:30
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Until his death in a Russian prison last year, Alexei Navalny offered the only meaningful opposition to Vladimir Putin’s leadership. Today, Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, speaks about her late husband’s powerful book and the uniquely courageous man…
Suitable for age 9 - 11
Friday 22 August 13:30 - 14:30
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Join Cressida Cowell for the launch of How to Train Your Dragon School, the latest novel in her Dragon World series! Hear all about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and his dragons and learn some epic writing and drawing tips from Cressida…
Full 2025 Book Festival programme is announced with key theme of Repair 
