Patrick Barkham & Ed Yong: The Secret Lives of Animals

Discover nature’s marvels with two expert writers. 20 years of writings about the natural world are collected in Patrick Barkham’s Wild Green Wonders. The Guardian writer observes the changing conditions of the wildlife around us, from peregrine falcons to wolves. Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong imagines how the animals might look back at us in An Immense World, an astonishing voyage through the sensory possibilities that exist beyond what humans can perceive.

Ed Yong is appearing remotely.

Book Festival News

Full 2025 Book Festival programme is announced with key theme of Repair Full 2025 Book Festival programme is announced with key theme of Repair
Tuesday 10 June

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Stephen Collins & Tom Gauld (2013 event) Stephen Collins & Tom Gauld (2013 event) Two critically acclaimed Guardian cartoonists delve into their charmingly surreal comic worlds… Edwin Morgan: A Centenary Celebration of Scotland’s Great Poet Edwin Morgan: A Centenary Celebration of Scotland’s Great Poet Almost exactly ten years ago, on 17 August 2010, an eerie hush fell on the Edinburgh International Book Festival as word spread around Charlotte Square Gardens that one of the most significant poets of the 20th century, Edwin Morgan, had died. The… How We Kept The Conversation Going in 2020 How We Kept The Conversation Going in 2020 This film illustrates the challenges faced by the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2020 and great achievements made during a difficult year for the cultural sector. Narrated by the Chair of the Book Festival's Board, Allan Little and featuring… Tobias Kelly & Charlotte McDonald-Gibson: Radical Outsiders Tobias Kelly & Charlotte McDonald-Gibson: Radical Outsiders How much is your life shaped by your conscience? Journalist Charlotte McDonald- Gibson and academic Tobias Kelly ask us to imagine having views that set us apart. Kelly’s new book, Battles of Conscience, traces the histories of five beleaguered… Nathan Thrall: Anatomy of a Tragedy Nathan Thrall: Anatomy of a Tragedy In 2012, a horrific bus crash on the outskirts of Jerusalem killed many Palestinian schoolchildren. One of them was five-year-old Milad Salama and, in tracing his father Abed’s efforts to find his son, journalist Nathan Thrall tells the story of lives… Natasha Brown & Olivia Sudjic: Unravelling Lives Natasha Brown & Olivia Sudjic: Unravelling Lives How do we manage the carefully assembled pieces of our lives, and what happens when events out of our control leave us exposed? These questions seem to haunt both Olivia Sudjic’s Asylum Road, and Natasha Brown’s Assembly. In Sudjic’s intensely atmospheric… Outriders Africa: Meet Emmanuel Iduma and Eliza Anyangwe | Edinburgh International Book Festival Outriders Africa: Meet Emmanuel Iduma and Eliza Anyangwe | Edinburgh International Book Festival In 2017 the Edinburgh International Book Festival supported ten writers to travel on journeys across the Americas. This was Outriders – an ambitious exploration of the idea that in shifting, disorienting times, a writer can make a unique contribution to… Mike Berners-Lee talks to Tanya Steele at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mike Berners-Lee talks to Tanya Steele at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Warnings of looming environmental catastrophe rain down on us with increasing frequency, and only the most ardent climate change sceptics deny we live at a crucial point for the Earth's future. For this event, filmed live at the 2019 Edinburgh… Kerry Andrew & Kerri ní Dochartaigh: Blood and Water Kerry Andrew & Kerri ní Dochartaigh: Blood and Water Where does daily experience in Ireland meet something less tangible, something more speculative? Kerry Andrew’s tender novel Skin is irrigated by the mystery and lure of water. ‘When you got closer – tarn, pool, river, proper swimming lake – the… Rory MacLean (2015 Event) Rory MacLean (2015 Event) When the USSR dissolved in 1991, a narrow sliver of land next to the Ukraine declared independence. Transnistria now has its own Leninist government, but is still not recognised by any other country in the world. Photojournalist Nick Danziger and author…