The Front List

The Front List

The recently announced Front List series will return for the second year at McEwan Hall, in partnership with Underbelly, to present an expanded series of exciting events, representing the breadth of the Book Festival’s offering, with a host of star studded authors that include Maggie O’Farrell, Ta-Nehisi Coates , Nicola Sturgeon, Yulia Navalnaya, Ian McEwan, R F Kuang, Ally McCoist, Ruth Jones, Butter author Asako Yuzuki, Mark Kermode and guest Brian Cox.

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The Front List: Ruth Jones

Tuesday 12 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Ruth Jones Find out more
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Co-creator of beloved sitcom Gavin and Stacey, Ruth Jones knows the power of a great story. Join us as Ruth discusses both her writing craft and uplifting new novel, By Your Side…
 

The Front List: Mark Kermode MK3D

Wednesday 13 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Mark Kermode MK3D Find out more
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Join the UK’s favourite film critic, Mark Kermode, alongside very special guests – including Golden Globe-winning Succession patriarch Brian Cox – for a unique and energy-filled celebration of the silver screen…
 

The Front List: Nicola Sturgeon

Thursday 14 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Nicola Sturgeon Find out more
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In this special event celebrating the launch of her warm and revealing new memoir, Frankly, Sturgeon pulls back the curtain on her personal evolution from a shy working-class child to one of Scotland’s most significant political leaders…
 

The Front List: Maggie O’Farrell

Friday 15 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Maggie O’Farrell Find out more
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Bursting onto the literary scene with her skilful debut, After You’d Gone, Maggie O’Farrell has remained an inimitable creative force ever since. Today’s event celebrates her 25th anniversary as a beloved writer with a lively reflection on her writing…
 

The Front List: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Saturday 16 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Ta-Nehisi Coates Find out more
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Ta-Nehisi Coates is an award-winning, uncompromising commentator on race relations, truth, and justice, especially in America. He’ll discuss the urgent need for the West, and particularly America, to free itself from the myths it tells itself…
 

The Front List: Anne Applebaum & Edward Wong

Sunday 17 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Anne Applebaum & Edward Wong Find out more
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It’s hard to overstate the extent to which the Trump administration has disrupted the past 70 years’ world order. Journalists Anne Applebaum and Edward Wong are here to report on whether democracy can ever truly be safeguarded…
 

The Front List: Ally McCoist

Monday 18 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Ally McCoist Find out more
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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…
 

The Front List: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Tuesday 19 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Find out more
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feverishly anticipated new novel, Dream Count, has been a decade in the making. Adichie offers an insight into her transcendent, powerful work, and how the choices we make – or which are made for us – can cast a longer shadow…
 

The Front List: Yulia Navalnaya

Friday 22 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Yulia Navalnaya Find out more
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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…
 

The Front List: Asako Yuzuki

Saturday 23 August 13:30 - 14:30

The Front List: Asako Yuzuki Find out more
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Since Butter appeared in print, bookshops have been scrambling to keep Asako Suzuki’s word-of-mouth sensation in stock. Yuzuki talks today about consumption, sexism, skewed beauty standards, and her mission to elevate the status of Japan’s women through…