It’s almost been one full week of Edinburgh International Book Festival. So far, we’ve welcomed so many wonderful writers, performers and artists through the doors of our Festival Village at Edinburgh College of Art.
Thank you to everyone who has joined us at our events and helped to create the lovely buzzy Book Festival atmosphere.
As we land on day 6 of the Festival, let’s have a quick look back at some moments from week one, before looking forward at what’s to come over the next week.
Note: Click the images for full details of each event.
Top of page picture: Local author Richard Holloway signing one of his books for an admirer at the Festival.
Catching up with the Communities Programme
This week we were joined by Scran Academy for our Stories and Scran event. It was a lovely summer evening, complemented by some amazing dinner provided by Scran Academy. Our Citizen participants brought along thought-provoking work to share, creating a showcase of creative work from local groups across the city.
There’s plenty still to come in our Communties Programme. Later this week we have Letters of Hope: where our writer in residence, Chris Barkley, explores with young people from the Spartans Alternative School questions about the future.
You can also catch Our City, Our Stories – where we bring together local writers and poets from across Edinburgh to create a collective love letter to the city – running throughout the Festival.
What’s coming up next?
Looking to make a trip to the Book Festival over next week? Here’s a breakdown of what to expect.
New in fiction
Amber Husain & Daisy Lafarge: Eat Or Be Eaten
Have you ever been lovesick? Lafarge’s Lovebug explores what it means to be parasitised by someone or something. Husain’s Meat Love examines our relationship to animals. Both ask what it means to consume.
Monica Heisey, Josie Long & Will McPhail: Funny Peculiar
The line between laughter and tears is a fine one. These three authors serve up touching, honest, and hilarious responses to modern dating and what it means to fall in love, and fall out of it.
Brandon Taylor: American Intimacy
Brandon Taylor follows up his Booker Prize-shortlisted Real Life, with his new novel The Late Americans. It follows a circle of friends and students in Iowa City, as they grapple with their ambitions and desires.
Isabel Waidner: Prize Writer
Isabel Waidner stunned with her Goldsmith Prize-winning Sterling Karat Gold. Their latest novel, Corey Fah Does Social Mobility, is a revolutionary tale about the pitfalls of social mobility and literary prizes.
From our Children’s Programme
Get to know Trixie Pickle with Olaf Falafel
Join comedian, art columnist, author, and illustrator Olaf Falafel as he introduces his Trixie Pickle series: a laugh-out-loud illustrated adventure featuring Trixie Pickle, the Banksy of her school.
Aisha Bushby: An Awfully Tiny Adventure
Aisha Bushby introduces a heart-warming series about bravery, friendship, and inclusivity. Tiny’s animal neighbours don’t like her because she looks like a human, but Frog is in danger, and Tiny need to come to the rescue.
Workshop: Putting Yourself on the Page with Laura Dockrill
Whether you write for yourself or to get your story out there, writing is for everyone, and creativity can be your most valuable tool. In this workshop expect self-care, imagination, and finding the stories that only you can tell.
David Fenne: Bursting With Emotion
Fenne introduces his debut queer magical adventure, Overemotional. Let your imagination run wild as he explores using role-playing and improv to develop LGBTQ+ characters and themes in YA fantasy.
Current Conversations
Gary Younge: Imagine a World
Younge’s work has seen him report from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and from a St Louis suburb as the Black Lives Matter movement took off. Younge speaks to Nesrine Malik about bearing witness and ‘singing yourself up’.
Hashi Mohamed: Right to Home
As a top planning barrister who came to Britain as a child refugee, Mohamed shares with Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf his personal and professional knowledge about the housing crisis and his perspective on how to fix it.
Kate Crawford: Who Wins in the AI Revolution?
Academic and senior Microsoft researcher Kate Crawford discusses how the global networks underpinning AI technology are damaging our world, entrenching inequality, and fuelling a shift toward undemocratic governance.
Munroe Bergdorf : Transformations
We all transition as time goes on. It’s what binds us, not what separates us. Join activist, model, and British Vogue contributing editor Munroe Bergdorf, as she speaks to Gemma Cairney about how our differences strengthen our community.
Try something different
Sunday Salon
Sunday Salon is a new series, where the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Edinburgh Art Festival, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival come together each Sunday afternoon. Join us, with a lineup of artists working across literature, film, and art discuss the finer details of their work and practice in an intimate setting.
Simone Seales: Sound Escapes
Cellist, performer, and writer Simone Seales creates spaces of radical joy in classical music through their practice of improvisation and intersectional feminism. Join them for a special event – part musical performance, part spoken word – exploring the power of music and language.
That’s just a small taste of what’s to come over the next few days at the Festival. You can browse the full programme here.
We can’t wait to welcome you FROM NOW UNTIL August 28! See you soon.
