Summer e-news: 9 July 2026 edition
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Festival dates: 15-30 August
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Dive deep into events for all the family!
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We get it – in the hubbub of having 600+ events to explore, it can feel like a bit of a challenge to find the ones you’re most interested in. Well fear not, we’re here to help, and these weekly summer emails are a great starting place to check out smaller selections week on week.
Let us guide you. After all, we’ve spent the better part of a year working on our programme behind the scenes, so we’re always excited to share our insider knowledge about some of the most exciting events and authors coming this August – including some hidden gems.
In this email, we’ll take you through:
🧡 a range of children’s events and an invite to spend the end of summer at our LNER Kids’ Zone
👐 some hands-on, hot ticket workshops
🎤 a chance to perform as part of the Festival
🦋 and another crop of Changing Your Mind events that might shift your perspective on a topic or two
Right, let’s hop into this week’s round-up!
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A summer of reading for the whole family
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In this National Year of Reading, bring the young people in your life along to see real life authors, illustrators, and the occasional costume character (we’re looking at you Gruffalo) live on stage!
There’s something for every sort of young reader, whether they’re a bit shaky on the alphabet at the moment but absolutely love a good picture book, have soaring imaginations and are discovering the joys of solo reading, or are starting to wade into the complexities of friend groups, feelings, and finding their place in the world…
You can explore the whole of the Children’s and Young Adults programmes online, but if you’d like a bit of help exploring all 150+ family events, we’re sharing a few picks broken down by age below:
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For Older Ones (Ages 10-14)
💓 For the ones with lots of feelings: hear two very funny writers, Nat Luurtsema and Rashmi Sirdeshpande, chatting about how comedy and feelings make the perfect book recipe | Sat 15 Aug, 16:30-17:30
🤖 For techies: this event features a real and actual robot from the National Robotarium. See if you can tell fact from fiction and discover the power of stories | Fri 21 Aug, 13:45-14:45
🫶🏽 For besties: hear Yassmin Abdel-Magied chatting about her brand-new mystery about magical best friends | Sat 22 Aug, 16:30-17:30
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Plus, play all day in the LNER Kids’ Zone
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Keep imaginations high while getting hands busy in our playful LNER Kids’ Zone.
This year we’re teaming up with LNER (London North Eastern Railway) to make our Kids’ Zone even more jam-packed with fun activities this August. Thanks to their generous support, this summer you and your little ones can go on a journey of stories, discovery, and imagination, and enjoy:
🎨 A range of LNER activity packs and creative activities at the imagination stations in the Families Hangout area
🛤️ Playful ‘Train Tales’ story sessions, also in the Families Hangout: bring your imagination to these free and facilitated sessions where we can all get ready together for our next great train adventure
🌱 The outdoor Children’s Courtyard – plenty of space for little legs to run around and get the wriggles out while older travellers recline and relax
✨ Plus, a few very special guest appearances by a certain fabulous and red haired frequent traveller…
We’re just finalising our timetable for all these exciting activities, so keep an eye on our website and socials for updates.
Our huge thanks goes to LNER for their support.
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Hot tickets: Workshop edition
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This hands-on strand of our Programme isn’t just for writers and readers, it’s for all sorts of creatives and curious minds. We have so many thinkers, authors, artists, and incredible creatives of all sorts lending us their talents this August, so make sure you don’t miss this rare opportunity to participate in a masterclass from the experts themselves!
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Songwriting with Emma-Lee Moss
Sun 16 Aug, 14:00-16:00
This playful session – led by musician and My Cantopop Nights author Emma-Lee Moss (AKA Emmy the Great) – invites you to explore gentle creative exercises, share the songs that remind you of home, and write about your own special places. Open to all experience levels. Instruments welcome, though not required.
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Translation with Polly Barton
Thu 20 Aug, 12:00-14:00
This fun problem-solving session for practising translators is led by Polly Barton, acclaimed translator of Asako Yuzuki’s publishing sensation, Butter (among many others). Bring along the translation issue that’s been irking you and see what happens when translators put their minds together!
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Writing Memory with Jarred McGinnis
Fri 21 Aug, 17:30-19:30
Join Jarred McGinnis for an all-senses-engaged workshop which transforms your funny, profound, and most chaotic memories into works of creative writing. Bring along a family member, friend, or other individual with whom you share recollections and explore just how different our stories can be, even when their starting point is the same.
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Poetry with Joelle Taylor
Sat 29 Aug, 10:30-12:30
Ever wondered where a poem could go when it leaves the page? Join T. S. Eliot Prize-winning poet, author, and playwright Joelle Taylor to explore what new shapes poems can take on, whether they expand into novels, transform into short films, or stretch into dance. Suitable for everyone willing to play and take risks.
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Ever dreamed of performing at the Festival?
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Well, now’s your big chance!
Our friends at Push the Boat Out – Edinburgh’s genre-bending international poetry festival – will be back to host a special edition of their vibrant, monthly open mic night, Rock the Boat. It’s all about celebrating dynamic contemporary poetry and performance, and if you’d like to perform with them at our Festival on the evening of Tuesday 18 August, fill out the form below:
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Please note: To ensure there is time for as many poets to read as possible, performers may share only one poem that is a maximum 3 minutes. Filling out the sign-up form does not guarantee a slot – the Rock the Boat team will let you know whether you have a slot via email ahead of the event.
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And now for idea-sparking events…
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With our 2026 Festival theme being ‘Changing Your Mind’, each week we’re challenging you to properly lean into our theme this August by pushing yourself (even a little) outside your comfort zone.
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🤖 If you’re convinced AI is nothing but bad news for humanity…
…why not listen to two fascinating figures at the forefront of global scientific innovation (Alan Finkel, former Chief Scientist of Australia and founder of the global certification organisation Proudly Human, and Steve Crossan, founding member of the pioneering DeepMind project) talking about some amazing new developments in AI?
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🎶 If you don’t think you’ve got what it takes to be in a choir…
…then why not hear Lauren Elkin and Astrid Jorgensen chatting about the power of singing, then give it a go yourself as Jorgensen leads the audience in a joyful group singalong in the spirit of her phenomenal Pub Choir events?
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🎨 If you were brought up believing that art was only created by a select few…
…then why not help make sure the next generation don’t grow up thinking the same by bringing a budding artist in your life along to hear art historian Katy Hessel (author and host of The Story of Art Without Men) sharing stories of brilliant, revolutionary female artists throughout history?
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And that’s all from us for now 📚✨
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We’ll be back next week with some more top picks and insider tips for you! In the meantime, keep up with all the latest from the Book Festival on our social media (@edbookfest) and check out the full programme over on our website:
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