FESTIVAL BOOKS | Day Planner
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VAL MCDERMID WITH NICOLA STURGEON Continuing the tradition set by Alex Salmond before her, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hosts a talk with crime writer Val McDermid (pictured) about her recent short story collection Stranded and upcoming Tony Hill mystery, Splinter the Silence. If both women’s form on spirited public debate is anything to go by, this is going to be a festival highlight. ■ 6.45pm, £10 (£8).
novel, Not Quite Nice, set in the glamorous French Riviera. 8.15pm, £10 (£8). WEDNESDAY 26
Lucy Ribchester & Care Santos Edinburgh-based Ribchester, the author of the supremely entertaining The Hourglass Factory talks to Lee Randall about her debut at this First Book Award event. She appears with Catalan-Spanish writer Care Santos, writer of the fictionalised history of the cocoa bean, In Desire for Chocolate. 2pm, £7 (£5). Chigozie Obioma & Simon Sylvester Obioma’s Nigeria-set The Fishermen has been longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize, so now’s a great chance to catch the author before the shortlist comes out. Next to him on stage will be Simon Sylvester, whose The Visitors is a haunting mystery set on a remote Scottish island. 5pm, £7 (£5). Andrew Keen The author of The Internet is not the Answer doesn’t hate the internet - he just doesn’t like its current incarnation. Here more about his stance in this Book Festival event. See preview, page 31. 8.45pm, £10 (£8).
THURSDAY 27
Meera Syal The last time acclaimed actor and screenwriter Syal was at the Book Festival was in 2000, following the publication of her first book Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee. This year, she returns to discuss her latest novel, The House of Hidden Mothers. 11.45am, £10 (£8). Best of the Brits: Celebrating our Young Adult Fiction Some of the best writers for young people in Britain today – Elizabeth Laird, Tanya Landman, David Almond and James Dawson – get together to celebrate their readers’ generation and discuss their works. See 34 THE LIST FESTIVAL 20–31 Aug 2015
James Dawson preview, page 32. 7pm, £7 (£5). Michel Faber Best known for seminal works, Under the Skin and The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber’s last novel, The Book of Strange New Things might just be his saddest. Here, he talks to Jackie McGlone about his mesmerising, inter-terrestrial love story. 8.45pm, £10 (£8). Jura Unbound: Neu! Reekie! With their first anthology under their belt, and their biggest night ever in June headlined by Mercury Prize-winners Young Fathers, this Unbound event at the Book Festival puts a neat full stop on Neu! Reekie!’s great summer. 9pm, free. FRIDAY 28
Emily Mackie & Lisa McInerney When we reviewed it a year ago, we called Emily Mackie’s In Search of Solace ‘a novel in the vein of Iain Banks at his best’. Hear her talk about it at this Book Festival event, in which Irish writer Lisa McInerney will also chat about her book The Glorious Heresies. 5pm, £7 (£5). Writing Across Boundaries David Almond, Bruce Pascoe and Alison Hubert talk about why it’s important for children to read books in translation. Almond is the acclaimed author of Skellig, Pascoe is an indigenous Australian writer and Hubert is director of Book Aid International. 5.30pm, £7 (£5). Tracey Thorn Everything but the Girl’s Tracey Thorn follows up her memoir Bedsit Disco Queen with an ode to the joys of singing, Naked at the Albert Hall. 8.15pm, £10 (£8). Jesse Armstrong & Tom Drury Armstrong, one of the writers behind hit television comedies Peep Show and The Thick of It, pops up to Edinburgh to talk about his debut novel, Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals. Next to him will be American Tom Drury, whose
1994 novel The End of Vandalism is a classic in the US but has only just been published in the UK. 8.45pm, £7 (£5). SATURDAY 29
Johann Hari Four years ago, journalist Hari was embroiled in a plagiarism scandal that led to the withdrawal of the Orwell Prize he’d been awarded in 2008. He’s spent the last few years researching his new book, Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. An essential event for anyone interested in addiction and reforming drug laws. 2pm, £10 (£8). Caroline Lucas Green MP for Brighton Pavilion and a former leader of the party, Caroline Lucas comes to the festival to talk about her book, Honourable Friends: Parliament and the Fight for Change. 5pm, £10 (£8). Alan Cumming with Ian Rankin Cumming might be one of Scotland’s most celebrated actors, but in his brilliant, moving memoir Not My Father’s Son, he makes a good case for being one of its most affecting non-fiction writers too. Here, he talks to Ian Rankin about his life and career. 8.15pm, £10 (£8). Irvine Welsh It’s been a prolific couple of years for Irvine Welsh. Hot on the heels of last year’s The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins comes A Decent Ride, his latest Edinburgh-set novel. He talks to writer and comedian Viv Groskop about the book. 9.45pm, £10 (£8).
SUNDAY 30
Gordon Brown Ten months after the Independence Referendum, former PM Gordon Brown talks about the events of last year and what he sees for the future of Scotland, as discussed in his book My Scotland, Our Britain: A Future Worth Sharing. 3.15pm, £10 (£8). Pat Barker Barker’s Regeneration
trilogy is still one of the greatest modern works about war. Her second trilogy dealing with war ends this month with Noonday, the follow up to Toby’s Room and Life Class. 5pm, £10 (£8). Why I Call Myself a Feminist: A Rally, A Rant, A Story, A Song, A Protest, A Poem A wide range of authors and performers – including Caroline Criado-Perez, Val McDermid, Nish Kumar, Jo Clifford, Elif Shafak and Andrew O’Hagan, among others – take to the stage for five minutes each to discuss why they are a feminist. 8.45pm, £10 (£8). MONDAY 31
Elif Shafak One of Turkey’s premier novelists talks to James Runcie about her novel, The Architect’s Apprentice, which is set in 16th-century Istanbul. 10.15am, £10 (£8). David Torrance Torrance – who recently published a biography of Nicola Sturgeon with Birlinn – looks back on the last 12 months of Scottish political life. He’ll talk particularly about two recent books: Britain Rebooted and 100 Days of Hope and Fear. 2pm, £10 (£8). Christopher Brookmyre Just when Brookmyre fans had given up hope that they’d ever see Jack Parlabane again, the crime writer brought the Edinburgh journalist back in this year’s Dead Girl Walking. It’s a fast-paced thriller that shows Brookmyre at his best, and in this event on the last day of the book festival, he talks to the BBC’s Brian Taylor. 8.15pm, £10 (£8). Jura Unbound: Bang Bang! The final Unbound of the festival says goodbye with a band. Starts at a slightly later time; look out for lineup announcements nearer the time. 10.15pm, free. All events are at Charlotte Square Gardens, 0845 373 5888, until 31 Aug, edbookfest.co.uk