F E S T I VA L B O O KS | Top Tips TO P T I P S
A longer selection of this week’s best events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
10 AUG
50 YEARS OF THE VERY HUNGRY
CATERPILLAR Charlotte Square Gardens, 11am, free. Celebrate 50 years of Eric Carle’s classic picture book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by dropping into Story Box for lots of exciting colouring and craft activities inspired by the much-loved tale. You might even get the chance to meet the greedy insect himself.
ROWAN HISAYO BUCHANAN & YELENA MOSKOVICH
Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £8 (£6). Meet two writers whose new novels explore hybrid identities, LGBTQ+ metropolitan life, and love. Starling Days by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan opens with a woman staring over the edge of George Washington Bridge while Yelena Moskovich’s Virtuoso is a love story set in 1980s Prague. In conversation with author Helen McClory.
AIDAN O’ROURKE, JAMES ROBERTSON & KIT DOWNES
Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £12 (£10). In 2013, James Robertson wrote a story every day of the year, each 365 words long. Then, Scottish fiddler Aidan O’Rourke wrote a tune a day as a musical response. 2019 marks the next chapter: O’Rourke launches Volume 2 of the music; the trio created a new commission for the New Music Biennial; and the EIBF launch an ambitious installation collecting all the voices and songs, before it tours the country.
RUSS LITTEN & CHRIS MCQUEER Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £8 (£6). Nurtured in Scotland’s spoken word scene and described as ‘Charlie Brooker on Buckfast’, Chris McQueer’s stories illuminate lives on the margins, while novelist Russ Litten’s first story collection centres on Hull in its City of Culture year, and has drawn comparisons to James Kelman. Join the pair as they discuss their respective works.
11 AUG
EDINBURGH COMIC ART FAIR KEVIN BARRY
Institut Français d’Ecosse, 10am, free. Swing by for a vibrant and inspiring gathering of comics authors, artists and publishers at the French Institute. Discover and buy exciting new comics and support and meet the indie creatives behind some incredible works. Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £8 (£6). Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier is a novel dripping with tenderness, remorse and laconic humour. Join Barry to hear about his two fading but irresistible Irish gangsters trying to piece together the shards of their shattered lives.
40 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7–14 Aug 2019
P H O T O :
I
B L A R C A L D W E L L
2pm, £35 (£30). Rachael Ball is a cartoonist and graphic novelist with over 16 years of experience teaching art. In this masterclass, she shows you how to create comics dealing with difficult subjects like grief, guiding you through the connections between visual narratives, memories, emotions and catharsis.
UNBOUND WITH EDINBURGH GIN: VIC GALLOWAY BRINGS THE
RUCKUS!
Charlotte Square Gardens, 9pm, free. DJ Vic Galloway is back at the festival exploring ideas of identity, love, soul and struggle. Live music from Joseph Malik, Callum Easter, Heir of the Cursed and an acoustic set from Vic’s own band, with readings from Saskia Vogel, Dean Atta and Will Ashon.
DeRay Mckesson 14 AUG
MALORIE BLACKMAN: 12 AUG
LEILA ABOULELA, ROBIN ROBERTSON & KAMILA SHAMSIE
CROSSFIRE
KARINE POLWART, NAYROUZ WITH VAL MCDERMID
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £5. One of the UK’s most influential children’s authors, Malorie Blackman brings you the highly anticipated new book in her groundbreaking Noughts & Crosses series, Crossfire, which deals with racism, politics and terrorism. Hear this masterful writer discuss a novel that packs a powerful punch.
DERAY MCKESSON Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £12 (£10). Educator and activist DeRay Mckesson, a key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement, discusses his deeply-moving book, On the Other Side of Freedom, in which he inspires the hope and belief that together we must imagine – and build – a more equal world. In conversation with Lauretta Charlton, Race/Related editor of The New York Times.
JUNO DAWSON: THE DARK SIDE
OF GLAMOUR Charlotte Square Gardens, 5.45pm, £5. Discover the dark underbelly of the fashion industry with Juno Dawson’s honest, raw novel Meat Market and join her for an insightful discussion on the #MeToo movement and why she thinks women must work together to create a cultural shift.
QARMOUT & ALI SMITH WITH VAL MCDERMID
Charlotte Square Gardens, 10am, £12 (£10). Guest Selector Val McDermid explores stories of individuals and families who’ve faced the decision to leave their homeland. Nayrouz Qarmout talks of her birth in a Damascus refugee camp and her subsequent move to Gaza; Ali Smith discusses those she encountered in her work on the Refugee Tales project; and singer-songwriter Karine Polwart shares some of her powerful, deeply felt music and ideas about the migrant experience.
MARKUS ZUSAK Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £12 (£10). Thirteen years since his multi-million bestseller The Book Thief, Markus Zusak makes his first Book Festival appearance with his much-anticipated follow-up, Bridge of Clay. In a conversation with author and presenter Janet Ellis, Zusak discusses his ambitious portrait of a family, introducing us to the Dunbar brothers, who are living and fighting in a house with no parents and no rules.
13 AUG
Charlotte Square Gardens, 10am, £12 (£10). Val McDermid leads a lively and thought-provoking discussion on the shifting nature of home with Leila Aboulela, Kamila Shamsie and Robin Robertson, three leading authors who have written about the topic.
OUTRIDERS: JENNI FAGAN & HARRY JOSEPHINE GILES
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.45pm, £12 (£10). In 2017, ten writers were sent across the Americas for Outriders, a project of complex journeys, exploring controversial themes during which the writers exchanged ideas. Ahead of Outriders Africa later this year, Jenni Fagan and Harry Josephine Giles return to discuss how their journeys influenced them.
NEW DAUGHTERS OF AFRICA WITH MARGARET BUSBY
Charlotte Square Gardens, 5.45pm, £12 (£10). New Daughters of Africa is the companion volume to Margaret Busby’s historical anthology Daughters of Africa, published 27 years ago to international acclaim. Contributing authors Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Bernardine Evaristo, Leila Aboulela and Candice Carty-Williams join Busby to discuss the remarkable collection.
JOANNE HARRIS WILL ASHON
Charlotte Square Gardens, 11.45am, £12 (£10). Joanne Harris revisits the world of Chocolat 20 years on with The Strawberry Thief. Dip into Harris’ expertly crafted world for an unrivalled sensory experience.
MASTERCLASS: DRAWING ON GRIEF
Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel,
Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £8 (£6). Founder of record label Big Dada and author of Chamber Music: About the Wu-Tang (in 36 Pieces) discusses his book about the groundbreaking music of the group’s debut album, which traces everything from the history of jazz to social housing, fashion and politics, and drugs to racism.