list.co.uk/festival Top Tips | F E S T I VA L B O O KS
TO P T I P S
Plan a day out with the many events on offer at the Edinburgh International Book Festival over the next week and a half
15 AUG
LEILA ABOULELA & YVONNE ADHIAMBO OWUOR
Charlotte Square Gardens, £12 (£10). Leila Aboulela’s Bird Summons portrays three women on a Highland road trip, encountering ideas that extend as far as Mecca, while Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor’s The Dragonfly Sea, follows young Kenyan Ayaana in a quest to make sense of East Africa’s rich cultural heritage. Today they discuss the meaning of home with author Polly Clark.
16 AUG JACKIE KAY
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £12 (£10). Scots Makar Jackie Kay reads a selection of new poems inspired by her travels around Scotland. Kay also discusses the play of her much- loved memoir Red Dust Road with James Tait Black Prize-winner Tanika Gupta, who has adapted it for the National Theatre of Scotland.
JACK MONROE Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, pay what you can. Jack Monroe is an active anti-poverty campaigner and her recipe books – including Cooking on a Bootstrap and Tin Can Cook – are about making simple yet delicious recipes on a shoestring, based on her own experiences. Join the food writer as she reveals her ideas for turning ordinary ingredients into extraordinary meals.
17 AUG SOFIE HAGEN
Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.15pm, pay what you can. Join Danish comedian Sofie Hagen as she discusses body image and the notion that being fat is wrong in a society obsessed by shrinking – the topic of new book Happy Fat.
INUA ELLAMS & KEI MILLER Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £8 (£6). Inua Ellams’s verse novel The Half God of Rainfall interweaves ancient and urban myths to tell a story of pride, power and revenge, while Kei Miller’s collection In Nearby Bushes explores legends, histories and landscapes on the fringes of Jamaican society. Join them for a celebration of the emotive powers of narrative verse.
Lemn Sissay 19 AUG
UNBOUND WITH EDINBURGH GIN:
BACK TO NIGHT SCHOOL Charlotte Square Gardens, 9pm, free. Glasgow-based label and promoter Night School Records commands huge respect within the city’s music scene, with an eclectic mix of electronic talent. Tonight, expect performances and readings from J. McFarlane’s Reality Guest, author Michael Amherst, and Canadian artist Sean Nicholas Savage.
20 AUG
JASON REYNOLDS & NIKESH SHUKLA: LEFT JAB, WRITE
HOOK
Spark Theatre, George Street, 5.30pm, £5. Join this conversation about finding identity and belonging through sport with award-winning authors Nikesh Shukla and Jason Reynolds. Shukla’s The Boxer was influenced by his work coaching young people in the boxing ring. In Reynold’s Ghost, his central character finds solace in running – just as Reynolds did in poetry and writing.
21 AUG
JOSEPH COELHO: WARM- HEARTED WORDS
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.15pm, £5. Hear award-winning performance poet Joseph Coelho share an uplifting story about the importance of being yourself. Expect lots of rhymes and tales in this gentle and positive event, perfect for encouraging open and honest conversations about your emotions.
P H O T O :
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A D A M U L U N E H
JAMES MACMILLAN Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £12 (£10). As he reaches the landmark age of 60, internationally renowned composer and conductor James MacMillan reflects on a classical life well lived in A Scots Song. He shares his thoughts on music, faith, community and society.
JAMES ACASTER Charlotte Square Gardens, 10pm, £12. Comedian James Acaster discusses his hotly anticipated memoir, Perfect Sound Whatever – a love letter to the healing power of music. Acaster is joined on stage by writer, performer and ‘stand-up poet’ Rob Auton.
22 AUG
7pm, pay what you can. Anthony Anaxagorou launches After the Formalities, a sharp examination of class, race and masculinity. He’s joined by Nadine Aisha Jassat, a new star in Scotland whose powerful debut collection Let Me Tell You This is a force to be reckoned with.
UNBOUND WITH EDINBURGH GIN:
FUN LOVIN’ CRIME WRITERS Charlotte Square Gardens, 9pm, free. The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers have hit new heights, even playing Glastonbury. Prepare for Luca Veste, Stuart Neville, Doug Johnstone, Chris Brookmyre, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid to murder some tunes.
24 AUG LEMN SISSAY
Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10). Growing up with foster families and in care homes, Lemn Sissay struggled with his identity but the discovery of his birth name and Ethiopian background was the catalyst for reflection in My Name is Why. He meditates on home and identity as he presents his insightful memoir.
25 AUG
KERRY HUDSON & SARAH SMARSH
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, pay what you can. Two writers revisit their experiences of working class life in Britain and the US. In Lowborn, Kerry Hudson returns to the poverty-stricken towns of her youth to discover what being poor means today, while Sarah Smarsh’s Heartland is a touching memoir on the destitution of Kansas farming life. Hear two honest takes on wealth inequality.
SULAIMAN ADDONIA & OLGA COLSON WHITEHEAD WITH
GRJASNOWA KIRSTY WARK
Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.30pm, £8 (£6). Sulaiman Addonia, who fled Eritrea in 1976 and spent his early life in a Sudanese refugee camp, and Azeri author Olga Grjasnowa, who moved to Germany in 1996 as a refugee, discuss lives lived in exile.
ALLAN LITTLE’S BIG INTERVIEW
WITH ELIF SHAFAK Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10). Turkish-British author Elif Shafak talks to BBC special correspondent Allan Little about the rise of populism and how to avoid public angst becoming aggression.
23 AUG
ANTHONY ANAXAGOROU &
NADINE AISHA JASSAT Charlotte Square Gardens,
Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10). Following the success of The Underground Railroad, new novel The Nickel Boys sees Pulitzer Prize- winner Colson Whitehead visit 1960s Florida, a period of American history fraught with racial tension. The giant of contemporary fiction launches the book with Kirsty Wark.
26 AUG
MAKING FRIENDS WITH AXEL SCHEFFLER
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.15pm, £5. Axel Scheffler has illustrated books for numerous authors including Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo, but he also writes his own inventive stories. This gentle, funny event has something to teach all ages about the power of friendship and kindness.
14–26 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 35