CITIZEN ADULT WRITERS’ FINAL PERFORMANCE AT BOOK FESTIVAL TONIGHT
As a charitable non-profit making organisation, the work of the Book Festival stretches far beyond the month of August. Indeed, our Communities Programme runs year-round, focused on inspiring and empowering people of all ages and backgrounds.
Our City, Our Stories is an outpouring of this year-round work: an event created both for and by those taking part in the Communities Programme.
This inspiring, recurring, and FREE event showcases new writing from both professional and non-professional writers across our Citizen project (and other community-based groups including Intercultural Youth Scotland and Open Book).
The stories performed make up a collective love letter to Edinburgh.
The final Our City, Our Stories session of this year’s Book Festival takes place this evening at 6.15. We’d love to see you there!
Returning for its fourth year, Stories and Scran celebrates the dynamic and thought-provoking work created by Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen participants.
This year’s event showcases the diverse voices and creative talent from local groups across the city including the Tollcross Writing Group, North Edinburgh Drama Group and WHALE Writers plus the Book Festival’s own Adult Writing Group and Citizen Collective.
With sumptuous snacks provided by Scran Academy, what’s not to like?
YESTERDAY (Friday 11 August 2023) Edinburgh International Book Festival received an open letter from over 50 authors querying their sponsorship by Baillie Gifford.
Below is a response from the Book Festival:
Nick Barley, Director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, said:
“ Dear authors,
Thank you for your letter about the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s sponsorship by Baillie Gifford.
Writers are the lifeblood of this festival. We exist to offer you and your readers the chance of open discussion about the things that matter to you.
We fully acknowledge your concerns about the devastating impact of fossil fuel exploitation on the climate: as individuals and as a charity we firmly agree.
For these reasons we promise to think about your letter carefully. The last thing we want is to let anyone give the impression we are on opposite sides.
Just as we promise to listen carefully to you, we ask that you allow us some time to consider your comments. We’d also like to share with you the reasons why we have accepted this sponsorship agreement.
Like all arts organisations in the UK, we wouldn’t have enough funds to operate without private sponsorship. We looked very closely at the work of Baillie Gifford and it seems to us that they are in fact investing in companies that are seeking to resolve the crisis.
Those companies include Ørsted, the Danish windfarm specialist. Ørsted was mandated by the Danish government to keep two coal-fired power stations open until 2024 as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and that is the only reason why a small percentage of their income still comes from fossil fuels.
I hope you will talk with me and my colleagues, and discuss the complexities of this issue with us. Surely the best place for such conversations is at Book Festivals like ours. I invite you to the festival because I believe in the power of your words.
I am keen to learn from you about this; to hear your expertise; to understand your perspective. I promise to consider what you say carefully, and keep an open mind about how to proceed.
For that reason I’m proposing that we talk at the festival – with each other and with audience members who share the same concerns. Let’s talk in the Authors’ Yurt, in the bookshop, in the cafe and in the festival courtyard. Let’s talk in our theatres too: I’d like to find a time when we can invite representatives from across the spectrum of opinion to come on stage and have a discussion which will be open to the public. We’ll find a date when that’s possible and you’d be more than welcome to join us.
Can we talk?”
Edinburgh International Book Festival opens this morning
Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, will make a special appearance at Edinburgh International Book Festival before heading north to Shetland to complete the Scottish leg of his epic nationwide ‘Library Marathon’ tour
Waterstones Children’s Laureate (2022 -2024), Joseph Coelho, will then go on to visit Shetland library to complete the Scottish leg of his nationwide ‘Library Marathon’ adventure.
The award-winning performance poet, playwright, and children’s author is on an epic cross-country mission to join a library in every local authority in the UK – more than 200 libraries in total – with the aim of encouraging people, young and old, to join their local library.
Paul Coelho is championing local libraries and the vital role they play within the community and inspiring a love of reading in young people.
From 15-19 May, Coelho visited Orkney, the Highlands and the Western Isles for a jam-packed week of school and library events with Scottish Book Trust, including visits to Orkney Library & Archive (15 May) and Stornoway Library (18 May).
He will then return in August for a further visit to Shetland to join Shetland Library (29 August) which will mark the completion of the Scottish leg of his Library Marathon.
Joseph Coelho, Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022–2024, said:“I am thrilled to round off the Scottish leg of my Library Marathon tour by visiting libraries in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. Libraries made me a writer and make communities thrive.
“They have been a vital part of my life: from living on estates where I had a library next door, to my first Saturday job, to working at the British Library whilst studying at UCL, to touring theatre shows designed to be performed in libraries.
“I’m immensely grateful to libraries and the services they provide, so I want to use my platform as the Waterstones Children’s Laureate to champion these essential launchpads of learning. I want to hug every library, these miraculous institutions where new horizons line the shelves, where minds go to grow!”
Joseph Coelho has now visited 178 libraries across the UK as part of his Library Marathon, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen.
At his visit to libraries in Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, he will register for a library card, borrow a book, as well as reading to and performing for the children in the library.
Coelho’s ambitious ‘Library Marathon’ began prior to his appointment as the foremost representative of children’s literature, the Waterstones Children’s Laureate, and was put on hold due to the Covid pandemic.
Now Joseph – who is acclaimed for his work including the Luna Loves picture books, middle grade series Fairy Tales Gone Bad, YA verse novel The Girl Who Became a Tree, as well as poetry collections for all ages including Overheard in a Tower Block and Poems Aloud – is set to complete his campaign by putting library advocacy at the heart of his laureateship.
The ‘Library Marathon’ will culminate in a special, public event at the British Library in October 2023 to mark National Libraries Week 2023.
Diana Gerald, Chief Executive of BookTrust added:“Libraries are essential community hubs for children and families and with the current cost of living crisis, can offer a safe and warm space, packed full of fabulous books that will inspire children of all ages on their reading journeys.
“Sharing stories and reading together with children has been proven to bring children wide-ranging benefits that can positively affect their lives. If Joseph’s Library Marathon has inspired you to visit your own local library, talk to the librarians – they are experts and can support you to find books and stories that you and your child will enjoy reading together.”
The ‘Library Marathon’ is one of three major initiatives announced by the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate, which is managed by BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, as part of his two year tenure.
Coelho’s other campaigns include the ‘Poetry Prompts’ weekly online series, which celebrates the power of poetry in all its forms, and ‘Bookmaker Like You’, which aims to showcase a diversity of new talent within the book industry so that every child can see themselves as a bookmaker.
THE Edinburgh International Book Festival has announced that Greta Thunberg’s event, which was due to take place on Sunday 13 August, will no longer go ahead.
Greta Thunberg said: “I am unfortunately unable to attend the Edinburgh Book Festival. As a climate activist I cannot attend an event which receives sponsorship from Baillie Gifford, who invest heavily in the fossil fuel industry.
“Greenwashing efforts by the fossil fuel industry, including sponsorship of cultural events, allow them to keep the social license to continue operating. I cannot and do not want to be associated with events that accept this kind of sponsorship.”
Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said:“While I am disappointed that Greta will not be joining us on the 13 of August, I fully respect her decision. I share Greta’s view that in all areas of society the rate of progress is not enough.
“However, in applauding Greta for standing by her principles, we too must stand by ours.
“The Book Festival exists to give a platform for debate and discussion around key issues affecting humanity today – including the climate emergency. As a charitable organisation, we would not be in a position to provide that platform without the long-term support of organisations such as Baillie Gifford.
“We strongly believe that Baillie Gifford are part of the solution to the climate emergency. They are early investors in progressive climate positive companies, providing funds to help them grow. While they acknowledge there is still work to do, we have seen them make rapid progress throughout our 19-year relationship.
“I apologise to all the people who bought tickets and were keen to meet Greta – and especially to the hundreds of young climate campaigners who we had invited to come along because of their hard work to change the system in Scotland. We will of course refund all ticket-buyers in full.”
Baillie Gifford said: “We are not a significant fossil fuel investor. Only 2% of our clients’ money is invested in companies with some business related to fossil fuels. This compares to the market average of 11%. Of those companies, some have already moved most of their business away from fossil fuels, and many are helping to drive the transition to clean energy.
“We are investing on behalf of our clients to grow their savings and retirement funds. When we invest in companies on their behalf, we do so over long time periods – typically 10 years or more – so this has naturally led us away from traditional fossil fuel firms. Currently, 5% of our clients’ money is invested in companies whose sole purpose is to develop clean energy solutions.
“We believe in open debate and discussion which is why we are long-term supporters of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.”
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL’s COMMUNITIES PROGRAMME
‘celebrating the diverse voices, stories and talent of local people, from across the city and beyond’ – NOELLE COBEN, EIBF Communities Programme Director
As a charitable non-profit making organisation, the work of the Book Festival stretches far beyond the month of August. Our Communities Programme runs year-round and isfocused on inspiring and empowering people of all ages and backgrounds.
Our dedicated team work closely with local organisations to create tailored events and activities for a range of community groups throughout Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.
This year we have:
developed a new partnership with The Ripple Project to bring monthly author events to their social club for older adults
worked with young people and staff from NHS Lothian’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) on a three-day creative writing and illustration project
facilitated sessions with our Writer in Residence, Chris Barkley, for young people at The Alternative School at Spartans Community Football Academy
… and so much more.
As an outpouring of this year-round work, we run a series of events during the Festival that have been created both for and by those taking part in the programme. We can’t wait to share them with you!
STORIES AND SCRAN
Stories and Scran – Mon 14 Aug | 19:30 – 20:45
Stories and Scran returns for its fourth year – a joyful event celebrating the dynamic and thought-provoking work created by our Citizen participants.
The evening includes a sweet snack provided by Scran Academy (a catering social enterprise based in North Edinburgh) and readings and performances from local groups across the city.
Tickets are on a Pay What You Can basis.
LETTERS OF HOPE
Letters of Hope – Mon 21 Aug | 19:00 – 20:00
What would you tell an outsider about where you live? What hopeful things would you write to your future self?
These were two creative questions our writer in residence, Chris Barkley, has been exploring with young people from the Spartans Alternative School.
Featuring short film, music, and readings, this event celebrates the diverse voices and creative talent of local young people.
Tickets are on a Pay What You Can basis.
OUR CITY, OUR STORIES
Our City, Our Stories – Various dates | 18:15 – 19:15
Our City, Our Stories is an inspiring, recurring event, showcasing new writing from both professional and non-professional writers across our Citizen project (and other community-based groups including Intercultural Youth Scotland and Open Book).
Join to hear them perform their stories: a collective love letter to Edinburgh.
These events are free.
RETURN TO PLANET CITIZEN
Return to Planet Citizen – Sat 26 & Sun 27 Aug
Explore the weird, wonderful world of Planet Citizen in this multi-media installation. You’ll find artifacts, writing, and impressions of a planet as far away as imagination can take you.
Return to Planet Citizen was created by pupils from St. Thomas of Aquin’s RC High School and Tynecastle High School in collaboration with professional artists. Join free 20-minute tours of Planet Citizen every 30 minutes (last tour 15:30).
This event is free.
Beyond the Book Festival Village …
Aware that not everyone can attend Book Festival events in person, our Communities Team work closely with partners and institutions to bring events to groups who might otherwise be excluded. This is thanks largely to the support of the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.
This August, author/illustrators Rob Biddulph and Nadia Shireen will visit the wards of the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, for instance,and writers including Jenni Fagan, Doug Johnstone, and Alan Bissett will visit six prisons across Scotland.
We hope this newsletter has given you a taster for some of the amazing work our Communities Programme are involved in.
Do you want to contribute to the largest study of reading and the effect it has on how we think?
Join us in August for The Edinburgh Readerbank: an ambitious research project with @durhamImh investigating reading, imagination, & mental health.
This is an opportunity to participate in a major new study of reading and the imagination – and their relationship to mental health.
Over the coming years, the Book Festival will become a research hub in partnership with a team from Durham University, gathering data from readers to create the world’s biggest open-source databank – the ReaderBank.
Drop in at any time to meet the research team, find out more about the project and sign up to add your own reading data to the ReaderBank.
Jenny Niven, new director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Today the Edinburgh International Book Festival announces that Jenny Niven, a leading cultural producer and director who has worked with a range of influential literary festivals in Scotland and internationally, will replace Nick Barley as Festival Director.
Jenny will begin her new role in September after Nick has overseen his final Festival programme, following a hugely successful 14 years.
Nick Barley, outgoing Edinburgh International Book Festival Director, said:“I am absolutely over the moon that Jenny Niven has been chosen to take over from me as the next Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
“Jenny has a stellar reputation in the world of literature and culture, both in Scotland and elsewhere. She is open-minded, dynamic and – vitally for this role – a good listener who knows that running a festival is a team game. On top of that, her creativity, connections and enthusiasm will be a huge asset to the Festival.”
Allan Little, Chair of the Edinburgh International Book Festival Board of Directors, said: “We are very excited to welcome Jenny Niven as the new Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
“Nick leaves incredibly big shoes to fill, but Jenny is no stranger to the Festival or the world of the written word here in Scotland, and indeed further afield, and we look forward to seeing what she brings to this new Book Festival chapter.”
Jenny will join the team as the Festival prepares for an exciting move to its new permanent home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, a landmark development based on the site of the old Royal Infirmary on Lauriston Place, in 2024.
Jenny Niven, the new Edinburgh International Book Festival Director, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be appointed to lead the Edinburgh International Book Festival as its new Director.
“The Festival has influenced Scottish culture, and shaped the development of book festivals globally, for 40 years. There’s no greater platform to bring together the conversations that we need to have, to celebrate the role of creativity, imagination and story in understanding and reshaping the world around us, and to demonstrate that exploring the world collectively via books and ideas is one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences you can have.
“The opportunity to reimagine the Festival in its exciting new home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, and to lead the organisation at such a pivotal time for Scotland’s cultural life, is an honour.
“Following the inspirational lead of Nick and his predecessors, I am excited to begin working with the impressive Festival team and board, and the incredible network of partners the Festival has cultivated in Scotland and beyond, to build on the Festival’s stellar reputation and to shape its future.”
Jenny is founder and Director of the award-winning Push the Boat Out, a festival of poetry, spoken word and language; Executive Producer of Dandelion, an epic programme of sowing, growing and sharing across Scotland, and was previously the Head of Literature at Creative Scotland. She was named in The List’s ‘Hot 100’ people influencing Scotland’s arts and cultural landscape in 2022.
For more information on Edinburgh International Book Festival visit:
The Edinburgh International Book Festival today announces its 2023 programme which celebrates The Joy of Words and its 40 years as the world’s leading celebration of the written word.
From 12 – 28 August 2023, the Festival invites the world’s greatest writers, artists and thinkers to help create positive conversations that will celebrate the world’s best new fiction, spoken word and non-fiction.
From events that take audiences outside on excursions led by stars of endurance sport including Emily Chappell, to a climate positive strand featuring the world’s best-known climate activist Greta Thunberg – or from deep dives into comedian Sara Pascoe’s first novel, and the memoirs of Judy Murray, Rob Delaney and Munroe Bergdorf, to Festival Late Nights featuring Damian Barr, there is something for everyone this August.
Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, said: “This year’s Book Festival programme is called The Joy of Words, and it’s been truly a joy to bring it together.
“My team and I have aimed to build an uplifting festival that is packed with exceptional thinkers from all over the world. At a time of polarised opinion and deep divisions, we hope to rediscover the pleasure of conversation; the satisfaction of spending time with people who can offer positive insights into the world today.
“This is my fourteenth and final programme for the Book Festival and I’m very excited by the prospect of 18 days in August with such a cornucopia of brilliant writers.”
This year the Book Festival returns to the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) with a programme of nearly 600 live events featuring more than 470 authors, writers and thinkers from 49 countries.
More than 100 events will be live streamed and Festival Late Nights will return for the first time in three years, including special salons hosted by Damian Barr and Gemma Cairney.
As ever, there will be free children’s events and workshops across the site and everyone’s favourite authors, as well as rising stars, will be on hand to sign books at the Book Festival Bookshop brought to audiences by Waterstones.
Think Tanks encourage people to have robust conversations over food, wine (or soft drink) e and the Festival gears up to host the “Loud Poets Grand Slam Final” run in partnership with I Am Loud Productions.
Bernardine Evaristo, Jackie Kay, Val McDermid, Elif Shafak, and Ali Smith talk about how their experiences have informed their writing careers in a series called What Makes a Writer and, in its 40th year, the Festival has selected 40 writers for New Writers, New Worlds.
This strand highlights 20 emerging Scottish authors including Heather Parry and Em Strang, and international writers like Jenny Erpenbeck and Leila Slimani. 2023 also sees the return of three authors who attended the first ever Festival in 1983 — Alastair Moffat, Michael Rosen, and A.N. Wilson.
Seven Booker Prize winners also join the lineup including 2022 winner Shehan Karunatilaka, Eleanor Catton, Ben Okri, James Kelman, Ian McEwan,and Anne Enright with her brand new novel The Wren, The Wren.
Former International Booker winner David Diop will also appear, as will this year’s winners, the Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Roden. Other international stars include the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir, who joins Ragnar Jonasson to discuss their crime novel Reykjavik.
A stellar lineup of Scotland-based authors feature heavily, with established names such as Irvine Welsh, Jenny Colgan, Denise Mina, Chris Brookmyre and Alexander McCall Smith discussing their books.
They are joined in the festival by leading British authors including Deborah Levy, Sebastian Faulks,and Katherine Rundell; and writers from further afield including Colson Whitehead, Chika Unigwe, Eileen Myles, Isabella Hammad, Ayobami Adebayo, Yiyun Li,Iman Mersal, Clemens Meyer, and Raja Shehadeh.
Laura Cumming’s Thunderclap, Raynor Winn’s Landlines and Malorie Blackman’s Just Sayin’ are three of a series of memoirs to be demystified by their authors on stage this year, alongside Jenni Fagan who was part of the first Book Festival Outriders project in 2017. Twenty years in the making Ootlin is Fagan’s highly anticipated memoir, offering a very personal insight into her experiences of growing up in the care system.
Chaired by writer and broadcaster Gemma Cairney, It’s Not Too Late to Change the World features Greta Thunberg and takes place at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Sunday 13th August and is one of the Climate Positive series events that looks at the health of our planet.
Featuring writers who offer an energetic call to action and ideas about how humanity can, and must, step back from the brink, it includes an event with Mikaela Loach, activist and author of It’s Not That Radical, who is also a medical student at the University of Edinburgh.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement – Irish foreign correspondent Fergal Keane (who reported on The Troubles) will be joined by Aoife Moore and Jan Carson to discuss the fragility of peace.
Continuing in a political vein, heavyweights including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Labour front-bencher Wes Streeting MP, Conservative peer Ruth Davidson,and former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale discuss the options for this country’s political future.
Continuing the tradition of the Scottish leader conducting an interview at the Book Festival, First Minister Humza Yousaf will interview Hashi Mohamed, who arrived in Britain as an unaccompanied child refugee from Kenya – and is now one of Britain’s leading housing barristers.
Also in 2023, the NHS marks its 75th anniversary and Sarah Brown will lead a conversation about the challenges facing the system, while Devi Sridhar and Gavin Francis will discuss the cost of the cure.
This event is part of the Outside the Box strand which introduces audiences to the innovators whose ideas genuinely offer new approaches to resolving humanity’s challenges and also includes an event with David Farrier and Karine Polwart in which they interrogate how to transform planning for the future.
This year’s poetry lineup features stars from the USA including Claudia Rankine and Eileen Myles, as well as Canadian poet Dionne Brand. From Britain Zaffar Kunial and Alice Oswald come together on stage to present not-yet-published new work, while Liz Lochhead reads from her New and Selected Poems. Carol Ann Duffy presents poems from her new collection Politics, and Don Paterson will discuss his memoir of growing up in Dundee.
There’s also multilingual poetry from Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, who writes in Gaelic and English, alongside Sam O’Fearraigh, who writes in Irish and English.
Gerda Stevenson will present poetry in a variety of languages and formats in her event with JL Williams,and audiences will enjoy events featuring spoken word from Leyla Josephine and Michael Mullan.
Many authors appearing this year have been inspired by human rewilding: getting close to the earth and playing their part in restoring its ecosystems. Whether it’s Raynor Winn’s stories of her hikes with partner Moth or Merryn Glover walking the Cairngorms in the footsteps of Nan Shepherd,audiences can join those who are not only getting out into nature, but who are also exploring the sustainability of humanity.
Embracing the convivial spirit of this year’s programme, Think Tanks is a series of events offering audiences the chance to ‘deep-dive’ into topical issues such as the ethics of AI, with leading scholar Kate Crawford, or how the law can improve government with The Good Law Project’s Jolyon Maugham KC, whilst also enjoying food and wine (or a soft drink).
A new study, The Edinburgh Readerbank, is the product of a major new long-term research partnership between the Book Festival and Durham University. This study asks the question: ‘what is the relationship between reading, imagination, and mental health?’
Audiences can hear from experts as they share perspectives on belief, perception, and the imagination, and can also participate in this potentially game-changing study by contributing their data at a special drop-in data centre on site.
In the festival’s unique Outriders Europe project, four pairs of authors undertook intrepid journeys across Europe, travelling in the mountains of Transylvania and along the contested border of the island of Cyprus.
In two special events, audiences can hear from authors like Scottish storyteller Mara Menzies who, alongside Sami playwright Rawdna Carita Eira, trekked across the Sápmi lands of northern Finland, Sweden and Norway, and from other writers with connections to Scotland – Dean Atta, Cal Flyn, and Victoria McNulty –who join to talk about their own amazing journeys with writers from elsewhere in Europe.
Throughout the year the Citizen programme provides a space for conversation and creativity in North Edinburgh, Musselburgh, and Tollcross. As part of the programme writers in residence Eleanor Thom and Ryan Van Winkle deliver everything from zine-making to podcasting.
Continuing the Festival’s 40th anniversary celebrations, Our City, Our Stories will take place on the three weekends of the Festival and inviteswriters from across the Citizen programme (and other community-based groups including Intercultural Youth Scotland and Open Book) to perform brand new stories helping to create a love letter to Edinburgh.
As part of its commitment to increasing the accessibility of the Book Festival for the people of Edinburgh, the Festival has developed a long-term partnership with The Alternative School at Spartan’s Community Football Academy, and since August author Chris Barkley has been based at the club three days a week working with young people.
Chris has helped these young people explore their local area, how adults perceive them and what they want for the world, and they have recently written their own film script and worked with filmmaker Rory Easton to make it a reality.
Audiences are invited to join them for Letters of Hope,which will featurethe world premiere of their film and words from Chris and the young people about their dreams for the future.
Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “Without words there would be no books so the theme for this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival is well chosen. With the world’s greatest writers and thinkers gathered in Edinburgh, there really is something for everyone.
“The Scottish Government is proud to support the festival as it celebrates its 40th anniversary with £182,500 from our Expo and PLACE Funds.”
Iain Munro, CEO of Creative Scotland said: “Huge congratulations to Nick and the team at EIBF on an outstanding programme for their 40thanniversary year. Featuring an impressive range of international and homegrown talent, this year’s programme provides an opportunity for people from all walks of life to experience the joy of words.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Nick, as he steps down later this year, for everything he has achieved during his time as Director of the EIBF.
“Nick and his book festival team have been instrumental in bringing people together from around the world to explore and debate contemporary issues of our time, underlining the fundamental role that literature in all its forms plays in influencing and shaping public debate.”
Headlining this year’s Young Adult offering is Alice Oseman who will be talking about her bestselling Heartstopper series with Benjamin Dean. We also welcome poet Nikita Gill, Scottish authors David Fenne, Emma Grae and Catriona Child, as well as fantasy sensation Samantha Shannon and a special event with playwright Alan Bissett, novelist Holly Bourne and screenwriter Emma Dennis-Edwards who will discuss the thorny issues around consent.
Alongside the Baillie Gifford Schools Programme unveiled earlier in the year, firm FREE favourites return in 2023 including Are You Sitting Comfortably in The Storytime Yurt every morning and workshops in the Creation Station with partners Craigmillar Books for Babies, Edinburgh Libraries and Dad’s Rock.
Also returning in 2023 is an animated outdoor space with Sprog Rock once again rocking the courtyard on the first Sunday of the Festival alongside beatboxer Bigg Taj, and everyone’s favourite costume characters (including a brand new addition – the mighty Supertato!)visiting the Festival Village every Saturday and Sunday morning. On the final weekend there will also be a Dragon Hunt, where 10 dragons illustrated by Cressida Cowell will be placed around ECA for families to find, to celebrate 20 years of How to Train Your Dragon.
Leading children’s authors including long standing Book festival fan Julia Donaldsonand Children’s laureateJoseph Coelhoalso return, alongside events featuring Dapo Adeola and Nathan Bryon, Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton.
Rachel Fox, Edinburgh International Book Festival Children’s Programme Director, said: “As well as our animated courtyard performances and character appearances we have an array of interactive workshops with leading authors, illustrators and comic book creators again this year.
“Children will have the chance to learn how to draw manga, preserve plant specimens, make explosions with food, and write the story of their life (so far!) and much, much more.”
Once again, while the Festival gears up to welcome audiences and visitors on site at ECA, it will also be taking lots of authors off site to spread the joy of the Book Festival to those who can’t join in person.
Award-winning author and illustrator Rob Biddulph will visit children on the wards of the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and poet Leyla Josephine will run a workshop with the hospital’s youth group. For the third year in a row, a programme of events will be live streamed to The Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy and the Festival continues its work in prisons with authors visiting six across Scotland.
Once again the Festival seeks to make events more open and easier to attend, and offers a range of Pay What You Can, BSL interpreted,and Live Captioned events.
A series of free events across the adults, childrens and communities programmes run throughout the festival, and a brand-new £10 ticket concession for under 26s has been introduced.
In 2023 the Book Festival Bookshop is brought to audiences by Waterstones.
For more information on Edinburgh International Book Festival visit:
Live streaming tickets available thanks to The Open University in Scotland
The Edinburgh International Book Festival today announced that in-person tickets to its event featuring Greta Thunberg on Sunday 13th August have sold out in less than 24 hours.
Due to popular demand and thanks to support from The Open University in Scotland, the event will now be live streamed, so audiences can watch from anywhere in the world.
Access to streaming for this event, which is presented in association with Edinburgh International Festival, will be made available from 12 noon on Wednesday 14 June at https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/greta-thunberg along with information about the 2023 Book Festival programme.
Susan Stewart, Director at The Open University in Scotland, said: “The Book Festival’s approach to opening up access to books, literature and current debate complements our mission at The Open University to be open to people, places, methods and ideas.
“We are also particularly dedicated to contributing to social and environmental justice by placing sustainability at the heart of our teaching, research and knowledge exchange. I am proud that The Open University in Scotland is sponsoring this important event with Greta Thunberg and delighted that it will now reach an even wider audience via the livestream.”
Nick Barley, Director at Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “When Greta Thunberg’s event with Gemma Cairney sells out in less than a day, it’s clear that audiences are keen to play an active part in the climate conversation.
“That’s why I’m so pleased we can also live stream the event. I am incredibly grateful to The Open University for allowing us to open this event up to even more people from all over the world.”
The event, titled It’s Not Too Late to Change the World, will take place at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Sunday 13th August and will be chaired by writer and broadcaster Gemma Cairney.
The event will begin with a speech from Greta Thunberg, followed by an in-depth conversation about her activism and The Climate Book, the 2022 publication that saw her call on the wisdom of more than one hundred experts, from Indigenous leaders and renowned scientists to activists and people from around the world who are most affected by climate change.
This will be Greta’s Thunberg’s first public appearance in Scotland since her visit to Glasgow for COP26, the UN’s Climate Conference in November 2021.
As part of the event, 300 tickets have been made available to local community groups and young people, and a special concessionary ticket price of 50% was made available to those under 26 to encourage them to become a part of the climate conversation.
For more information on Edinburgh International Book Festival visit:
