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:
VisitScotland reveals Year of Stories 2022 highlights for Edinburgh and the Lothians
A new report has highlighted how Edinburgh and the Lothians helped contribute to the success of Year of Stories 2022.
Collated by VisitScotland, the evaluation report which features independent research and partner feedback, shows the Themed Year delivered significant benefits to Scotland and its communities.*
Highlights included:
A total of 354 funded and partner events across all 32 local authority areas including 47 funded and 31 partner events in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Greater collaboration across the tourism, events and related sectors was evidenced with hundreds of industry partners participating and a wide range of innovative partnership projects and campaigns inspired by the year.
Scots and Gaelic showcased by 42% of funded events.
Vast promotional reach was achieved including 4 million views of the Year of Stories promotional videos, 2,760 pieces of media coverage and marketing campaigns reaching people 148m times.
A central strand of activity was the creation of a diverse events programme. The funded events programmes, with support from Museums Galleries Scotland and National Lottery Heritage Fund, invested a total of £1.33 million in the sector, shining a spotlight on well-loved and brand new stories alike. The widest range of organisations from national companies to community groups participated.
Funded events included Edinburgh International Book Festival which this year ran a special Year of Stories programming strand called Scotland’s Stories Now.
Similarly, Figures of Speech a partnership between Scottish Storytelling Centre (SSC) and Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, created six events across two seasons bringing writers and artists together to explore Scottish literature through cross-arts presentations and new commissions.
In addition, a brand new event in 2022 was Of Scotland’s Soils and Soul developed by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Held across four Botanic Garden sites including Edinburgh, the event offered visitors four bespoke trails showcasing stories of and about Scotland that related to the land, plants and nature.
Local communities took to the spotlight with the support of the innovative Community Stories Programme, a partnership between VisitScotland and Museums Galleries Scotland with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund and Scottish Government.
This programme provided opportunities for communities to come together, tell the stories that matter to them and develop skills, opportunities and partnerships.
Events in Edinburgh and the Lothians included: A happy Nameste (greetings to you) (Dance Ihayami); A Poetry Feast of Mythical Beasts (Push the Boat Out Ltd); BE United Presents (BE United); Family Encounters – New Stories Strand (Imaginate); John Muir’s Stories of Survival (East Lothian Council); Listening to Linlithgow – The People’s Stories (Linlithgow Heritage Trust); Object of my desire (West Lothian Council); OMOS Workshops and Storytelling Cabaret (Icky Arts CIC (Pollyanna)); Oor Toon (Penicuik Community Arts Association); Pavementology – the story of Street Events at the Fringe (Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society); Preserving and Celebrating Edinburgh’s Deaf Heritage (Deaf Action); Stories of the Bathgate Hills: A Celebrations of the Voices of People and Place (Bathgate Hills Venture SCIO); The Calder Witch Hunt (West Lothian Council); The Phone Box – East Linton voices shared down the line (Catherine Wheels Theatre Company); and Voices from a New Town (Craigsfarm Community Development Project Ltd).
As well as an extensive events programme, the Year of Stories 2022 offered opportunities for the wider tourism industry and related sectors to share their own stories, with multiple examples of businesses and organisations collaborating to create new content, campaigns and activities for communities and visitors.
Locally, Edinburgh-based Mercat Tours used the Themed Years to launch a social impact project to support vulnerable people in Edinburgh through storytelling. The Our Stories, Your City project raised funds to allow members of the Grassmarket Community Project the chance to experience a tour and attraction visit free of charge.
Meanwhile The Real Mary King’s Close partnered with Edinburgh Gin to create ‘Stories & Wonders’ gin tasting tours offering visitors the chance to sample four unique gins with historical links to the city..
As part of the Year of Stories, the Scotch Whisky Experience highlighted a different story each week about one of the bottles in their whisky collection. Year of Stories was also a good match for their Tasting Tales events, which include stories about Scotch, the distilleries and the Scottish food to which they match the whiskies.
Finally, in November 2022, Rosslyn Chapel launched an initiative which asked visitors from around the world to share a story about the attraction. The chapel, which was founded in 1446, has featured in a number of stories, most notably Dan Brown’s novel, The Da Vinci Code, but it has attracted visitors for generations, many of whom have recorded their stories in travel journals.
Neil Christison, VisitScotland Regional Director said: “Themed Years provide an opportunity for collaboration and partnership across tourism, events and wider sectors, using Scotland’s strengths to attract domestic and international visitors and grow the visitor economy.
“The findings of this evaluation show that the Year of Stories really engaged communities right across the Capital, Mid, East and West Lothian. While the year may have ended, the story is far from over. Our hope is that businesses and events continue sharing their stories and visitors continue to be inspired by the places, people and cultures associated with them.”
Culture Minister Christina McKelvie said: “I am delighted that Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 has had such a positive and lasting impact in so many communities across Scotland.
“As a result of partnership working, the fantastic range of events on offer inspired people to create and share their own incredible stories, traditions and journeys.
“The high level of engagement with this themed year will leave a lasting legacy as we continue to tell each other stories about who we are and where we live.”
Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland said: “The Year of Stories Community Stories Fund created a powerful opportunity to support a wide range of people to take part in the themed year and we are proud to have delivered this in partnership with VisitScotland, with support from National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Scottish Government.
“The fund supported creativity with new and old stories brought to life allowing locals and visitors to experience a wide diversity of voices.
“The evaluation clearly demonstrates the positive impact participation had on the groups who held events and the communities across the country who came together to enjoy them. To know that this year’s programme increased awareness of and appreciation for Scotland’s stories and has inspired future visits is a remarkable achievement by all those involved.”
Caroline Clark, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Director for Scotland, said: “The impact of Year of Stories was writ large across Scotland last year. People throughout the country really got behind it, a fact confirmed by this report.
“The diversity of stories and how they were shared was a particular feature of the Year of Stories due to the Community Stories Programme, which was supported through funding from National Lottery players. It really engaged with the imagination of individuals, communities and groups, allowing them to share their stories, their way – stories of Scotland’s people, places and cultures.”
The Themed Years model provides a shared platform for many organisations to come together and multiply their impact by working together, inspired by the same theme and utilising common branding and tools. Scoping for options and approaches for a possible 2025 Themed Year is now underway with more details to be released towards the end of 2023.
The Year of Stories Evaluation Report can be viewed here
Tickets for Edinburgh International Book Festival’s special event with Greta Thunberg will go on sale TODAY (7 June) at noon via the EIF website.
Taking place at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Sunday 13 August at 17:30, we’re excited to welcome Greta Thunberg for this inspiring evening to discuss the science behind our changing planet, and what we can do to inspire collective action across the globe.
Greta Thunberg: It’s Not Too Late to Change The World is sponsored by Open University Scotland and hosted in association with Edinburgh International Festival. Gemma Cairney will chair this powerful, timely event.
Thunberg will discuss activism and The Climate Book – a publication created by the activist which pulls together the wisdom of over 100 experts to tell the truth about climate change.
Book and Ticket offer
In addition to your event ticket, we are offering the opportunity to buy a limited number of signed copies of The Climate Book for an additional £23, with collection available in the venue on the evening of the event. You can add the signed book to your ticket order during the checkout process through the EIF box office.
How to book tickets
Tickets for Greta Thunberg will be sold exclusively through the Edinburgh International Festival’s Box Office.
From noon today (7 June), you can purchase your tickets here. A queue will be in place, and it is recommended that ticket buyers register here prior to the date of sale to ensure the best experience possible.
We’ve been overwhelmed by the incredible response to this year’s Baillie Gifford Schools Programme: our packed programme of FREE book events for schools.
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for in-person tickets so far, we can’t wait to welcome you and your pupils to the Edinburgh College of Art for some inspiring author events this August.
We have limitied availability remaining but if you would still like to attend in-person please get in touch with our Schools Booking Coordinator directly asap to check availability by emailing schools@edbookfest.co.uk.
And don’t forget, if your class is unable to make it along in-person, selected events will also be livestreamed for schools to watch in the classroom live, or on-demand. Events will be visable on edbookfest.co.ukfrom Wednesday 14 June and you can book your place any time from then until just before the event starts.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival has announced today that Greta Thunberg, the world’s most influential young climate activist, will speak at a special event as part of the Book Festival programme this August, presented in association with the Edinburgh International Festival.
The event, titled It’s Not Too late to Change the World, will take place at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Sunday 13th August and is 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.
Greta Thunberg’s aim is to tell the truth about how and why our world is changing and to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster.
As Greta says, hope must be earned through action. If one schoolchild’s strike can ignite a global protest, imagine what can we do collectively when we really try?
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 will be made available to local community groups and young people and a special concessionary ticket price of 50% off will be made available to those under 26 to encourage them to become a part of the climate conversation.
Nick Barley, Director of Edinburgh international Book Festival, said: “Nobody speaks truth to power quite like Greta Thunberg: her words and actions have given hope to countless young activists.
“This is a rare opportunity to spend time in the presence of a young woman whose conviction and defiant energy is a source of inspiration to millions across the globe. We are honoured to welcome Greta to Edinburgh International Book Festival.”
Nicola Benedetti, Festival Director of Edinburgh International Festival said: “We are deeply grateful to Greta Thunberg for joining us as she is one of the most prominent environmental activists of our time and is uniquely positioned to address the underlying question of this year’s International Festival programme, ‘where do we go from here?’.
“Greta has helped to galvanise a global movement for climate action, and we are proud to feature her as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.”
It’s Not Too Late to Change the World will be part of a climate-focussed strand of events at this year’s Edinburgh international Book Festival, with full details to be announced alongside the full programme on 14 June.
Copies of The Climate Book will be on sale online and on the day courtesy of a pop-up Book Festival Bookshop brought to audiences by Waterstones.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival runs from Saturday 12 – 28 August 2023, and takes place at the Edinburgh College of Art on Lauriston Place.
The Book Festival extends thanks to The Open University whose support makes this and other festival events possible.
For more information on Edinburgh International Book Festival visit:
ELEVEN members of Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen writer’s group will be sharing their work with North Edinburgh’s children at tomorrow’s Community Festival.
The selection box of stories and poems have a food theme and will appeal to grown-ups and well as primary school children.
You’ll find us in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre from 2 – 3pm.
Come and join Olivia, Dave F, Julia, Jeff, Marjory, Evelyn, Jane, Maureen, Nandini, Carmen and me … There may even be sweeties … !
LAUNCH PROMISES MORE STALLS, MORE MUSIC, MORE FOOD and.. SUNSHINE!
Next month’s North Edinburgh’s Community Festival will be even bigger than last years event, organisers announced at Tuesdays launch at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
Around 6000 people attended last year’s gala event, and with at least SEVENTY marquees (up from 50 last year) and and not one but TWO music stages there promises to be even more for the local community to do, see and enjoy on 13 May.
Highlights include:
Disney-themed LIFT Parade from Muirhouse Millennium Centre to West Pilton Park to launch the Festival.
More than 70 local organisations and charities with Community Stalls
Two music stages: the open air Park Stage and the Green Room stage in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre
The music line-up features a wealth of local talent. Performers include local youth orchestra Tinderbox, Granton Youth’s Mixtape Music Club and a session from ever-popular Fischy Music.
There’s a musical medley from the Edinburgh College Musical Theatre Group, performances from local choirs including Ama-zing Harmonies, AUGB Ukranian choir, Craigroyston High School Choir and a high-energy performance is guaranteed from local punk rockers Yer Local Bams. Low Tide, Rai Williams, Laurent and Abigail Kerner will also be performing live on the day in a musical feast.
Family events and activities will include Bookbug with Muirhouse Library and a Storytelling session with Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen writers.
Fancy some sport? You’ll be spoilt for choice as Access Parkour, Spartans Community Football Academy and Inverleith Rugby Club will all be there. And there will be children’s Zumba classes.
North Edinburgh Arts will be organising arts and craft activities and Screen Education Edinburgh will offer film workshops. There’s an Army obstacle course, too.
There will also be learning and upskilling opportunities provided by local organisations including Edinburgh College will be offering course taster sessions.
All in all, there really should be something for everyone. And with sunshine (almost) guaranteed, it promises to be a great day.
Local activist Willie Black, a member of the Festival planning committee, introduced Tuesday’s launch. “We are very excited about this year’s Festival and it promises to be a really great event, a community celebration for everyone to enjoy.
“We have a wealth of diverse talent in this community and we want to share that talent far and wide. We’re looking forward to offering a warm North Edinburgh welcome to thousands of visitors next month, and the hope is that the Festival will be a great success and that it can become an annual event.”
North Edinburgh Community Festival is on Saturday 13 May from 12 – 5.30pm. Free event. All welcome.
