Featuring iconic authors, international voices, and critical political commentators, alongside figures from sports and entertainment
- The Front List, in partnership with Underbelly, expanded to 14 events, including two for schools
- Line-up gives the first taste of the range of voices and opinions represented in the wider 2025 programme, yet to be announced
- Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launches her highly anticipated memoir, Frankly
- Literary luminaries Maggie O’Farrell, Ian McEwan, R.F. Kuang, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Asako Yuzuki appear
- Political insights on offer from Ta-Nehisi Coates, Anne Applebaum, Edward Wong, and Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya
- Two special Schools Edition events with Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Laura Bates
- £5 tickets available across all events for those in receipt of income benefits
- Tickets on sale to the public at 10 am on Tuesday 6 May
The Edinburgh International Book Festival is delighted to announce the second year of The Front List, in partnership with Underbelly. Taking place at the beautiful McEwan Hall, next to the Festival’s main venue at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, this year’s The Front List is expanded to 14 events, following the huge popularity of 2024’s inaugural series, including many audience members who were attending a Book Festival event for the very first time.
Together, the events represent the breadth and diversity of the Book Festival’s full line-up of 600+ events, to be announced on Tuesday 10 June, with voices from across the UK, America, Japan, Russia, and Nigeria taking to the stage.
We are thrilled to be launching Frankly, the highly anticipated memoir from Scotland’s first female – and longest-serving – First Minister, as Nicola Sturgeon shares the story of her journey from shy, working-class child to one of our country’s most significant political leaders.
We’re joined by acclaimed and international writers, speaking about their careers and works. The luminous Maggie O’Farrell celebrates 25 years of creativity since her debut publication, and Ian McEwan looks back over his remarkable body of work and forward to what comes next.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie proves to be well worth the wait as she delves into the story and decade-long process behind her new novel Dream Count, Yellowface author R F Kuang unveils Katabasis, her thrilling new title about a rescue mission to the Underworld, and breakthrough writer, and winner of the 2024 Waterstones Book of the Year, Asako Yuzuki, tells us about Butter – the book that took the world by storm, and changed her life completely.
With the Trump administration continuing to unravel the last 70 years of established world order with breathtaking speed, essential political insight comes from The Atlantic columnist and author
Anne Applebaum and New York Times Diplomatic Correspondent Edward Wong, who together take on recent seismic political shifts and explore whether democracy can ever be truly protected. Elsewhere, journalist and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the widening gulf between the myth and reality of modern America, on both a personal and international level.
Poignantly, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last year, speaks about her late husband’s courageous work, Patriot, and continuing his crucial activism.
Movie fans won’t want to miss the UK’s favourite film critic, Mark Kermode, who brings us the first edition of his energetic MK3D show (a frequent sell-out of the British Film Institute’s programme) outside London, previewing upcoming releases and revelling in the Golden Age of Cinema alongside very special guests including Succession patriarch, Brian Cox.
No one knows better the pleasure (and, unfortunately, immense pain) of being a dedicated fan of Scotland’s national football team than sporting legend Ally McCoist, who joins us to discuss Dear Scotland: On the Road with the Tartan Army. And Gavin and Stacey co-creator and writer Ruth Jones lets us into the secrets of her writing craft, and her tender new novel, By Your Side.
The line-up is completed by two very special The Front List: Schools Edition events with
Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Steven Lenton, who’ll take pupils in P4-6 on a globetrotting adventure complete with draw-along, and Laura Bates reimagines the story of King Arthur, Excalibur and the Round Table with a magical twist for pupils in S3-6, as part of our 2025 Schools Programme.
As well as buying tickets, bookers can also treat themselves to pre-ordering books for most The Front List events, including the first chance to get their hands on Nicola Sturgeon’s Frankly, and Mark Kermode’s Surround Sound.
To ensure these events remain accessible in times of great economic pressure, under-30s can purchase tickets at just £14 and £5 tickets are available to those in receipt of governmental income benefits.
Jenny Niven, Director and CEO, Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “We are thrilled to be returning to the beautiful McEwan Hall, and expanding our partnership with Underbelly to present 14 The Front List events in 2025.
“At this challenging moment in history and politics, we’ll be offering a comprehensively informed and critical eye on international affairs, and also the chance to escape them through the work of some of the world’s foremost fiction writers, entertainment, and sporting figures.
“There’s plenty more to come in our full programme announcement, but we hope our line-up for The Front List offers a delicious taster of what you can expect from this year’s Book Festival.”
Marina Dixon, Head of Programming, Underbelly, said: “”Underbelly’s partnership with the Book Festival continues to bring some of the most vital, thought-provoking voices of our time to the heart of the city and the festival season and so we’re absolutely delighted to welcome back The Front List.
“At Underbelly, we’re passionate about creating space for bold ideas and unexpected conversations—and The Front List does exactly that. It’s a real joy to be working together again on a programme that feels urgent, alive, and connected to the spirit of the Festival.”
Tickets for The Front List events go on sale to the public at 10 am on Tuesday 6 May, and are available at edbookfest.co.uk.
Full listings for The Front List events:
Tues 12 Aug, 13.30 – Ruth Jones
Wed 13 Aug, 13.30 – Mark Kermode
Thu 14 Aug, 13.30 – Nicola Sturgeon
Fri 15 Aug, 13.30 – Maggie O’Farrell [Sponsored by the National Library of Scotland]
Sat 16 Aug, 13.30 – Ta-Nehisi Coates [Sponsored by the University of Edinburgh]
Sun 17 Aug, 13.30 – Anne Applebaum & Edward Wong [Supported by the Turtleton Charitable Trust]
Mon 18 Aug, 13.30 – Ally McCoist [Sponsored by Digby Brown]
Tues 19 Aug, 13.30 – Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieWed
20 Aug, 13.30 – Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Steven Lenton [Schools Edition]
Thu 21 Aug, 13.30 – Laura Bates [Schools Edition]
Fri 22 Aug, 13.30 – Yulia Navalnya
Sat 23 Aug, 13.30 – Asako Yuzuki
Sun 24 Aug, 13.30 – Ian McEwan
Sun 24 Aug, 19.30 – R F Kuang
All events take place at McEwan Hall, Teviot Pl, Edinburgh EH8 9AG.
Tickets for The Front List at McEwan Hall go on public sale at 10am (BST) on Tuesday 6 May 2025 at https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/