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Held every August, the Edinburgh International Book Festival brings leading and emerging thinkers and writers together to inspire each other and audiences in an extensive programme of public events. Against a backdrop of beautiful spires and steeples, visitors this year can take their pick from a thought-provoking, varied programme, and also visit some of Edinburgh’s charming indie bookshops like Golden Hare Books and Topping & Company. We are delighted that a number of our authors are taking part—see below—some of their events can be watched online.

 

Damon Galgut: South Africa’s Broken Promise (In Person and Online)

Tue 16 Aug 19:00-20:00, Baillie Gifford Sculpture Court

In 2021, nearly 40 years after his first novel was published, Damon Galgut won the Booker Prize for The Promise. With typical humility, Galgut said that while he’s grateful for the win, it ‘creates an artificial popularity that will take a while to fade’. Today’s event is an opportunity to see that his popularity is entirely merited. He discusses his writing and the complexities of post-Apartheid South Africa.

 

 

Steve Brusatte & Thomas Halliday: The Paleo-Adventures (In Person and Online)

Sun 21 August 15:45-16:45, Baillie Gifford Sculpture Court

Has our obsession with dinosaurs overshadowed other discoveries about our planet’s history? Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte lays out a fascinating alternative history in The Rise and Reign of the Mammals. Thomas Halliday is a Scottish paleontologist and evolutionary biologist whose book, Otherlands, looks back into Earth’s distant past to explore the extraordinary features of our seemingly permanent ecosystem. This is science writing at its finest, chaired by Professor of Geography Jo Sharp.

 

YA Book Prize Award Ceremony (In Person and Online)

Thu 25 August 17:30-19:00, Baillie Gifford West Court

We are thrilled to be working with The Bookseller to host this year’s YA Book Prize. Come and meet the shortlisted authors: Adiba Jaigirdar, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Simon James Green, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Krystal Sutherland, Manjeet Man, Natasha Bowen and Lisa Williamson. Previous winners have included Sarah Crossan’s One, Patrice Lawrence’s Orangeboy and Juno Dawson’s Meat Market.

In this event, the superb line-up of authors present their books and give a short reading before one successful author is crowned Winner of the YA Book Prize 2022. Hear from some of the brilliantly imaginative authors writing for young adults. Chaired by award-winning poet and novelist, Dean Atta.

 

Laurence John Joseph and Liza Klaussmann: The Violence of First Loves (In Person)

Sat 27 August 17:30-16:30, Wee Red Bar

In Liza Klaussmann’s This Is Gonna End in Tears, three friends try to piece together their lost connection and find the third act in their story – while forgetting that the world still turns. Set across a decade, Lauren John Joseph’s debut At Certain Points We Touch is an intoxicating exploration of queer relationships, young lust and a terrible betrayal. Two brilliant writers discuss the intensity of youth.