2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival
34 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 9 years ago - ★★★ - 3 ratingsWhether it’s exploring the disappearing art of letter writing and the power of the spoken word, or listening to those who hear inner voices or participating in a series of dialogues on the future of Scotland, the Edinburgh International Book Festival examined all aspects of communication in 2014. Under the headline ‘Let’s Talk’ the Book Festival welcomed internationally-renowned writers and thinkers from around the world to its home in Charlotte Square Gardens to discuss such diverse topics as the two world wars, the Commonwealth, Economic Migration, Society, Identity, Culture and the Media. Listen to some of the events here in our series of free podcasts – recorded live at the Book Festival.
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Episodes
Helen Macdonald at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 24, 2015 18:27 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBInspiration Takes Flight In her powerful, emotive new memoir H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald recounts her obsessive pursuit to become a falconer. Following the shock of her father’s death and inspired by T H White’s The Goshawk, she embarked on a journey to train her own goshawk. Macdonald joins us to discuss her celebratory, elegiac book - a reminder of our deep-rooted connections to the natural world. Chaired by Charlotte Higgins, chief arts writer for the Guardian.
Making Meaning of the Voices at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 24, 2015 18:26 - 53 minutes - 36.6 MBPeople with severe mental health issues are often stigmatised by society. From drugs to psychiatry, solutions are complex and expensive. Eleanor Longden, a voice hearer and a qualified psychologist joins James Ley, a playwright who explores his bi-polar disorder in his writing, and Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research at King’s College London, to discuss how hearing voices and other problems can be ‘creative and ingenious survival strategies’. Chaired by Dr Angela Woods, a lecturer...
Iain Macwhirter at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 11:32 - 56 minutes - 23 MBAfter the Referendum His book Road to Referendum is a clear-minded history of Scotland’s journey towards its historic vote in September, and Iain Macwhirter argues that after the poll, constitutional change is inevitable. If so, where will the negotiations between Holyrood and Westminster start, and how are they likely to end? In this session Macwhirter outlines his view of the steps he believes both countries will take. Part of our Scotland's Future series of events.
John Gordon Sinclair at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 11:26 - 57 minutes - 23.1 MBActor Turned Crime Writer With his second crime novel, John Gordon Sinclair continues to put distance between himself and Gregory’s Girl, the film that made his name. Two years ago he made his novel-writing debut and now he’s back with Blood Whispers, wrapping a grim tale around the CIA, Serbian gangs and a feisty Glaswegian lawyer. Hear how Sinclair created a central character who is at her most dangerous when under threat.
Lynn Barber at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 11:17 - 58 minutes - 24.1 MBIron Fist, Velvet Microphone Kate Mosse faces a tough task interviewing this fearsomely incisive celebrity interviewer. Lynn Barber faced a Twitter storm after an article on tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, but anonymous cyberhate is nothing for someone who has taken on the likes of Gore Vidal, James Stewart and Salvador Dali. In this event she discusses her memoir, A Curious Career, and those interviews that got nasty.
Rhiannon Cosslett and Holly Baxter at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 11:00 - 58 minutes - 23.5 MBTime to Fight for Feminism In early 2012, journalists Rhiannon Cosslett and Holly Baxter co-founded The Vagenda blog. An instant hit, it received over 7 million views in year one, and has received votes of approval from the likes of Caitlin Moran and Laurie Penny. The creators discuss the site, their campaigning new book, and how they turn a high-pitched cacophony of negativity about women into something incredibly positive.
Michael Morpurgo at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 10:53 - 1 hour - 43 MBOnly Remembered is a timeless and seminal anthology of First World War literature for children, edited by Michael Morpurgo and featuring artwork from renowned illustrator Ian Beck. Join Michael to hear more about this remarkable collection, which includes contributions from some of the UK’s leading cultural, political and literary figures. Part of our Words and War series of events.
Nicholas Parsons at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 10:44 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBNo Repetition, Hesitation or Deviation The much-loved radio show Just a Minute has been delighting listeners for 46 years and every single episode of the programme has been hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Now, Parsons has produced his first book about Britain’s longest-running radio comedy show, and the venerable entertainer joins us today to enjoy some favourite moments and linguistic contortions that have made it such an enduring hit.
Omid Djalili at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 10:36 - 57 minutes - 23.3 MBA Peculiarly British Upbringing Acclaimed comedian and actor Omid Djalili has produced a joyously funny memoir about growing up and finding fame as a young Iranian in London. He beautifully captures his unique childhood in his parents’ guesthouse, describing meetings with an array of remarkable characters and his own desire to escape. His story offers an intriguing perspective on British society today.
The Voices in Our Head at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 10:30 - 57 minutes - 23.2 MBCreating Characters in Fiction The first sign that a book works is when the characters talk back to their author, and books can represent our internal voices unlike any other art form. A panel of award-winning novelists, Nathan Filer, Edward Carey and Matthew Quick talk about their relationships with their characters and their inner voices, exploring how a writer hears and channels the creative voice that drives a narrative or character. Part of our Conversations with Ourselves series of ev...
Oscar Guardiola-Rivera at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 10, 2015 10:29 - 59 minutes - 24.5 MBSalvador Allende’s Last Stand Why was Latin America’s first democratically-elected Marxist president deposed in a violent coup in 1973? Why had business leaders and military officers in Chile been collaborating with the US Government and the CIA for months to end his regime? Colombian-born writer Oscar Guardiola-Rivera’s riveting Story of a Death Foretold lays bare the Cold War paranoia and rabid anti-communism that led to Allende’s downfall. In association with the Centre for Contemporary ...
Julian Cope at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 07, 2015 12:02 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBGenuinely Original Fiction One of contemporary rock and pop’s true mavericks, the former leader of The Teardrop Explodes dazzles with his brilliance as he launches One Three One upon the reading public. It features an 80s musical genius who heads to Sardinia with one thing on his addled mind: to settle some scores. Today, Julian Cope joins us to share his ideas and read from his Gnostic whodunit. Part of our First Book Award Nominee series of events.
The Principle of Capitalism at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
January 06, 2015 19:05 - 59 minutes - 40.6 MBTurning Points for Civilisation As part of a series of events selected by Richard Sennett exploring key ideas that have shaped humanity, this session discusses the idea and profound impact of capitalism. New York University sociologist Saskia Sassen and Paola Subacchi, research director in international economics at Chatham House, are joined by professor of political economy at Warwick University, Robert Skidelsky, in an event chaired by the manager of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Jam...
Has Psychiatry Silenced God? at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
December 22, 2014 12:11 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBCreativity and Belief Throughout history, divine intervention has influenced great artists, thinkers and leaders, and the voice of God is a distinct and separate presence in the minds of many people today. Author and former Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway, leads a discussion with writer Sara Maitland and psychiatrist and theologian Chris Cook to explore how religious beliefs and creative inspiration define our consciousness. Part of our Conversations with Ourselves series of events.
Billy Collins at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
December 20, 2014 11:03 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBAmerica’s Favourite Poet He’s twice been poet laureate in the US and says he hopes his poems ‘begin in Kansas and end in Oz’. Now Billy Collins returns with Aimless Love, his first collection of new and selected poems for 12 years. Elegant, poignant and thrillingly accessible, Collins’ book includes more than 50 new poems and selections from 4 favourite collections. They are deeply inspiring – and Collins performs them with great élan.
Mai Al-Nakib & Tom Barbash at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
December 20, 2014 11:03 - 55 minutes - 50.8 MBChampions of the Short Story Kuwaiti author Mai Al-Nakib is a thrilling new voice from the Middle East. Educated at Brown University in the USA, her debut short story collection The Hidden Light of Objects offers a stunning perspective on lives overwhelmed by military or religious events. Tom Barbash is an acclaimed, bestselling San Francisco writer whose new book Stay Up With Me has been glowingly described as ‘the Great American Story Collection’. Part of our First Book Award Nominee seri...
Martin Amis at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 24, 2014 11:51 - 57 minutes - 23.7 MBLaughing in the Face of Evil Join one of Britain’s most influential writers for this keynote event. The last time Martin Amis wrote about the Holocaust was in 1991 in his novel Time’s Arrow. Now he returns to the subject in a brand new and much-anticipated novel, The Zone of Interest. Amis succeeds in finding moments of unexpected comedy as love blossoms in a Nazi concentration camp. Supported by the Hawthornden Literary Retreat
Zakes Mda at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 22, 2014 22:47 - 1 hour - 25 MBNo Artist is Slave to the State Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Zakes Mda is regarded as one of the most important novelists to have emerged on South Africa’s literary scene since the end of apartheid. The author of more than 20 novels and plays, Mda is now resident in the USA where he is a professor at Ohio University. He joins us today to discuss his output, including his new mystic-realist epic The Sculptors of Mapungubwe. Part of our Voices from South Africa series of events.
Ned Beauman & Clemens J Setz at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 20, 2014 10:01 - 55 minutes - 76.8 MBLiterature’s Brilliant Experimenters Quite possibly Britain’s best hope for the future of literature, Ned Beauman’s first two novels have already picked up multiple prizes. Now he presents Glow, set in a strange South London where nothing quite seems to make sense. With a similar talent and a similarly unusual novel, Clemens J Setz returns with Indigo. Already shortlisted for the prestigious German Book Prize, it takes readers to an uncanny near future. Chaired by Richard Lea from the Guardi...
David Peace at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 15, 2014 06:40 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBFrom Strikers to Centre Forwards Yorkshire-born David Peace’s writing took an exciting turn with GB84, his ambitious novelisation of events during the miners’ strike. Later, Peace turned to football, first with The Damned United, a re-imagining of Brian Clough’s brief tenure at Leeds United, and then with Red or Dead, based on Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. Now Peace discusses his work with The Scotsman’s own great Yorkshireman, David Robinson.
Charlie Adlard & Robbie Morrison at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 13, 2014 09:47 - 59 minutes - 54.2 MBDigging in the Past Digging into the Story of The Great War Dream team Charlie Adlard and Robbie Morrison have made their contribution to the Great War centenary with White Death, a frank graphic novel account of two dead bodies discovered almost 100 years on, and highlighting how snow was used as a military weapon. Adlard and Morrison join us to discuss how it’s possible to expose difficult historical truths through the medium of comics. Part of our Stripped 2014 series of events.
Bonnie Greer at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 08, 2014 09:36 - 56 minutes - 38.3 MBFrom Rags to Cultural Riches Best known in the UK as a dispassionate commentator on Newsnight Review and Question Time, even when sitting beside the leader of the BNP, Bonnie Greer has now unveiled the first volume of her memoirs, A Parallel Life. In this event she talks to Ruth Wishart about her tough upbringing and how it feels to be the key character in a real-life rags to riches story.
Sarah Waters at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
October 01, 2014 06:45 - 57 minutes - 40.1 MBSpirit of the 1920s We are thrilled to welcome bestselling writer Sarah Waters to preview her forthcoming novel The Paying Guests. Set between the wars, it’s the story of ‘modern couple’ Lilian and Leonard Barber. Their move to genteel Camberwell brings about tension, devastation and plenty of surprises. Waters’ previous novels such as Fingersmith and The Little Stranger have been shortlisted for Britain’s major literary awards.
Irma Kurtz at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
September 25, 2014 17:11 - 56 minutes - 78.1 MBThe Problem Solver’s Problems For four decades, the Cosmo Agony Aunt has been helping to solve readers’ problems, encompassing everything from eating disorders to bad behaviour in the office. In My Life in Agony, Irma Kurtz looks back on the social changes that informed her advice and reflects on the chaos of her own life as an American single mother living in the UK.
Blake Morrison at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
September 24, 2014 12:15 - 56 minutes - 51.5 MBThe News, Read by a Poet Best known for As If, his landmark book about the killing of James Bulger, Blake Morrison is also a poet and novelist. He joins us today to read from a new publication, This Poem… Bankers’ bonuses, phone hacking, super-injunctions and Jimmy Savile: these are just some of the topics he addresses, in verse that is at once terrifyingly honest and full of wisdom about the state of contemporary Britain.
William Fotheringham at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
September 22, 2014 07:10 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBThe Truth About Britain’s Greatest Cyclist Long before Bradley Wiggins took the world by storm, British cycling already had a hero. Tom Simpson was world champion and the first Briton to wear yellow in the Tour de France. In 1967 Simpson died during a stage of the Tour while climbing the monstrous Mont Ventoux. Today, Guardian writer William Fotheringham discusses Put Me Back on My Bike - his superb account of Simpson’s life and death.
Karl Ove Knausgaard at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
September 17, 2014 09:20 - 1 hour - 41.4 MBIn the Footsteps of Proust Norwegian literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard is gathering an ever-increasing band of avid followers of his epic and much-discussed six-volume novel cycle, My Struggle. ‘It’s completely blown my mind… I need the next volume like crack’ said Zadie Smith, while the Guardian described it as ‘the most significant literary enterprise of our times.’ Knausgaard joins us today to discuss his third volume, Boyhood Island.
Diana Gabaldon at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
September 12, 2014 12:24 - 1 hour - 41.6 MBHeughligans Descend on Charlotte Square The Outlander books by Arizona-based author Diana Gabaldon have achieved sales figures that would make your eyes water. Little wonder that Doune Castle was recently besieged by fans keen to see the TV version being filmed. The latest instalment, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, is partly set in 1778, featuring a world in flux. Gabaldon joins us from Arizona to discuss her epic series.
Gerry Hassan and Lesley Riddoch at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
September 03, 2014 05:37 - 55 minutes - 42.1 MBCan Scotland Be Future-Proofed? As the vote on Scotland’s future looms into view, commentators are turning their attention to what might happen next. Gerry Hassan’s Caledonian Dreaming questions some of the key myths Scotland tells about itself, while Lesley Riddoch’s Blossom wonders whether swapping a London elite for an Edinburgh one will make much difference to Scots' lives. Might Scotland flourish if we look elsewhere? Part of our Scotland's Future series of events.
The Principle of Religion at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
August 29, 2014 06:05 - 51 minutes - 71.1 MBAs part of a series of events selected by Richard Sennett exploring key ideas that have shaped humanity, this session discusses the idea and impact of religious belief. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and New York University professor of anthropology Angela Zito are joined by German writer and film-maker Alexander Kluge, chaired by former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway.
Gordon Brown at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
August 29, 2014 06:05 - 1 hour - 42 MBFormer Prime Minister Gordon Brown talks about his new bestseller My Scotland, Our Britain: A Future Worth Sharing. He is in dialogue with Alistair Moffat, author of Bannockburn and many other books dealing with the story of Scotland’s past. Part of our Scotland's Future series of events.
Maggie O'Farrell at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
August 25, 2014 13:09 - 50 minutes - 36.6 MBInstructions for a Heatwave was described by the Los Angeles Review of Books as ‘perhaps a perfect book’ – high praise indeed but typical of the acclaim that Edinburgh-based Maggie O’Farrell has attracted for her sixth novel. Full of unforgettable characters, the story charts a family descending into crisis against the backdrop of a stifling summer. Today, O’Farrell talks about how she constructed her novel.
Alasdair Gray at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
August 23, 2014 15:30 - 59 minutes - 39.3 MBOf Me and Others is as close to Alasdair Gray’s autobiography as we are likely to get. Described by its editor Alistair Braidwood as ‘ribald, humorous, angry and incisive’, this new tome by one of Scotland’s literary superstars describes his meetings with authors such as Anthony Burgess, and explains how he went about writing his masterpiece Lanark and recent Faust adaptation, Fleck.
George R R Martin at Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest)
August 21, 2014 19:40 - 58 minutes - 43.4 MBIt’s not too often that an author will so happily embrace the film or TV show adapted from his or her own fiction, but George R R Martin seems more than pleased with the screen adaptation of Game of Thrones. The all-conquering HBO show was back this year for its fourth series, and today the author discusses how it feels to see the screen incarnations of his complex fictional universe.