2018 Edinburgh International Book Festival
37 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 5 years ago -In 2018, the Edinburgh International Book Festival (edbookfest) offered audiences the Freedom to Think in over 800 events with some of the world’s leading writers and performers. Topics under discussion included the future of democracy, the role of radical women in shaping society, the state of our oceans and the environment, the legacy of Edinburgh literary legend Muriel Spark, and the freedoms that matter most to us in an age of political upheaval. More than 900 novelists, poets, illustrators, historians, politicians, journalists, scientists and performers arrived from 55 countries to entertain, educate, inspire and debate with our audiences, in another unforgettable year for the Book Festival. Listen to a selection of our favourite events from across the programme in this free podcast series – there’s something for every taste and interest.
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Episodes
Gerda Stevenson (2018 Event)
November 14, 2018 10:36 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBGREAT WOMEN OF SCOTLAND In histories written by men, good women have rarely been given much credit. In Scotland, there’s a growing urge to redress the balance and, with her new collection Quines, Gerda Stevenson has produced a very necessary corrective. These unforgettable poems recognise the salt sellers, the fish-gutters, scientists and politicians who have made such a key contribution to Scotland’s history. Chaired by Jackie McGlone. Part of our Scottish Ideas series of events.
Guy Gunaratne & Imran Mahmood (2018 Event)
November 12, 2018 08:12 - 58 minutes - 540 MBEXPLOSIVE FICTION Meet two new writers whose debuts are turning heads. Guy Gunaratne’s In Our Mad and Furious City follows three young men in a London estate where riots are spreading after the killing of a British soldier. Imran Mahmood has spent his career as a barrister and he puts his experience to electric use in You Don’t Know Me, a courtroom drama which places the reader in the position of the jury.
Jo Swinson (2018 Event)
November 09, 2018 00:47 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBELIMINATING GENDER INEQUALITY As deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and a former Government minister, Jo Swinson has seen all too clearly how power can be concentrated in the hands of men right across the business, cultural and political spectrum. Equal Power is the East Dunbartonshire MP’s call to arms; a practical and optimistic guide to what we can all do to make society truly gender equal, and she shares her ideas today. Part of our Politics for Change series of events.
Sean Borodale & Ruth Padel (2018 Event)
November 07, 2018 08:56 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBBLACK BLOSSOM OF MOURNING The exceptional emotional breadth of British poetry is on display in this event featuring Sean Borodale and Ruth Padel. Borodale, described by Carol Ann Duffy as ‘the most exciting new poet I’ve read since Alice Oswald’, brings Asylum, a new collection that nods to the Underworld. Prize-winning poet Padel presents Emerald, a beautiful elegy for her mother, who died at the age of 97.
Donal Ryan & Kamila Shamsie (2018 Event)
November 05, 2018 08:32 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBCROSSING CONTINENTS Donal Ryan's novels are a thrilling journey into the psyche of everyday Irish folk, but From a Low and Quiet Sea departs from his previous three books by extending its setting beyond rural Ireland into war-torn Syria. Kamila Shamsie’s highly praised Home Fire is another transnational novel, a contemporary take on the Antigone myth, looking at why people become radicalised in the modern world.
Shahad Al Rawi & Michael Donkor (2018 Event)
November 02, 2018 08:07 - 1 hour - 43.4 MBJUST GOOD FRIENDS Two coming-of-age tales come under the microscope in this event. Shahad Al Rawi’s poignant debut The Baghdad Clock takes us back to 1991 with the Iraqi capital under fire as two girls bond against the backdrop of military bombardment. Michael Donkor’s moving and unexpectedly funny debut novel Hold, switches between Ghana and Britain as a wayward girl finds kinship with a sensible teenager.
Sue Black with Val McDermid (2018 Event)
October 31, 2018 09:35 - 55 minutes - 38.6 MBTHE BARE BONES Few people are as familiar with death as Professor Sue Black. As a forensic anthropologist she sees it in the form of human remains; at scenes of murder, at burial sites and in her lab. Black’s astonishing book, All That Remains, offers fascinating insights into mortality and the value of forensic science. Today she compares notes with crimewriter Val McDermid.
Tony Juniper (2018 Event)
October 29, 2018 09:42 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBSAVE THE FUTURE It seems as if people have been trying to save the rainforests for a very long time. And while approximately half of their area has been effectively destroyed, it’s not too late to do the right thing by the other 50%. After all, it’s only the future of the planet that’s at stake. Environmental campaigner and author of Rainforest Tony Juniper has some answers about what can still be done. Part of our Our Planet and Us series of events.
David France (2018 Event)
October 26, 2018 08:47 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBLIVING AFTER SURVIVING How to Survive a Plague is David France’s history of the fight against AIDS, the disease caused by HIV that has killed over 35 million people worldwide. Described as ‘subtle and searing', it won the Baillie Gifford Prize last year. Now the Book Festival and the Prize have commissioned France to write a new chapter, responding to what he’s learned since his book was published. Today, he presents that follow-up. Chaired by Steven Gale. Part of our Mind and Body series ...
Dag Solstad (2018 Event)
October 24, 2018 09:49 - 1 hour - 41.6 MBNORWAY'S TOP PRIZE-WINNING NOVELIST One of Norway’s most celebrated contemporary writers joins us with his latest novel, T Singer. Set in the small Norwegian town of Notodden, Dag Solstad's story is a heartbreaking account of love and loneliness, which lays bare the existential questions of life in the author’s bleakly comic style. Solstad is the only author to have won the Norwegian Critics Prize three times – come and discover why. Supported by the Hawthornden Literary Retreat
Akala (2018 Event)
October 22, 2018 08:49 - 1 hour - 43.6 MBTHE RUINS OF EMPIRE Race and class have shaped the world of MOBO award-winning hip hop artist, poet and political commentator Akala. In Natives, his searing polemic on race in the UK, he considers his own experiences in both childhood and as an adult, and connects them to the social, political and historical context that have led us to where we are now. Part of our Freedom and Equality series of events.
Richard Holloway (2018 Event)
October 19, 2018 08:45 - 55 minutes - 38.6 MBMEMENTO MORI ‘Remember you will die’, said the slave to the Roman general. Richard Holloway’s new book, Waiting for the Last Bus, is a reflection on the final curtain we must all face. Thoughtful, engaging and often quietly moving, it’s a manual for dying elegantly and a plea to make the best of the days we have left. Join the good Reverend for a lighthearted look at death, and the lives we live before it. Chaired by Jane Fowler.
Yanis Varoufakis with Shami Chakrabarti (2018 Event)
October 17, 2018 09:07 - 57 minutes - 40 MBTHE ECONOMICS OF LIBERTY Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has written several influential books and has co-founded ‘DiEM25’, a pan-European progressive movement which will be competing in next year’s European parliament elections. Adults in the Room was described as ‘one of the greatest political memoirs of all time’, while Talking to My Daughter About the Economy is a lightning-quick account of how capitalism works and how it fails. He discusses his ideas on democracy, liberty...
David Walliams (2018 Event)
October 15, 2018 07:45 - 54 minutes - 37.6 MBBritain's biggest author, David Walliams, brings his unique sense of humour to the Book Festival as he shares with you his latest hilarious bestseller, Bad Dad. Be inspired to get writing your own funny stories as David explains how he became the fastest growing children's author in the UK. Author and BBC Radio 4's Zeb Soanes joins David on stage to tease out his best tales.
Juno Dawson: Clean (2018 Event)
October 12, 2018 06:47 - 56 minutes - 39 MBAs a School Role Model for the charity Stonewall, Juno Dawson is well versed in communicating the nitty gritty to young adults. She returns to the Festival with her razor sharp novel about one young girl's rise from the lows of heroin addiction. A gripping and edgy portrait of addiction and tackling demons, Clean is an important and clever book. Juno discusses it today in her characteristic open and honest style.
Adam Kay (2018 Event)
October 10, 2018 12:45 - 1 hour - 42 MBDOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? Working a 97 hour week doesn’t sound much fun for anyone, but when we’re talking about an NHS doctor, such a schedule could become a matter of life and death. In This is Going to Hurt, comedian and ex-junior doctor Adam Kay reflects on the often horrific conditions he was working under and what finally happened to make him hang up the white coat. Chaired by Lee Randall. Part of our Mind and Body series of events.
Stuart MacBride with Stephanie Merritt (2018 Event)
October 08, 2018 09:03 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBCRIME FOR THE MASSES Just what does it take to write a page-turning bestselling crime novel? Dumbarton-born, Aberdeen-raised Stuart MacBride can offer plenty of advice on that front, given his Logan McRae series keeps on hitting the heights of popularity. Fellow writer Stephanie Merritt joins him to delve into The Blood Road, his 11th Logan mystery, out now. It’s time to get on board and see what the fuss is about.
Sophie Mackintosh & Leni Zumas (2018 Event)
October 05, 2018 08:54 - 1 hour - 44 MBWHAT'S A WOMAN FOR? Fans of Naomi Alderman’s The Power will appreciate these ambitious political novels about women defying restrictions. Sophie Mackintosh’s The Water Cure centres on three women raised in total isolation and the men who come to find them. Leni Zumas’s Red Clocks sees four women drawn together in resistance in an imagined America where abortion is illegal and a new law grants property rights to every embryo. Vote for The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh in the First Book Award.
Patrick Gale (2018 Event)
October 03, 2018 08:52 - 58 minutes - 40.7 MBCELLOS BY THE SEASIDE Fans of Patrick Gale, and of Rough Music in particular, will be thrilled to learn that he launches his 16th novel, Take Nothing With You, in this conversation with Eleanor Updale. The story of a 50-something gay Londoner undergoing radiation therapy, remembering his eccentric 1970s childhood in Weston-super-Mare and a life-changing recital by a glamorous cellist is described by Gale as ‘a comedy of resilience and survival’.
Gina Miller (2018 Event)
October 01, 2018 08:52 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBSTANDING UP FOR JUSTICE Gina Miller came to prominence when she successfully took the British government to the Supreme Court, challenging its authority to trigger Article 50, the formal notification to leave the EU, without parliamentary approval. Guyana-born Miller became the target of racist and sexist abuse, and physical threats. Rise is an unflinching account of what it means to stand up for justice, and for yourself, no matter what the cost. She discusses her book and why she felt comp...
Inua Ellams (2018 Event)
September 28, 2018 08:52 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBEPIC POETIC TALENT A captivating hour with award-winning playwright and poet Inua Ellams as he performs selections from his 2017 Ted Hughes Award shortlisted work #Afterhours. His residency at the Southbank Poetry Library took him on a voyage through time and place to the heart of the library’s archive and through his own life story, selecting and responding to poems published during each of the first 18 years of his life. Part of our Babble On - Spoken Word series of events.
Neil Griffiths & Richard Powers (2018 Event)
September 26, 2018 08:49 - 58 minutes - 40.6 MBALL IT TAKES IS FAITH Considered by many to be one of America’s great literary voices, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard Powers presents The Overstory, his seductive and beguiling new novel of interlocking stories. Neil Griffiths’s first book won awards, his second was shortlisted for the Costa Best Novel; today he discusses his third, As a God Might Be, a Guardian Book of the Week hailed as ‘an ambitious, generous novel about the limits of faith and love.’
Robin Robertson (2018 Event)
September 24, 2018 07:55 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MB2018 MAN BOOKER SHORTLISTED LA NOIR A renowned poet whose work often hauntingly evokes the lives of Scottish outsiders, and a mesmerising reader of his own work, Robin Robertson strikes out with a breathtaking new project, The Long Take. In this verse novel, Walker is a war veteran from Nova Scotia who sets out for Los Angeles in 1948. Robertson’s book demonstrates the origins of ‘noir’, presented here with period filmic and musical accompaniment. Robertson has won multiple prestigious awar...
Rachel Kushner (2018 Event)
September 24, 2018 07:54 - 1 hour - 41.6 MBLIFE AMONG LIFERS Rachel Kushner’s much-anticipated follow-up novel to the dazzlingly successful The Flamethrowers is The Mars Room, a fearless and brutally honest portrayal of Romy, a woman starting a double life sentence in a US correctional facility, leaving her young son with her mother. We welcome Kushner back to Edinburgh to discuss her latest book with American-Mexican novelist and human rights activist Jennifer Clement.
Jo Nesbo (2018 Event)
September 19, 2018 23:46 - 55 minutes - 38.5 MBMY BLACK AND DEEP DESIRES A former footballer, financial analyst and the lead singer of a chart-topping band in his homeland, Norway’s Jo Nesbo struck gold with the crime-writing career which has made his name. His latest bestseller, Macbeth, is a fresh take on Shakespeare’s ‘Scottish play’, relocating it to a police department where Inspector Macbeth is plagued by paranoia.
Blake Morrison (2018 Event)
September 17, 2018 08:28 - 58 minutes - 39.9 MBPOETRY OF NOVEL WRITING The Sunday Times called him ‘One of our most sensitive and stylish writers’ and with his latest book, The Executor, it’s easy to see why. The bestselling novelist and poet Blake Morrison has created a biting portrait of male friendship, sexual obsession and the fragile transactions of married life, innovatively interweaving poetry and prose to form a gripping literary detective story. Enjoy an hour in the company of this award-winning writer. Chaired by Jackie McGlone.
Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina with Yanis Varoufakis (2018 Event)
September 13, 2018 09:35 - 59 minutes - 40.8 MBRUSSIA’S AVANT-GARDE FREEDOM FIGHTERS 'To back down an inch is to give up a mile,' says Maria Alyokhina in Riot Days, her account of Pussy Riot’s extraordinary rise to infamy in 2012. Following an iconoclastic balaclava-clad performance in a Moscow cathedral, Alyokhina and two of her collaborators were arrested and sentenced to two years in a prison in the Urals. In this unmissable event, Yanis Varoufakis, DiEM25’s co-founder, discusses with Maria Alyokhina the different varieties of totali...
Jasper Fforde (2018 Event)
September 12, 2018 08:48 - 1 hour - 43.5 MBNOT-SO-SWEET DREAMS Jasper Fforde has spent years on the bestseller lists with his Thursday Next books. Now he’s written a standalone novel, Early Riser, creating a world where all humans hibernate except for the Winter Consuls. Fforde’s ability to write alternative worlds with the telling detail of a J K Rowling or Terry Pratchett, coupled with his unabashed silliness and cleverly imagined characters, have won him a well-deserved following.
Ruby Wax (2018 Event)
September 10, 2018 08:54 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBA GUIDE FOR LIVING Laughter is the best medicine, so thankfully comedian Ruby Wax has penned a witty follow-up to her bestselling book A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled, designed to help us live well. Armed with a degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and a knack for hilarity, today Wax discusses How to Be Human: The Manual and her tips for having a healthy mind in a world where new equals best and keeping up is tough. Chaired by Jackie McGlone. Part of our Mind and Body series ...
Janice Galloway (2018 Event)
September 07, 2018 08:54 - 55 minutes - 38.1 MBA Tribute to Muriel Spark We're celebrating Muriel Spark’s centenary year with a series of tributes to the great Scottish writer. In this, our opening event, Janice Galloway, the internationally-acclaimed Scottish author of novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction (and more besides), presents Spark’s writing and ideas, encouraging us to ‘hear’ the voice of Spark by reading selections from her most evocative works. Chaired by Jenny Niven. Part of our Muriel Spark 100 series of events.
Graeme Macrae Burnet (2018 Event)
September 04, 2018 07:48 - 50 minutes - 5.67 MBStravaigin in Saint-Louis The Scot who came to international attention when His Bloody Project was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Graeme Macrae Burnet has followed up that astonishing success with an elegant and evocative thriller The Accident on the A35. Set in a sleepy town in southern France, it’s a sophisticated mystery that evokes Maigret, Camus and perhaps a whiff of James Hogg. Chaired by Jane Fowler.
Gavin Francis (2018 Event)
September 03, 2018 08:47 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBTO CHANGE IS HUMAN Following the resounding success of the bestselling Adventures in Human Being, Edinburgh-based GP and writer Gavin Francis turns his attention to Shapeshifters or more specifically, the ways in which human bodies are transformed throughout a lifetime. Changes happen in many different contexts: ageing, transgender journeys and plastic surgery being some topical examples that Francis analyses in his new book. Chaired by Allan Little. Part of our Mind and Body series of events.
Antony Beevor (2018 Event)
August 31, 2018 09:53 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBARNHEM: THE HEART OF WAR The nation’s premier military historian has analysed conflicts in places that proved pivotal during the Second World War such as Berlin and Stalingrad. Now he turns to Arnhem, where Britain, America and the Netherlands tried in vain to thwart the Nazis’ hopes for dominion. In Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944, Sir Antony Beevor explores why this project failed, but also why it became ‘the last German victory’. Chaired by Sheena McDonald.
Ben Okri (2018 Event)
August 29, 2018 09:34 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBENIGMATIC VISIONARY Which came first, the image or the word? It’s hard to tell in The Magic Lamp, Ben Okri’s collaboration with painter Rosemary Clunie. Subtitled Dreams of Our Age, it’s a collection of twenty-five enchanting, haunting stories, each accompanied by a dreamlike painting. In this illustrated book, the Man Booker Prize-winner draws once again on the lineage of Arabian Nights and African mythology. Supported by the Hawthornden Literary Retreat
Miranda Kaufmann with Afua Hirsch (2018 Event)
August 27, 2018 09:09 - 1 hour - 42 MBAfricans in Tudor England It’s a common misconception that black migration to Britain began with the Windrush in 1948. But as Miranda Kaufmann demonstrates in Black Tudors, many black Africans were warmly accepted into 16th century English society. What’s perhaps most striking is they were free – living in a Britain not yet involved in slave trading. Kaufmann talks to Afua Hirsch and discusses the implications for our understanding of British history. Part of our Identity Parades series of ...
Richard Dawkins (2018 Event)
August 24, 2018 15:36 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBONE SOLUTION: EVOLUTION Whatever your opinion of Richard Dawkins, and few people choose to sit on the fence when it comes to the world’s best-known evolutionary biologist, his passion for science cannot be denied. In Science in the Soul, he asks whether his discipline can be viewed as another religion; whether scientists can be viewed as prophets; and if it’s possible that alien life exists in other worlds. Chaired by Ruth Wishart.
Ruth Jones (2018 Event)
August 24, 2018 15:36 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBGAVIN & STACEY WRITER TURNS NOVELIST Acclaimed comedy actress and writer Ruth Jones has turned her talents to novel writing. Never Greener ponders the age-old question of whether the grass is a different shade on the other side. Kate had a fling in her early 20s with a married man and when they meet again years later, she wonders if she missed a trick or had a close shave. Spend an entertaining hour with the writer of the award-winning TV series Gavin & Stacey. Chaired by Hannah Beckerman.