I’ll be chairing two events and reading at two more this year at the EIBF. Great to be back in sunny Charlotte Square!
SYRIA SPEAKS: AN EVENING OF RESISTANCE & CELEBRATION
Tue 12 Aug 9:00pm – 11:00pm — The Guardian Spiegeltent
Reel Festivals presents Syria Speaks, a celebration of contemporary Syrian writing and music. With readings from Samar Yazbek’s Pinter Prize-winning war diaries and Malu Halasa’s sly (but not shy) Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie, this event highlights the humour, resilience and strength of Syrian art, even in these most challenging times. Through the poetry of Golan Haji, the adventures of novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab, and the storytelling and songs of the irrepressible Raast Collective, Syria Speaks will make you laugh, cry and maybe even dance.
GRAY: THE COLOUR OF SCOTLAND (Chair)
Wed 13 Aug 1:30pm – 2:30pm — Baillie Gifford Main Theatre
Of 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.
A STAR IS FINALLY BORN (Chair)
Sat 16 Aug 9:30pm – 10:30pm — Baillie Gifford Main Theatre
Faber and Faber is world famous for publishing the giants of poetry. Now, with My Prefect Cousin, Faber offers us the poems of cult poet Paul Hamilton. His cousin, the renowned comedy actor Kevin Eldon, has pieced together Hamilton’s story, the man once described by the Poetic Literary Review as ‘a diabolical libertarian’. Join Eldon as he charts the rollercoaster ride of a life dedicated to verse.
RALLY AND BROAD
Mon 25 Aug 9pm – 11pm — Guardian Spiegeltent
The Edinburgh Cabaret of Words, Music & Lyrical Delights comes to the Book Festival! Details to follow…
