Edinburgh International Book Festival
15 - 31 August 2009
An inspiring literary festival, the world's largest public celebration of the written word, right in the heart of Edinburgh: hundreds of author events, debates and workshops packed into 17 extraordinary days each August.
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2009 Programme Highlights
- Joining us with brand new books are William Boyd, Richard Dawkins, Tom Kitchin, Michael Mansfield, Tracy Chevalier, Liam McIlvanney, Valerie Martin, Nicholson Baker, Colum McCann, Humphrey Hawkesley, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and Douglas Coupland among others
- One of the most dynamic female politicians of our time, Shirley Williams, delivers the National Library of Scotland Donald Dewar Lecture
- We examine Scottish history, literature, culture, society, and exploration and of course, celebrate our National Bard - Robert Burns, for Scotland's Year of Homecoming
- New volumes of short stories are brought to Charlotte Square by A L Kennedy, Irvine Welsh and Ben Okri
- Giants of British theatre join us this year including Joss Ackland, Diana Quick, Richard Eyre and Antony Sher
- We introduce some of Scotland's newest creative talent, and take a look at some of the finest unpublished writers from across the creative writing schools of Scotland, supported by the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festival's Expo Fund
- A dozen of Sweden's best contemporary authors feature, including internationally renowned crime writer Henning Mankell. Some well known, some unknown, and some translated and presented in English for the first time in unique dialogue with their UK counterparts.
- New writing from Africa includes stories from Malawi, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria and Zimbabwe
- We explore the implications of the global economic downturn with experts including Vince Cable, Philip Augar, Paul Mason, Gillian Tett, Dan Atkinson and Andrew Simms
- Authors visit Charlotte Square Gardens from over 45 countries including Albania, Bosnia, Burma, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sudan, Turkey and Ukraine
RBS Children's Programme highlights
- Popular children's writer Cornelia Funke makes a rare public appearance to talk about her Inkworld series
- Enjoy exclusive previews of new work by Julia Donaldson, Michelle Paver and Steve Cole
- Techno-expert Jason Bradbury, from The Gadget Show, will be joined by a troupe of robots to talk about his novel, Dot Robot
- Martial Arts Master Chris Bradford arrives with an authentic samurai sword demonstration illustrating his award-winning Young Samurai series
- Launching new books are Nick Butterworth, Emily Gravett, Jeremy Strong, Angie Sage and Terry Deary among others
- Sports fans can enjoy new work from Narinder Dhami who follows up Bend it Like Beckham with The Beautiful Game
- Catch the end of The Edge Chronicles, as Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell discuss their brilliant final instalment
- Internationally renowned Swedish crime writer, Henning Mankell talks about his children's novel The Cat Who Liked Rain
- Graphic Novels continue to grow in popularity. Ian Rankin launches his debut graphic novel, and is joined by Neil Gaiman, author of the epic Sandman series. Plus, Mark Millar, Gary Erskine and Tony Lee join us
- Judith Kerr, creator of Mog the Cat and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, discusses her fascinating childhood escape from Nazi Germany, as told in the autobiographical novel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Programme Launch '09
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