Edinburgh International Book Festival 2020 – what’s on today
The Edinburgh International Book Festival 2020 is Keeping the Conversation Going, and doing it powerfully well with some great authors.
Although you can watch the events live (all for free remember) you can also watch again.
Yesterday at the Edinburgh International Book Festival online:
Linn Ullmann, daughter of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman, discussed her semi-autobiographical novel with Lee Randall.
To watch this event – click here
Ian Rankin revealed in a conversation with Journalist Ruth Wishart that he was currently without a book contract.
To watch this event – click here
Programme for today: Tuesday 18 August
10:00am Formidable Females with Lari Don & Eilidh Muldoon
To watch this event – click here
1:00pm Ekow Eshun: Africa is a State of Mind
To watch this event – click here
2:30pm Hallie Rubenhold: The Problem with Great Men
To watch the event – click here
4:00pm Get Adventurous with Lily Dyu & Helen Skelton
To watch this event – click here
5:30pm Colum McCann: An Infinity of Stories
To watch this event – click here
7:00pm Philippe Sands with Ian Rankin: On the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive
To watch this event – click here
8:30pm Women in Politics: A Year of Reckoning
To watch this event – click here
Programme for tomorrow: Wednesday 19 August
11:30am Shokoofeh Azar: After the Iranian Revolution
When Shokoofeh Azar received the news that she was the first ever Iranian writer to be shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, she was transported back to when she was 15 years old, ‘in the village, surrounded by rainforest and rice fields, and dreamed of someday I would win this award as an Iranian writer.’
This event is supported by the 2020 International Booker Prize
To watch this event – click here
1:00pm Eliza Anyangwe & Emmanuel Iduma: Outriders Africa – Deconstructing the Travelogue
As part of the Book Festival’s Outriders Programme exploring the shifting landscapes of contemporary Africa, writers born in two neighbouring countries interrogate what means to be the ‘other’ in pan-African society. The two writers set off on an island-hopping journey from Madagascar to Comoros, finally ending up in Uganda before their trip was cut short as a result of COVID-19. Today, they share some of their stories from the journey.
This is an audio event – to listen click here
2:30pm Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi: Uganda’s First Woman of Fiction
Ugandan short story writer and novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi burst onto the scene when she won The Kwani? Manuscript Project in 2013 with her first novel Kintu. Since then, she’s garnered legions of readers and accolades including a Commonwealth Short Story Prize and, in 2018, a Windham Campbell Prize. Her work is celebrated for its links to oral traditions as well as its incisive critiques of contemporary Ugandan politics. For this event, she discusses her latest novel, The First Woman, with editor and culture columnist of The Economist Fiammetta Rocco.
This event is supported by British Council
To watch this event – click here
4:00pm Voices from the Past with Patrice Lawrence & Bali Rai
Patrice Lawrence, winner of the Waterstones Book Prize for Orangeboy, transports you to the slums of Elizabethan London in Diver’s Daughter: A Tudor Story, where East African girl Eve and her family become involved in a perilous shipwreck salvaging mission. Bestseller Bali Rai’s Now or Never: A Dunkirk Story follows Fazal Khan from his Indian home to the battlefields of the Second World War, where bombs from above and discrimination from other soldiers threaten his life.
This event is part of the Baillie Gifford Children’s Programme
To watch this event – click here
5:30pm Maaza Mengiste: When Italy Invaded Ethiopia
Against the backdrop of Italy’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, this is a story of Africa and Europe, of resistance and exile, of tradition and modernity, that is sweeping in vision and intimate in affect. Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize The Shadow King is powerful, stirring historical fiction that centres women within stories of war and battle that have traditionally excluded them. Mengiste talks to Jess Brough about giving life to the stories of her parents and grandparents, and unpicking ‘faded documents’ to better understand the heroism and loss of the past.
To watch this event – click here
7:00pm Marian Keyes: Family Matters
With more than 35 million copies sold of her 13 novels to date, Keyes’s own brand of irrepressible, generous, hilarious storytelling goes from strength to strength. Join Keyes and writer Jenny Colgan for an evening of unforgettable grown-up fun.
To watch this event – click here
8:30pm Val McDermid & Jo Sharp: Shaping a Better Future
Edited by McDermid and Sharp, Imagine A Country is the fascinating, eclectic and often inspiring collection. In this event, Val McDermid and Jo Sharp host acclaimed writers Ali Smith, Cameron McNeish, Jo Clifford and Leila Aboulela, who read their contributions and discuss how we might create a better future for the greatest number of people.
This event is sponsored by the Open University
To watch this event – click here
