This was an excellent evening at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, now firmly at home in the Edinburgh Futures Institute, where the largest space available was completely full for the Opening Gala.
Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, Màiri McAllan, officially opened the 2026 Edinburgh International Book Festival on Saturday evening at the Opening Gala exploring the festival theme, Changing Your Mind, saying this is a “truly essential” theme for our times.
She explained that politics trades on certainty, while politicians are encouraged to be open minded and listen to others.
Each one of the half dozen authors who addressed the festival theme, Changing Your Mind, held the audience in the palm of their hand. Each one had a different take, and each one showed exactly why they had been chosen to speak at the Opening Gala.
The topic came to life with the individual creativity of Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Graeme Armstrong, Anne Enright, Gavin Francis, Naomi Ishiguro and Jackie Kay who all approached it from a unique angle.
Who knew that our erstwhile Makar, Jackie Kay, was such a consummate fibber? She related a tale about having an identical twin, (had everyone believing her embarrassment about having a twin who was a Tory), cantered through the ins and outs of meeting up and never knowing about the twin before (making us wonder how the papers had missed this important story) only to tell us right at the end it was complete fiction. Jackie Kay – a true storyteller!
The evening was made even more magical with music from Aidan O’Rourke and Harben Kay. (If you were not there then you really missed yourself.)
Ms McAllan said: “As the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature, Edinburgh has long demonstrated the importance the city places on ideas, creativity and international exchange. The Book Festival is one of the clearest expressions of that ambition.
“The Scottish Government is delighted to be supporting, and enhancing, the Book Festival’s ambitions through Creative Scotland’s Multi Year Funding programme, Expo Funding and the Expanded Festivals Fund.
“We are especially excited to be working closely with the festival to support the Global Ink industry programme – bringing literary festival leaders from four continents to Scotland’s capital for a three-day international forum.
“With this year’s Book Festival theme a call to us all, I am delighted to open a programme that puts curiosity and open-mindedness at its heart.”
Jenny Niven, Director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “Changing Your Mind isn’t just this year’s theme, it’s an invitation. Every one of these writers has, in their own way, made a case for staying curious and willing to be moved by a story, an argument, or a piece of music. That’s what tonight was about, and it’s what the next two weeks hold for our audiences.”
Running from 15-30 August, this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival features more than 600 events with writers from 41 countries, creating one of the world’s most international gatherings of books, ideas and stories. Through the theme Changing Your Mind, audiences will be invited to engage with new perspectives, challenge assumptions and take part in conversations that matter, while also getting a chance to hear their favourite authors live on stage.
Some events have been live-streamed and can be watched on demand.
