Edinburgh International Book Festival: Lots To Do and See

Book Event Type 1: The Well Knowns

This type of event features a personality we all know, but not as an author. There are plenty of these this year, though they do tend to sell out quickly. (Deep breath…) Comedian turned author (and acclaimed author at that) Alexei Sayle appears on the opening day, Sat 13 Aug, then the next day Sarah Brown, wife of former PM Gordon, promotes her memoir of life in Downing Street, and she’ll have plenty to talk about, given recent events, but if you want to get away from all that, former Arsenal, Celtic and Wales striker John Hartson appears on Mon 15 to promote his memoir, interviewed by Off The Ball’s Stuart Cosgrove, and if you’re hooked on memoirs at this point actor Simon Callow promotes his memoir on Mon 22, but if you want a change from all these memoirs, Melvyn Bragg appears to talk about The King James Bible on Sat 27 Aug.

Book Event Type 2: The Literary Heavyweights

Alasdair Gray! Go to the Skinny-sponsored Alasdair Gray event on Sat 13 Aug, and maybe his other one (if you can wangle a ticket). But if you have to go to something else, Tobias Wolff, author of the excellent This Boy’s Life, and even more excellent Old School, will be appearing on Sun 14 Aug, and poet and novelist John Burnside will be launching his latest, A Summer of Drowning on Wed 17 Aug. There’s an embarrassment of riches on 20 Aug, when Edward St Aubyn, the incredibly accomplished author of the Patrick Melrose books forms an odd contrast to the veteran American author Robert Coover, as does Booker winner Alan Hollinghurst who also appears that day. If you think it doesn’t get grander then wait until the 24th, when none other than the poet laureate herself, Carol Ann Duffy appears.

Book Event Type 3: The Cult Leaders

Ah, those authors who command devoted followings, yet somehow aren’t really mainstream. Great examples are Neil Gaiman, appearing Wed 17 Aug, who works in comics (Sandman) the fantasy genre (American Gods) and even wrote a Doctor Who, or Iain (M) Banks the next day, promoting his Culture novel Surface Detail, or comics legend Grant Morrison who appears on Sat 20 Aug, or sci-fi master China Miéville who will arrive on Sun 21 Aug, all to no doubt enraptured capacity crowds.

Book Event Type 4: The Entertainers

Not that the others aren’t entertaining, but these are the guys who really know how to please a crowd. Christopher Brookmyre will show his excellent audience handling skills on Tue 16 Aug, as will comic crime author and festival favourite Jasper Fforde on Thu 18 Aug. For a change of pace on that day there’s also master of psychological magic Richard Wiseman, and we can even include writer and stand up comic A.L Kennedy in this category though she could just as well fit in a number of categories here. She’ll perform on Sun 21 Aug. And do not, under any circumstances, miss the sublime and brilliant poetry of Paul Muldoon on Sat 29 Aug.

Book Event Type 5: The Up and Comers

It’s always good to catch a big name just before they really hit the big time. Contenders include Jennifer Egan, whose novel A Visit From The Goon Squad has recently won her the Pulitzer prize on Mon 15 Aug, the much buzzed about Granta-published author Chris Adrian on Tue 16 Aug, Submarine author Joe Dunthorne on Fri 19 Aug, and perhaps most intriguing of all author of the massively highly anticipated, 1000 plus page novel The Instructions, Adam Levin who’ll appear on Sat 27 Aug.

Book Event Type 6: The Illuminating Talkers

There are plenty of these, non-fiction authors with fascinating things to say, such as Orlando Figes and Simon Sebag Montefiore, who both appear on Mon 15 Aug, or biographer extraordinaire Michael Holroyd on Thu 18 Aug, or Peter Atkins on Fri 19 Aug, AC Grayling on Sat 20 Aug or Kurdo Baksi Sun 21 Aug or Julian Baggini on Mon 22 Aug… you get the idea, and there’s no space here to go into detail – just trust me, they’re great. But what may also be fascinating are writers more accustomed to fiction exploring rich, real life subjects. Don Paterson, speaking about Shakespeare on Tue 23 Aug, and Will Self on WG Sebald, Sun 28 Aug, being very noteworthy examples.

Book Event Type 7: The Inspired Pairings

James Yorkston and Ian Rankin! Go to our event and see them! But if you're seeing anything else, Ruth Wishart is probably the best event host at the festival (and they’re all good), so anything she hosts is likely to be a great pairing, and her event with Jon Ronson on Wed 24 Aug is the pick of the bunch. Also on the 24th Michael Faber confronts the people who brought his The Crimson Petal and the White to the screen. The fascinating coupling of Irvine Welsh as interviewer and James Robertson as subject is on 25 Aug, and two friends, who'll team up to promote their work together, Alan Bissett and Doug Johnstone, will appear on Fri 26 Aug.

The Best Book Event Of All: Last but not least, the best book event is the one, maybe one you’ve seen in this list, where you just know ‘I must go to that’, and you’ll kick yourself if you don’t. Book early and book often, book readers.