West Port Book Festival: a Fringe for Books?

Better known as the ‘pubic triangle’ of Edinburgh for its smattering of strip clubs and lap-dancing dens, or for the 19th Century Burke and Hare murders, West Port is also home to a gathering of unique second-hand bookshops, which have gathered together this cultured month to host their very own book festival. Taking place in a variety of venues including Armchair Books, Edinburgh Books, The Blue Blazer public house, Edinburgh College of Art, the Owl & Lion Gallery and te Pooka’s Big Red Door, West Port Book Festival promises to be the literary event Edinburgh has been waiting for.

With twenty-five free events crammed into an intense four-day period, there will be something for everyone at this welcoming festival. To start things off there will be a Victorian Fair appearing in a secluded corner of the Meadows with a selection of Antiquarian books for borrowing, reading and generally mulling over. There will be an enlightening session of Scottish poetry with Douglas Dunn, and a Sherlock Holmes medley from Owen Dudley Edwards, complete with a dramatic recitation. Award winning novelist Ali Smith will be appearing and speaking about the inimitable Carson McCullers, and there will be a relaxing lunchtime magic show lead by Gordon Bruce and Todd Various. Children’s author Allan Burnett will be revealing some of the lesser known aspects of Scottish history, and there will be stories from AL Kennedy and some deadpan humour from Arnold Brown. Ian Rankin will also be speaking in a more informal setting than his Charlotte Square equivalent, about life after Rebus, his new novel and his relationship with the city of Edinburgh, which has been for him as well as many others a constant source of inspiration.

WPBF will also encompass its own mini four-hour festival of poetry, prose and performance, showcasing a selection of upcoming and established writers, which promises an eclectic range of talent appropriately set in the ECA. Finally, for the more hands-on punters, WPBF has organised a series of book-binding and book repair workshops, hosted by professionals in both fields, that will provide a glimpse into the more technical side of the book world.

With this mixture of hands on and hands off events culminating in a debauched live show from Manchester’s S.R. Gents at the Cameo cinema, WPBF aims to put the bookshop community at the forefront of West Port’s reputation. It has been established to invite bookworms and festival-goers alike to celebrate in a range of informal and dynamic venues. To have a book festival run by bookshops makes perfect sense, and to have a book festival with free events at enticing venues makes it all the better.