Edinburgh International Book Festival reveals 2026 lineup

Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) returns to the Edinburgh Futures Institute from 15 to 30 August with a lineup of over 600 writers from 41 countries. In addition to celebrating the written word, the festival will encourage this year's audience to think about things a bit differently. EIBF director Jenny Niven reckons this year's festival theme – Changing Your Mind – speaks to our current moment of division. “At a time when opinions seem increasingly polarised and online debate is so divisive, we're creating space for thoughtful, nuanced conversations – exploring the reasons for our increasing social and political divides, and how we might change each other's minds, or at least agree to disagree, more agreeably,” Niven says. “We're also looking at the potential of the human brain to adapt and relearn, and at the unparalleled power of stories to change our thinking.” As a theme, it sounds pretty innocuous until you read that Jeremy Hunt is on the bill, but politicians who helped create Austerity Britain aside, the Book Festival is bringing a typically broad lineup of literary talent to the Scottish capital this year.

Many of the biggest names will be appearing at the cavernous McEwan Hall as part of the festival's literary heavyweight strand, The Front List, including The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys author Colson Whitehead, who'll be discussing his new book, Cool Machine. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is joined on the lineup by Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart, who’ll chat about his acclaimed third novel, John of John. 

Multi-award-winning poet, playwright and songwriter Kae Tempest is also on the Front List bill; he’s discussing his heart-breaking, decade-in-the-making novel, Having Spent Life Seeking. Other renowned fiction writers appearing at EIBF include Maggie O’Farrell with her ambitious new novel Land and her fellow countryman Colm Tóibín, who’s discussing his short story collection, The News from Dublin.

In terms of talent from further afield, Taiwanese novelist Yáng Shuāng-zi will be in town to discuss Taiwan Travelogue, which won this year’s International Booker Prize; Pakistani-American writer Daniyal Mueenuddin will discuss This Is Where the Serpent Lives, his epic novel set in modern Pakistan; and Japanese literary sensation Mieko Kawakami, best known for her feminist novel Breasts and Eggs, is in town to present Sisters in Yellow, her new work exploring friendship and betrayal among the dive bars of 90s Tokyo.

If we were to rank the authors attending EIBF in terms of book sales, not to mention 90s movie adaptations based on their work, surely no one can top John Grisham. His legal thrillers like The Firm and The Pelican Brief have sold over 300 million copies worldwide, and he’ll be discussing them with Scottish author Ian Rankin, who knows a thing or two himself about writing bestsellers.

Of course, there’s plenty of Scottish literary talent represented in the programme overall, with many of them part of Scotland to the World, a new series taking place at Greyfriars Kirk, blending the work of Scottish writers with music and performance. One of its events is inspired by Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet and will see Smith perform four readings alongside four new pieces of music from the Dutch contemporary classical collective New European Ensemble. Other events in Scotland to the World see musicians like piper Brìghde Chaimbeul and the India Alba collective paired with writers such as Len Pennie, Kathleen Jamie, and William Dalrymple.

Elsewhere in the programme you find EIBF regulars like Jenni Fagan with her hugely anticipated new satirical novel The Delusions, which imagines an afterlife run by cosmic bureaucracy; Louise Welsh is back with The Cut Up, her third book in the In the Cut series, which follows antique dealer turned reluctant gumshoe Rilke as he’s dragged once again into Glasgow’s seedy underbelly; standup star Fern Brady will present a special preview of her debut novel, High Energy Unpleasant; Graeme Macrae Burnet discusses his grizzly new novel Benbecula, part of Polygon’s Highlands true-crime series Darkland Tales; and Graeme Armstrong follows up Young Team with Raveheart, set in the heart of Scotland’s rave subculture. On top of all that, our new food and drink magazine GNAW hosts Word Salad, a chat about modern food writing with Ben Mervis of FARE magazine, The Times restaurant critic Chitra Ramaswamy and Rebecca May Johnson, editor at Vittles and author of Small Fires.

Above is just a taste of the 604 events in this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival lineup. For the full details, head to edbookfest.co.uk

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Edinburgh International Book Festival, 15-30 Aug
Tickets for the Front List events are on sale now; general sale for Edinburgh International Book Festival tickets opens on Thu 25 Jun