Edinburgh International Book Festival

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The world's largest public celebration of the written word. www.edbookfest.co.uk. Explore the 2022 programme and watch events on-demand now!
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The Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place in the heart of Edinburgh each year. For 17 days every August, hundreds of writers and thinkers from across the planet gather together to share their ideas and stories with you, the audience. From Nobel prize-winners to the literary stars of tomorrow, the Book Festival offers a diverse range of events for all ages from babies to adults including enlightening interview-style chats, lively debates where you can join in and have your say, writing workshops and classes along with readings and booksignings.

16/10/2026

Happy publication week to the amazing Elif Shafak whose latest novel, In One Brief Moment All Eternity, is now out! Hear her reflecting on the novel’s inspiration – Gustave Flaubert, author of Madame Bovary – and how the circumstances surrounding the writing of that novel so closely mirror our own times…

Check out her full conversation at the this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival here: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/on-demand/the-front-list-elif-shafak

14/10/2026

The books our team are reaching for as the weather gets colder… whether it’s a reread of a familiar favourite or a recent release with undeniably autumnal vibes. 🍂

Which ones are on your autumn TBR??

09/10/2026

We simply have too many fabulous, literary-minded pups in the 2026 Festival archives to not pull together another edition of Dogs of the Book Fest! 🐾

Here, they are spotted enjoying a break on our Festival site from important readings of Jane Pawsten, Sherlock Bones, and Virginia Woof… 📚

05/10/2026

Our communities work is at the heart of what we do and who we are. This year’s Library Streaming project brought our Book Festival events to more local authorities than ever before (22! Including Orkney 🫍!) and we’ve been so delighted to get a sneak peak into the library watch parties around the country. 🎥

Through projects like this (and many others!) our Communities Team works year round to meet people where they are and bring the joy of reading and our Book Festival to those who can’t join us on site. 💙

Head over to the Communities and Support Us sections of our website at the link in bio to see how you can continue to help support this amazing work. 🌟

01/10/2026

It’s National Poetry Day and, over the years, we’ve been lucky to host some of the world’s best poets at our Festival in Edinburgh.

This year, we loved hearing from the ever-amazing who shared her latest collection, Virgin. You can hear her whole conversation with Sarah Gwonyoma over on the On Demand section of our website (link in bio 🔗), but here’s a sneak peek of one of Hollie’s poems ‘Purple Carrots’ which give us literal goosebumps.

01/10/2026

It’s National Poetry Day and, over the years, we’ve been lucky to host some of the world’s best poets at our Festival in Edinburgh.

This year, we heard from Peter Mackay - Scotland’s current Makar - who shared this gorgeous poem written as an ode to Scotland’s big year as a World Cup contender this summer.

01/10/2026

The leaves are changing and jumpers are coming out... which means it’s officially time to cosy in with a good book event! And lucky for you, we’re kicking off our monthly spotlight series by looking back on this lovely chat between Matt Haig and Sophie Gee. 📚🍂

Author of many beloved books including The Midnight Library, Haig returns to the Midnight world with his new novel, The Midnight Train.

This story has all the same themes of nostalgia, longing, and second chances as the Midnight Library, but where The Midnight Library confronts the idea of feeling like you’re in the wrong life, The Midnight Train asks, ‘what happens when you feel like you lived your own life wrong’...

Pop on the kettle and head over to edbookfest.co.uk/on-demand to donate what you can and listen back on this great conversation. ☕

29/09/2026

The music, the lighting, the chemistry! ✨ there’s lots to love about Georgia Oakley / Daisy Edgar-Jones’ new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility (even if our office may be made up of die-hard fans of the 1995 Ang Lee / Emma Thompson version ✊🏼).

If you enjoyed the film, we’re pretty sure you’re going to like these reading recommendations… check them out!

👉🏼 and let us know what classic (or modern) novels you’d like to see on screen next! 📖

28/09/2026

With the announcement of the Booker Prize shortlist last week, we’ll be taking a look back at the amazing shortlisted authors that joined us at our Festival just last month (oh how the time flies!). 📚

First up is Douglas Stuart with his incredible third novel, John of John - but did you know it almost wasn’t the novel that it ended up as? Listen to Douglas chat with poet (and friend) Jackie Kay about how important it is to let your characters take the lead, even if that means starting afresh.

Head over to the ‘On Demand’ section of our website to donate what you can and watch the full conversation and hear two incredible talents talk about how this story came to be. 💙

25/09/2026

We could go on and on about how amazing our Citizen Collective group is... but why not take it from some of it’s members? As part of their work placement at our Book Festival last month, they made this great video to reflect on their experiences over the past year. ✍️
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And now, it’s your chance to join! If you’re 15-18, live in and around Edinburgh, and want to...

📝 develop your writing skills
💛 make new friends
👂 hear from published writers
🎭 go on cultural trips
🤩 and, if you’re up for it, perform at the Book Festival next summer
.. then this free, young-adult creative writing group is the one for you! Sign-up is open from now until 9 Oct, so head over to the link in our bio to join this group for another fabulous year!

The Citizen Collective is made possible thanks to support from Postcode Lottery, Nancy Massey Trust and John S. Cohen Foundation 💙

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121 George Street
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http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/

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