Edinburgh’s World in Words
Book Festival Launches
The Edinburgh International Book Festival launched an exciting and innovative programme this morning, centred around the idea of words as the building blocks of the world.
Nick Barley, Director of the Festival said, “I believe that writers are fundamental to our understanding of the world; away from the barrage of instant news, writers give a more subtle perspective on everything from complex economic problems to personal issues in our day to day lives. The Book Festival gives us a wonderful opportunity to bring these perspectives into focus as we look at the world we live in today..”
The overarching theme of this year’s festival is ‘New World Order’, a theme that leads the festival to looks at a range of authors from the Unites States of America, as well as challenging discourses on the rise of China as a global superpower, the environmental and other issues affecting us in the 21st century.
The festival, which has its home in Charlotte Square, will run from the 14th- 30th August. This year’s festival will showcase 750 authors from 50 countries across the world- among them Booker, Orange, Costa, Turner and Pulitzer Prize Winners, as well as four Nobel Laureates and the Poet Laureates of both Britain and South Africa.
The festival, Nick Barley’s first, announced 5 exciting innovations to the general programme. The Readers First Book Award allows Book Festival audiences to vote for their favourite literary debut; Elsewhere, a commission by the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund in which 50 writers tell their stories of what ‘Elsewhere’ means to them; and Unbound, an event in the Highland Park Spiegeltent where musicians, poets and authors try new ways of discussing their writing and ideas – expect a large dose of the unknown.. Guests Selectors are another innovation on this year’s programme, ensuring that the festival covers the best of the written word from around the globe.. The final innovation is two debating panel chairs- Alan Little and Ruth Wishart- each of whom will chair one week of debates at the festival. In week one Alan Little will chair discussions on geo-politics, while in week two Ruth Wishart will oversee discussions on happiness, fear, fun and wealth.
Other notable events in the adults programme include readings by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Seamus Heaney, a discussion between Fay Weldon and Fatima Bhutto on what it means to lose a parent , and perennial favourites Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith.
This year’s keynote will be a powerful discussion on Christianity, using the exploratory lens of Phillip Pullman’s new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Pullman will be discussing his ideas with the former Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries.
The children’s programme is full of imaginative programming, from a meditation on the Moomins and their 65 year legacy to a sing-along event of the Very Hungry Caterpillar and a chance to get snapped alongside the Fat Controller at a Thomas the Tank Engine storytelling event.
For more information on the Edinburgh International Book Festival why not visit the website? Tickets are available from 26th June 2010 online or through the phone on 0845 373 5888.
