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TOP TIPS
Plan a day out with the many events on offer at the Edinburgh International Book Festival over the next week and a half
THU 16 CHITRA NAGARAJAN & OLUMIDE
POPOOLA Charlotte Square Gardens, 4pm, £12 (£10) Join Chitra Nagarajan, editor of the groundbreaking collection She Called Me Woman, and writer, speaker and performer Olumide Popoola for a discussion on feminism and intersectionality in contemporary African communities and countries.
MICHAEL PEDERSEN’S OYSTER PARTY FOR SCOTT HUTCHISON
Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, £12 (£10) Michael Pedersen pays homage to the late Frightened Rabbit frontman and artist Scott Hutchison, who illustrated the poet’s second collection Oyster, which they launched together at the Book Festival last year. Join Pedersen and some of his and Hutchison’s close friends: Hollie McNish, Withered Hand and EA Hanks as they perform their own work and share stories.
FRI 17 JUNO DAWSON: CLEAN Spark Theatre, George Street, 5.30pm, £5 Juno Dawson returns to the Festival with her razor-sharp novel about one young girl’s rise from the lows of heroin addiction. Clean is a gripping and edgy portrait of addiction and tackling demons, which Dawson discusses in her characteristically honest style.
CLAIRE ASKEW & ZAFFAR KUNIAL
Charlotte Square Gardens, 7.30pm, £12 (£10) A star of the Faber New Poets scheme, Kunial reads from his much-anticipated first collection Us. Askew performs from This Changes Things, her debut collection shortlisted for multiple awards including the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award.
SAT 18 PUSSY RIOT’S MARIA
ALYOKHINA WITH YANIS VAROUFAKIS
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £12 (£10) Yanis Varoufakis, DiEM25’s co-founder, discusses with Maria Alyokhina the different varieties of totalitarianism that we are currently threatened with, her fight for free speech against the forces of Putin’s regime, her hunger strike protest while in prison, as well as the work she is now doing to help Russian prisoners at home.
DJ SEMTEX HERLAND SALON WITH GLASGOW
Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) With Hip Hop Raised Me, DJ Semtex, the host of BBC Radio 1’s flagship hip hop programme, sheds light on the genre and its context, discussing everything from the cult of Kanye to MCs, DJs and B-boys.
SUN 19 INSPIRING WOMEN WITH CHELSEA CLINTON
Charlotte Square Gardens, 1.30pm, £5 The former First Daughter discusses her two children’s picture books, She Persisted and She Persisted Around the World. Come and be inspired by some of the real-life heroes who feature, including Marie Curie and JK Rowling.
INUA ELLAMS Charlotte Square Gardens, 5.45pm, £12 (£10) A captivating hour with award-winning playwright and poet Inua Ellams, as he performs selections from his 2017 Ted Hughes Award shortlisted work #Afterhours.
MON 20 ALI SMITH WITH NICOLA STURGEON
Charlotte Square Gardens, 5pm, £12 (£10) Now at the halfway point of a planned quartet of novels titled after the seasons, Ali Smith discusses her work with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
TUES 21 JACKIE KAY Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.15pm, £12 (£10) An hour with our national bard as she discusses new collection Bantam, her first as Scotland’s Makar, which is a shimmering reflection on the gallus spirit that animates ordinary lives. Chaired by Ruth Wishart.
WOMEN’S LIBRARY Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, pay what you can The Herald Salon is a forum for women to learn and share their thoughts about the world in a creative space. Today’s salonières are Zoë Strachan and Louise Welsh, who are joined by Katie Ailes, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Heir of the Cursed, Diljeet Bhachu and Hannah Lee.
WED 22 CHRIS BROOKMYRE Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) Known around the world for his hugely successful crime novels, Chris Brookmyre now ventures into outer space with Places in the Darkness. Expect a lively conversation as Brookmyre discusses his book.
STUART COSGROVE Spark Theatre, George Street, 8.45pm, £12 (£10) BAFTA-winning broadcaster and journalist Stuart Cosgrove presents the second instalment of his award-winning Soul Trilogy, this time focusing in on 1968. Chaired by Phil Harding.
THURS 23 AKWUGO EMEJULU, HEIDI SAFIA MIRZA, DJAMILA RIBEIRO & SARA
WAJID Charlotte Square Gardens, 2.15pm, £12 (£10) Heidi Safia Mirza and Sara Wajid join Djamila Ribeiro and Akwugo Emejulu to discuss the women of colour who play a critical and revolutionary role in ‘detoxing’ institutions in the education and museum sectors.
THE LAST POETS Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) Musicians and poets Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole and Baba
P H O T O :
S A L L Y J U B B P H O T O G R A P H Y
Claire Askew
Top Tips | FESTIVAL BOOKS
Donn Babatunde return to the Book Festival after last year’s barnstorming visit, alongside author of the novel The Last Poets, Christine Otten. This time round, they perform tracks from their first album in 20 years, Understand What Black Is, alongside some classics.
FRI 24 CAMILLA GRUDOVA & HELEN MCCLORY
Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.30pm, £8 (£6) Camilla Grudova’s latest work, The Doll’s Alphabet, is a collection of surreal, dystopian horror stories and in Mayhem & Death, Helen McClory returns, delving deeper into mythical yet recognisable stories woven from dark and light, human fear and fortune. Chaired by Sasha de Buyl.
SAT 25 BRETT ANDERSON Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.30pm, £12 (£10) With his recent memoir Coal Black Mornings, Anderson ponders not only the heady days of Britpop, but also an upbringing that never suggested the wild success to come. Chaired by Sarfraz Manzoor.
SUN 26 JUDITH KERR: THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA TURNS 50
Charlotte Square Gardens, 3.15pm, £5 This year is the 50th anniversary of much-loved classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Join Kerr, her art editor Ian Craig and award-winning author Daniel Hahn for a lively discussion honouring the career of a writer who has inspired generations of children.
GINA MILLER Charlotte Square Gardens, 6.45pm, £12 (£10) Gina Miller came to prominence when she successfully took the British government to the Supreme Court, challenging its authority to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval. She discusses her book Rise and why she felt compelled to write it.
MON 27 THE FREEDOM FINALE Charlotte Square Gardens, 8.15pm, £15 (£12) Over the course of the Festival, writers from across the globe have discussed freedom and its complications. This grand Festival finale brings together musicians, writers and artists for an international musical collaboration created by Daniel Krass and featuring novelist and guitarist Luke Sutherland (formerly of Mogwai) and Ghanian-born percussionist Gameli Tordzro, inspired by The Freedom Papers.
15–27 Aug 2018 THE LIST FESTIVAL 35