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HITLIST ETGAR KERET He’s only gone and been dubbed by Salman Rushdie as ‘brilliant’ and by Clive James as ‘enchantingly witty’ so why wouldn’t you want to spend time with this Israeli writer? See preview next issue. 16 Aug, 7pm, £7 (£5).

Nikita Lalwani Meet the creator of Ray Bhullar, the documentary-maker who sees the different sides of Indian life in a potent novel, The Village. See online feature at list.co.uk/festival. 16 Aug, 3pm, £7 (£5). Toni Davidson The Stanley Kubrick of Scottish novels publishes his follow-up to 1999’s cult epic Scar Culture, with a tale about child soldiers in an unnamed but identii able nation in turmoil. See feature, page 28. 12 Aug, 8.30pm, £7 (£5).

Sarah Hall The Booker-nominated author hit the target spectacularly with her set of short stories at the tail end of last year entitled The Beautiful Indifference. See preview, page 31. 13 Aug, 10.15am, £10 (£8).

Louise Welsh With The Girl on the Stairs, the Glasgow author produced a pageturning chiller which showed another facet to her literary talents. She reads from this and other work at Charlotte Square this week. See preview, page 33. 12 Aug, 7pm, £10 (£8).

Alice Oswald A 90-minute treat is ahead as the acclaimed English poet, who won the TS Eliot award in 2002 for her collection, Dart, performs her latest work, ‘Memorial’ a fresh take on a masterpiece by Homer. See preview, page 33. 14 Aug, 8.30pm, £10 (£8).

Frank Cottrell Boyce Having worked on everything Justine Picardie A lifelong obsession with Coco Chanel has

from Corrie to the Olympics opening ceremony and i lms with director Michael Winterbottom, Boyce slaps his kids author hat on to discuss updating a classic story. See preview, page 31. 11 Aug, 10.30am, £4.50. turned out i ne for this writer as she produces a glittering biography of the fashion guru. This event focuses on the fashion designer’s Scottish connections. See interview, page 30. 11 Aug, 8.30pm, £10 (£8).

Q&A

In his latest book, all-round eclectician GEOFF DYER sets out to unlock the movie that has obsessed him his whole adult life. Here, he lays some wise words upon our Q&A

Give us i ve words to describe Zona? My thoughts on Tarkovsky’s i lm Stalker [Ed: OK, that’s six, but we’ll let Geoff off].

Which author should be more famous than they are now? John Jeremiah Sullivan, who wrote Pulphead. He is a great stylist and thinker. What do you love about book festivals? The answer is all in that last word. I love festivals, period.

Which dead author do you wish was still alive today and why? DH Lawrence. To have met him, to have been overwhelmed by his genius and, inevitably, to have then been on the receiving end of some incredible eruption of rage. What was the last book you read? Richard Rhodes’ The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

What was the i rst book you read? Can’t remember.

Which book makes you cry and why? Oh wow, loads of them for different reasons. There are the tears of rage when books get praised when they’re so obviously garbage. But then there are so many more that continue to move me: the end of Paradise Lost, ‘The Ruined Cottage’ by Wordsworth, Prospero’s ‘Our revels now are ended’ speech near the end of The Tempest. And it’s not just books; several scenes in Stalker leave me sobbing. Despite what Wordsworth says about thoughts that ‘lie too deep for tears’, I think tears are a pretty reliable indication of being in the grips of a profound experience. (Interview by Brian Donaldson) 13 Aug, 8.30pm, £10 (£8).

9–16 Aug 2012 THE LIST 27