Let’s start with a very exciting event for Polygon. They’re all exciting, but it’s not every day a Polygon title is shortlisted for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards Book of the Year! Aibisdh by Angus Peter Campbell was the winner of the poetry category and is now in the running for the overall Book of the Year Award, to be announced on Friday 17 August at 6.30 p.m. He’s up against Ali Smith, Janice Galloway and Simon Stephenson, and the winner is decided by public vote. Click here before midnight on 6th August and then click here to buy your ticket for the event. Good luck Angus Peter!
Gardens were made for poetry and Charlotte Square abounds with it during the Book Festival, to the extent that you will find not one but two Scottish Poets Laureate courtesy of Polygon. Edinburgh’s Makar, Ron Butlin, will be reading from his brand new collection of The Magicians of Edinburgh at 8:30pm on Saturday 18th August. Scotland’s Makar Liz Lochhead makes two appearances this year. On Wednesday 22nd at 4.30 p.m. she will be reading from her recently published selection, A Choosing. And on Sunday 19th August at 8.00 p.m. she joins Polygon stablemate and arguably Britain’s greatest living novelist James Kelman to discuss his life and work. Two giants of Scottish literature on the stage at the one time – not to be missed!
Probably the greatest poet working in Gaelic today, Aonghas MacNeacail will be reading from his new collection Laughing at the Clock, published to celebrate his 70th birthday, at 10.15 a.m. on Tuesday 21st August. And rounding off this poets’ corner, Tom Pow's explores the modern phenomenon of rural depopulation through poems, essays and travelogue in his new book In Another World: Among Europe’s Dying Villages at 2.00 p.m. on 23rd August.
Gardens were made for poetry and Charlotte Square abounds with it during the Book Festival, to the extent that you will find not one but two Scottish Poets Laureate courtesy of Polygon. Edinburgh’s Makar, Ron Butlin, will be reading from his brand new collection of The Magicians of Edinburgh at 8:30pm on Saturday 18th August. Scotland’s Makar Liz Lochhead makes two appearances this year. On Wednesday 22nd at 4.30 p.m. she will be reading from her recently published selection, A Choosing. And on Sunday 19th August at 8.00 p.m. she joins Polygon stablemate and arguably Britain’s greatest living novelist James Kelman to discuss his life and work. Two giants of Scottish literature on the stage at the one time – not to be missed!
Probably the greatest poet working in Gaelic today, Aonghas MacNeacail will be reading from his new collection Laughing at the Clock, published to celebrate his 70th birthday, at 10.15 a.m. on Tuesday 21st August. And rounding off this poets’ corner, Tom Pow's explores the modern phenomenon of rural depopulation through poems, essays and travelogue in his new book In Another World: Among Europe’s Dying Villages at 2.00 p.m. on 23rd August.
Now, crime fiction events are always an excellent choice at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, but we think this one represents particularly good value for money. Not one, but two brilliant writers each with their own unqiue take on the genre. Barry Fantoni is the legendary cartoonist of Private Eye and the man behind E. J. Thribb (17½) and his “In Memorium” poems, but he’s now the creator of Harry Lipkin, P.I.: The World’s Oldest Detective. Riffing on classic Marlowe gumshoe mysteries, Harry might not be the fastes but he’s definitely one of the funniest private investigators around. Barry (and Harry) share the stage with two very elegant ladies of crime, Mirabelle Bevan and her creator Sara Sheridan. Brighton Belle: A Mirabelle Bevan Mystery is set in Brighton in 1951 where Mirabelle – a former backroom girl for the Secret Service during the war – is working quietly as a secretary in a debt collection agency. She’s soon putting her sleuthing theory into practice when first a client and then her boss disappear amidst gold sovereigns, dead bodies and dubious accents. Barry and Sara will be appearing together on Monday 13th August at 2:30 p.m. Sara will also be taking part in the Amnesty International readings on Friday 17th August 2012 at 5.30 p.m. in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people across the world who have been criminalized or tortured because of their sexuality. Tickets are free for this event from the box office on the day.
For more information or to book tickets, please visit www.edbookfest.co.uk or call 0845 3735888.
