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Human Beings and Technology »

Wed 20 Aug 2008

Hamish Fergusson:   "If you child has gone out and run someone over, sorry, I'm to blame", Brian Baglow introduces himself, reminding us that he is the creator of the first Grand Theft Auto. He is to chair a discussion about our relationship with technology, set to co...

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The Right to Freedom from Arbitrary Detention, Arrest and Exile »

Wed 20 Aug 2008

Hamish Fergusson: Rain drumming on the roof of the tent played along with some lively 'world music' (to use a clumsy term), to introduce an Amnesty event truly international in its scope. We are to hear reknowned writers from India, America, Britain and Canada reading the w...

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The Politics of Food »

Tue 19 Aug 2008

Fairtrade

Hamish Fergusson:   Tables had been cleared and rows of chairs arranged to accommodate a full house in the Speigeltent, hoping to find plenty to chew over during an hour devoted to 'the politics of food'. For a seven o'clock start some of us have eaten, others haven't...

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Dan Cruickshank »

Tue 19 Aug 2008

Dan Cruickshank

James Horton:   Let nobody say that Dan Cruikshank lacks enthusiasm. Articulation? Perhaps. Coherence? A case could be made. Any sense of time-management when public speaking? Certainly. But let his sheer enthusiasm from henceforth be quite unassailable. When our ...

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Freedom of Expression »

Mon 18 Aug 2008

Amnesty International

Hamish Fergusson:   Such is the level of free expression being enjoyed, by tongues loosened with red wine and the house whisky, that many of the audience clustered around the cabaret tables of the Highland Park Speigeltent glance up with surprise to see our expert pan...

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Lisa Appignanesi »

Mon 18 Aug 2008

Lisa Appignanesi's 'Mad, Bad and Sad'

James Horton:   Appignanesi was here discussing her latest work of non-fiction, entitled 'Mad Bad and Sad: Women and the Mind Doctors'. This is a lengthy tome discussing the development of what Appignanesi calls 'mind doctoring', which is not as sinister as it sou...

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Bookslam! »

Sun 17 Aug 2008

Luke Wright

Tom Crookston: Bookslam, a monthly "performance literature club-night" held in London's Notting Hill, is the brainchild of the author Patrick Neate and Ben Watt, one half of the briefly ubiquitous late-nineties pop group Everything But The Girl, offering are unusual mix ...

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When in Rome... »

Sun 17 Aug 2008

Steve Williams: We are now over half way through and staring the 3rd weekend in the eye like an optometrist examining a man without any eyelids. It may have rained every day so far but it hasn’t dampened the mood up here at all. I know British people are often portraye...

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Steve Hall drops a Klanger »

Sun 17 Aug 2008

Steve Hall: Occasionally the bubble of Edinburgh gets pierced by the real world during festival time, providing both welcome relief and irksome distraction. Bits of admin relating to the We Are Klang pilot we filmed in July have been popping up, though being ...

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Chuck Palahniuk »

Sun 17 Aug 2008

Chuck Palahniuk

James Horton: Inflatable sex dolls. Only by beginning my review with these three words, I feel, can I hint at the surprise the audience felt when, on the main stage of the Edinburgh International Book festival, Chuck Palahniuk produced boxes containing at least 100 inf...

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Jackie Kay »

Sun 17 Aug 2008

Jackie Kay

James Horton:   Short, smiley, with a delightful combination of African blood and Glaswegian vocal chords, Jackie Kay is a very warm presence indeed. Watching her, you feel as if the day's natural progression will be that once her reading is finished, you two will...

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Doug Johnstone & Toby Litt »

Sun 17 Aug 2008

Doug Johnstone

Hamish Fergusson: The theme that unites Doug Johnstone and Toby Litt for the purposes of this reading is rock and roll, as we are reminded by chair Alan Morrison through an ongoing series of puns: "Hello Edinburgh! We have a double A-side for you tonight." It would have bee...

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Is the Novel Overrated? »

Sat 16 Aug 2008

Andrew O'Hagan

James Horton:   By any stretch of the festival-going imagination, this was always going to be a tough one to get right. For a moment, it's true, the panel - consisting of Annie Enright, Andrew O'Hagan, Nicholas Spice and Marina Warner - did seem to teeter informat...

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Tony Benn »

Fri 15 Aug 2008

Tony Benn

Paris Gourtsoyannis: Tony Benn is taking no chances these days. The “untrained classroom assistant to the nation” now carries his soapbox around with him, in the form of a rucksack with a collapsible camping stool cleverly attached. Halfway through his talk, it&rsq...

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Jonathan Dimbleby »

Thu 14 Aug 2008

Jonathan Dimbleby

James Horton:   Jonathan Dimbleby is in danger of becoming something of a British institution. His career is well into its third decade, and his name is fast becoming as well-loved as it is respected. Rather than intone a list of his manifold and great achievement...

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Simon Sebag Montefiore »

Thu 14 Aug 2008

Simon Sebag Montefiore

James Horton:   The Man With The Marvellous Name made his appearance at this year's book festival to discuss something of a departure from the trend in his recent bibliography, namely his first major novel, Sashenka. His bestselling analyses of Catherine the Great...

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Hitchens vs. John Lennox »

Wed 13 Aug 2008

James Horton: Given the title of this particular debate, more was expected. The proposal had a welcome air of specificity about it, which seemed to promise something rather more meaningful than a morning of God bashing and Dawkins burning. The discussion had a chance to...

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Sir Menzies Campbell »

Wed 13 Aug 2008

Sir Menzies Campbell

Paris Gourtsoyannis: It is a fitting reflection of the billing that the audience of Sir Menzies Campbell should be almost exclusively of a certain vintage. However, an hour in the company of the elder statesman and former leader of the Liberal Democrats confirms the suspicion ...

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Craig Murray »

Wed 13 Aug 2008

Craig Murray

James Horton: "Having had Gordon Brown and John Prescott appear on this stage, I imagine they wanted to get someone in who wasn't a war criminal". The soft opening is clearly not for Craig Murray. From many speakers this would seem hyperbolic: high on impact, low on sub...

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Steven Berkoff »

Wed 13 Aug 2008

Steven Berkoff

James Horton: One gets the impression that Steven Berkoff is unused to the interview format. Either that, or entirely indifferent to it. His host began along fairly standard lines: "Steven is here to talk about his new book..." Retrospectively, he might have opted for a...

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Anthony King »

Tue 12 Aug 2008

Westminster

Tom Crookston: Sheena McDonald introduces Anthony King, in time honoured fashion, as a man "who needs no introduction." She then proceeds at some length to sing his praises as a leading constitutional scholar and professor of government at the University of Sussex &ndash...

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Richard Dawkins »

Tue 12 Aug 2008

Richard Dawkins

Tom Crookston: Paula Kirby introduces Richard Dawkins with a word of warning. This talk, she says, is going to be something of a "walk on the wild side," as Dawkins – author of the phenomenally successful and controversial book The God Delusion – makes a depa...

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Give a chair an award and it falls apart...quite literally »

Tue 12 Aug 2008

Rob Benson: The last you heard of me I was venturing on to the royal mile, ghetto blaster in hand, with my newly made track of extracts from my show. I was an annoyance, I got moved on for 'competing" with other performers…… yep, that's exactly what I was trying t...

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Tariq Ali »

Mon 11 Aug 2008

Tariq Ali

Tom Crookston: Something about joining the crowds on George Street as they pour towards the main Book Festival entrance in Charlotte Square recalls the short walk up the old Wembley Way, from the tube station to the former home of English football. This seems fitting, as...

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Rob Deering: Late and Live »

Mon 11 Aug 2008

Boobs 2008: Rob Deering

Rob Deering: I did Late And Live at the Gilded Balloon last night, and I had a lovely time.  Late And Live is legendary, but lots of people will tell you that it’s not as good as it used to be in the old venue on Cowgate. My memories of the festival in the ...

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