Press release
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august 14, 2020 - Edinburgh International Book Festival
The 2020 Book Festival starts tomorrow
Tomorrow is the first day of the 2020 Book #festival and we've got a bumper first week planned!
As well as must-see events featuring James Naughtie, Ian Rankin, Hilary Mantel, Julia Donaldson, and Maggie O'Farrell, we announce the Edwin Morgan Prize winner, crown the winners of the James Tait Black Prizes, present the first two events in our thought-provoking New York Times Series, host the penultimate episode in Jackie Kay's Makar to Makar project, chat to International Booker Prize-longlisters - and loads more!
Remember, there is no limit to the number of events you can attend during the 2020 #festival. Browse more than 140 events in our programme, then save your place and receive reminders for any events you want to see. Alternatively, find an #event in our programme that interests you and click the videoplayer button to be taken to the streaming page - then sit back and wait for showtime.
You'll even have the opportunity to chat to audience members in the digital chatroom and take part in author Q&A sessions (for selected events only) from 30 minutes before the #event starts. To ensure your #festival viewing experience is as pleasant as possible, make sure you are using an up-to-date browser - we recommend Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Safari, which are all downloadable for free online.
Unmissable opening weekend highlights
Not sure what to tune into during our opening weekend? Check out some our top picks for inspiration:
Saturday 15 August
- Historian Olivette Otele and journalist Angela Saini come together for an urgent and insightful conversation about how politics and memory in post-colonial Europe have formed a narrative of race and power.
- This Must Be The Place author Maggie O'Farrell shares her scorching new Women's Prize for Fiction shorlisted novel Hamnet, which takes us into the the 16th century world of Shakespeare's family living in Stratford.
- Join us on opening night as an eclectic line-up of our finest wordsmiths - Bumi Thomas, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Roger Robinson, Karine Polwart and Adania Shibli - turn their pens to the present moment, in an unmissable night of stories, song, reflections and confessions.
Sunday 16 August
- In 2015, acclaimed writer and lawyer Raja Shehadeh presented a series of events at the Book #festival which explored the past, present and future of the Middle East - culminating in the publication of Shifting Sands. Five years on, Shehadeh brings together several of the book's contributors to revisit their ideas.
- In a live #event, Amelia Gentleman expands on The Windrush Betrayal, her Orwell Prize-winning journalism that fearlessly probes the morality of modern Britain.
- Double Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel joins us from her home in Devon to discuss The Mirror and The Light, the final novel in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy.
In case you miss any of our livestreamed events, the majority of events will also be available to watch on demand via the #event pages on our website, and the day after the #event on our YouTube channel.
Fantastic family weekend event
We've got loads of fun, interactive and inspiring events to keep the wee ones (and kids at heart) entertained over our opening weekend!
Saturday 15 August
- Join Julia Donaldson and her talented illustrator friends Axel Scheffler and Nick Sharratt for a singing, dancing and drawing extravaganza.
- Learn top performance tips from Joseph Coelho as the wicked wordsmith takes you on a journey into the wonderful world of poetry.
Sunday 16 August
- Watch along as award-winning author/illustrator Nadine Kaadan reads from beautiful picture book Tomorrow, a poignant story based on her experiences of the war in Syria.
- Listen as writer Annabelle Sami reads an extract from her side-splitting novel Llama Out Loud! while illustrator Allen Fatimaharan live-draws alongside her - then get involved in a writing and illustrating challenge.
Every day of the #festival at 9.30am we'll also be streaming an incredible Drawalong session on our Facebook page. Get your pens and pencils ready to follow in the footsteps of some of the world's best children's book illustrators and draw characters and scenes from your favourite stories!
In case you miss any of our livestreamed events, the majority of events will also be available to watch on demand via the #event pages on our website, and the day after the #event on our YouTube channel.
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