Edinburgh International Book Festival

Dates for the next Book Festival:

15 - 31 August 2009

A festival of open horizons and energising ideas, at the heart of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature. 17 extraordinary days, 750 events, 800 authors, over 40 different countries represented.

Missed out on the festival? Watch and listen to events online

Just go to the Audio/Video section of the website where you'll find our festival podcasts as well as edited video recordings and audio recordings along with an archive of audio recordings. We'll be adding plenty of material from the 2008 Book Festival - just keep checking the pages for updates. Currently you can hear Gordon Brown, Sean Connery, Bill Paterson, Eoin Colfer, David Lodge, Alastair Reid, Louis de Bernières, Tariq Ali, Gavin Esler, Steven Berkoff, Jonathan Dimbleby and many more, along with podcasts with Val McDermid, Tony Parsons and others. Video clips include Richard Dawkins, Salman Rushdie, Sean Connery and Arkady Babchenko.

Book Festival celebrates 25 years in style

The 25th anniversary year of the Edinburgh International Book Festival was a glorious success and certainly proved to be eventful, launching with a surprise appearance from the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and closing with the launch of Being a Scot where, on his 78th birthday, Sean Connery made his only public appearance to talk about his book. It was the fastest selling event in the 25 years of the Book Festival with all 570 tickets sold in under an hour. (Listen to the Gordon Brown event or the Sean Connery event online now).

Packed between the two were 800 authors, from 45 different countries, appearing in 750 different events. As well as the Prime Minister, leading political figures included the First Minister, John Prescott, Jonathan Powell and Robert Kagan, foreign policy advisor to US Presidential candidate John McCain. The persistent rain in one of the wettest Augusts on record, which turned parts of Charlotte Square gardens into muddy pools frequented by yellow rubber ducks and seagulls, failed to deter visitors. Almost 200,000 people visited the Book Festival in August and 80% of tickets sold.

Catherine Lockerbie, director, said: "This festival surpassed all my expectations. From the success of our surprise opening event all the way through to Sir Sean Connery’s warm, witty and relaxed appearance, filled with quirky stories and wide-ranging intelligence, we had an astoundingly good response from authors and audiences alike. Despite the hideous weather, people came in incredibly eager numbers, hungrier than ever for the sustenance we offer, from the most famous names in the world to the brand new. We had a great sense of engagement and enquiry across the whole range of the programme, including little-known authors visiting the UK for the first time. There could hardly have been a better anniversary present."