This year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival returns to Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) for the second year, and once again it offers a varied and extensive programme. You can find all the details of who, what, when, and where at edbookfest.co.uk, but, with so many events to choose from, here is SNACK’s guide to six things to see at this year’s festival.
Scottish Writing is Thriving: A Sparkling Showcase
Wed 13th Aug 13:45–15:00
Spiegeltent
This event is a justified and welcome celebration of Scottish writing today, and features the talents of Eilidh Akilade, Cal Flyn, Katie Goh, Victoria Mackenzie, Callum McSorley, and Graeme Macrae Burnet, with playwright, poet, and performer Imogen Stirling in the role of chair. You may know these writers, you may only know a few, but even if they are all new to you this is an event which will showcase the diversity of voices and ideas which abound across Scotland’s literature today.
Esa Aldegheri, Linda Cracknell, Alice Tarbuck & Amanda Thomson: The Road She Travelled
Thu 14 Aug 18:00–19:00
Spiegeltent
Travel writing has a long and celebrated tradition, but one which has all too often been written from a male perspective. There She Goes: New Travel Writing by Women (published by Saraband Books) is an anthology of travel tales which celebrates the stories of women is a brilliant and at times achingly beautiful collection of essays which look to offer alternative narratives and a more complete picture overall. Join editor Esa Aldegheri and contributors Linda Cracknell, Alice Tarbuck, and Amanda Thomson who will share their insights and stories.
Saba Sams & Alessandra Thom: Exciting New Forms
Mon 18 Aug 17:30–18:30
Venue B
It’s important for new talents to have their place at the Edinburgh Book Festival, and two of the most exciting come together to discuss their debut novels and their experiences of being published for the first time. A winner of the BBC National Short Story Award, Saba Sams’ novel Gunk has been selected as a ‘book of the summer’ across a number of publications. Winner of 2023’s Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award, Alessandra Thoms‘ Summer Hours has received rave reviews. Both novels look at love and friendship, and the complex nature of both – and announce the arrival of two exciting literary voices.
Beyond the Archives with Doug Johnstone & Ewan Morrison
Tue 19 Aug 15:45–16:45
Venue B
Two of the most respected and diverse writers around, Doug Johnstone and Ewan Morrison have covered, between them, crime, cults, science fiction, sex, malls, malts, and so much more. For this event they celebrate 100 years of the National Library of Scotland and its literary archives, which include material about and from contemporary writers. Chaired by fellow novelist Mary Paulson-Ellis, this promises to be a fascinating conversation about documenting the life and work of ‘living writers’, the reality of just what that means, and what is relevant in terms of cataloguing creativity.
Dylan Jones, Miranda Sawyer & Arusa Qureshi: Music Across the Decades
Sat 23 Aug 14:45–15:45
Spiegeltent
Music journalism can shape our tastes and identity arguably more than any other form, and this event brings together three of the best writers from different, yet interwoven, times. Dylan Jones’ new book 1975: The Year the World Forgot makes a claim for 1975 to be considered a vital year in the narrative arc of post-war music. Miranda Sawyer’s Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs looks in depth at that period, and Arusa Quershi’s Flip the Script: How Women Came to Rule Hip Hop also looks beyond the music to examine the wider culture and how one affects the other. A cultural conversation across the ages is bound to ensue.
Foday Mannah: The Search for Othella Savage
Sat 23 Aug 20:00–21:00
Venue B
Foday Mannah’s debut novel, The Search for Othella Savage, won the Mo Siewcharran Prize, has been shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut Prize, and was named one of The Times’ ‘best crime books of 2025 so far’. Set in Scotland’s Sierra Leonean community, based on real events, and drawing on the writer’s own life-experiences, the novel asks questions of morality, responsibility, (on an individual and communal level) and the limits of both.
