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Dateline: 22nd June, 2009
Edinburgh Book Festival for Theatregoers The BTG will once again be reporting from the Edinburgh Book Festival this summer, which starts a week later than the Fringe on 15 August and runs right to the end of the month, and as always there will be leading figures from the theatre, workshop leaders, writers and academics taking part in events that may be of interest to theatregoers. One of the biggest names from theatre on the bill is Richard Eyre, former artistic director of London's National Theatre and now an acclaimed director for film as well as for stage, who will speak about his book Talking Theatre in which he interviews leading figures from the theatre including Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Alan Bennett, Stephen Sondheim and Tom Stoppard. South African actor and director Antony Sher marks his sixtieth birthday with a new edition of his biography Beside Myself, which he will speak about at the Festival. Actress Diana Quick also digs into her own history and that of her family in A Tug on the Thread: From the British Raj to the British Stage, which traces her family history back to India. Comedian, playwright, presenter and columnist Arthur Smith will present his biographical book My Name Is Daphne Fairfax: A Memoir. Actor Joss Ackland will look at his life from his late wife's point of view, as he presents his book My Better Half And Me based on her diaries from the age of fifteen up to her death. Ackland will also be one of the readers in a free Amnesty International event about writers facing persecution for their work. Also in the true story category, Dylan Thomas's daughter Aeronwy Thomas recalls her time living with her parents in a boat house in Laugharne when he was composing his play Under Milk Wood. New Poet Laureate – whose work has also been seen in the theatre – Carol Ann Duffy will lead events both for adults and children, as will her former partner, poet and playwright Jackie Kay. Popular Scottish poet and playwright Liz Lochhead will make a welcome return to the Festival. Ben Moor will present his book of stories that he has been performing as one-man shows at the Fringe for several years. Playwright and novelist Alasdair Gray will discuss and perform his dramatic works, including a glimpse at the unmade film of his novel Lanark, and playwright and award-winning novelist Sebastian Barry will also pay a visit. Satirical caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, who has created designs for a number of stage productions, will talk about his life and work and his published collection of political drawings Monsters: How George Bush Saved the World – and Other Tall Stories. As always, local boy Ian Rankin, best-known as the author of the Inspector Rebus books but also journalist, lyricist and opera librettist, will tale part in several events, including a joint event with world-renowned fantasy writer Neil Gaiman. Another regular to the Festival Alexander McCall Smith, whose output ranges from novels and children's stories to libretti and daily serials, will also take part in a number of events. Stage and screen writer Frank Cottrell Boyce will present his new book for children Cosmic. For budding writers, radio dramatist, short story writer and translator of Molière Professor Martin Sorrell will run workshops on writing for radio and on translating literature, plus author, journalist, psychotherapist and playwright Caroline Dunford will run a session for writers called How to Deal with Rejection. Playwright Zinnie Harris will conduct a workshop on writing for the theatre. Younger writers aged ten and over can join a creative writing workshop with playwright, poet and novelist David Calcutt. Poet, dramatist and novelist Michael Symmons Roberts will join poet and critic Eva Runefelt for an event under the banner Meeting Sweden, which also includes an event in which Michael Holroyd, biographer of George Bernard Shaw, looks at the lives of Henry Irving and Ellen Terry joined by writer and Nobel Committee for Literature member Per Wästberg. Jonathan Bate promises to "take us on an exhilarating tour of the extraordinary, colourful and often violent world that shaped and informed Shakespeare's thinking". Novelist, playwright and critic Melvyn Bragg will talk about his latest novel Remember Me.... Tickets are on sale to the general public from Monday 22 June. Unlike other festivals on at the same time in Edinburgh, each event only happens once and the venues are quite small, so the popular events and well-known authors sell out very quickly. However they all happen within a very short distance from each other with all venues, coffee shops and two bookshops in the same place, so there's no trekking across Edinburgh in the rain – or perhaps the baking sun – between events. For further information, to download a brochure and to book tickets, see the Festival's web site at www.edbookfest.co.uk/. Note that at busy booking times the site may take a long time to appear, so persistence is recommended. David Chadderton As always, David will be reporting on the Book Festival for the BTG
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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