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Dateline: 15th June, 2007
2007 Book Festival Programme Launched The programme came out this week for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, running from 11th to 27th August, which seems to have less to interest theatre-goers than the 2006 event. After his recent theatre and cinema success with The History Boys Alan Bennett will be at the Book Festival on its opening day to talk about his latest novel, The Uncommon Reader, in which the Queen discovers literature with some unexpected results. Leading playwright Michael Frayn will also be there to talk about his latest non-fiction work, The Human Touch, in which he considers the ideas which underlie his work and funny philosophical questions about our universe. Poet and playwright Tony Harrison celebrates his seventieth year this year, and he will talk about his life and work and his belief in the affirmative power of poetry. Another poet and playwright, Liz Lochhead, will be talking about why Canadian writer Alice Munro's stories matter so much. Jonathan Bate, editor of the new RSC edition of the complete works of Shakespeare based on the first folio, will be talking about his work. Actor and theatre director Neil Bartlett will be talking about his novel about erotic obsession Skin Lane in a joint event with novelist Toby Litt, and while former National Theatre artistic director Richard Eyre builds his successful cinema career, his daughter Lucy Eyre has released her first novel, If Minds Had Toes, and will be talking about it to philosopher Julian Baggini. Poet and playwright Jackie Kay will present poetry, stories and some of her work on the anniversary of the abolition of slavery at the beginning of the festival, and her former partner, also a poet and playwright, Carol Ann Duffy will lead both an adult poetry event and a children's event towards the end. Historian Michael Wood, writer of the TV series and book In Search Of Shakespeare, turns his attention to the geography and history of India on the 60th anniversary of its independence. Former Edinburgh Fringe administrator Alistair Moffat talks about the history of his beloved border lands in a joint event with Adam Ardrey, who argues that Merlin the magician was a Scot. At last year's festival, there were talks from playwrights Arnold Wesker and Christopher Hampton, Shakespeare's Globe director Dominic Dromgoole and actor Simon Callow, plus a public discussion on the new National Theatre of Scotland. Aside from these events with a theatre connection, there is a very full programme of talks by writers, sessions on the business and craft of writing and workshops for children and adults, including an opportunity to see Norman Mailer and Alice Munro signing books over a satellite link using an invention of novelist Margaret Attwood called the 'long pen'. David Chadderton David will be covering Book Festival events 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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