Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as The largest festival of its kind in the world,^[1] the festival hosts a concentrated flurry of cultural and political talks and debates, along with its well-established children's events programme.

Charlotte Square during the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2013

It coincides with the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as the other events that comprise the Edinburgh Festival. Nick Barley is the Director.

History

The first Book Festival took place in a tent in Edinburgh in 1983. Initially a biennial event, it began to be held annually in 1997. It is a large (225,000 visitors in 2015^[2]) and growing international event, central to Edinburgh's acclaimed August arts celebrations. Perhaps partly as a result of this, Edinburgh was named the first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004.^[3][4] The Festival in Charlotte Square was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic^[5] but some events were held online.^[6]

Programme

In 2016 there were over 800 authors and others from over 55 countries in the 17 days that the festival ran.^[7] Events ranged from writing workshops, education events, panel discussions, to talks and performances by international writers, poets, playwrights, musicians, illustrators, historians and philosophers. There are events for both adults and children.
Past festivals have featured the likes of:

 

Ian Rankin and Ruth Rendell at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 2007

• Margaret Atwood
• Gordon Brown
• Alan Bennet
• Douglas Coupland
• Sebastian Faulks
• Franz Ferdinand
• Al Gore
• Germaine Greer
• Alexander McCall Smith
• Val McDermid
• Candia McWilliam
• Yann Martell
• George Monbiot
• Toni Morrison
• Harold Pinter
• Ian Rankin
• J. K. Rowling
• Salman Rushdie
• Darren Shan
• Susan Sontag
• Zadie Smith
• Andrew O'Hagan

Running alongside the general programme is a Children's programme. Incorporating workshops, storytelling, panel discussions, author events and book signings, the Children's programme is popular with both the public and schools alike, and is among the world's largest books and reading event for young people. It regularly attracts authors like Jacqueline Wilson, Joan Lingard, Charlie Higson and Anne Fine.

There is also an Unbound programme which takes place in the evening, with free music and spoken word events sponsored by Edinburgh Gin.

In May 2016 a pilot satellite literary event, organised by the Book Festival, took place in Falkirk called LandWords.^[8] In August 2016, using the name Booked!, the Book Festival held events in three other locations in Scotland (Aberdeen, Greenock and Galashiels). This expansion was partially funded by the People's Postcode Lottery.^[9]

Venue

Until 2019, the Book Festival was primarily held in a set of marquees in Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh, at the West End of George Street. In 2017, the event and some venues expanded into George Street, partly to cope with visitor numbers but also to reduce the festival's impact on the privately owned gardens.^[10]

In 2021, the festival moved to the Edinburgh College of Art, where it is planned to stay until 2023. In May 2022, the organisers announced that the festival will move to a new permanent home in 2024, at the University of Edinburgh Futures Institute on the site of the former Royal Infirmary in Lauriston Place.^[11]

Fringe events

As with all large and successful festivals, the Book Festival has sprouted a number of fringe events over the years. In 2004 and 2006 an event called Thirsty Lunch promoted itself as a cheap, non-establishment alternative.^[12]

In 2008 there were two separate festivals running at the same time as the main Book Festival. The first was the Edinburgh Book Fringe, which held its events at the Word Power (now known as Lighthouse Books) bookshop on Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, which still runs as of 2023.^[13] The second was the West Port Book Festival, which was centred on second-hand/antiquarian bookshops in the West Port area of the city. The latter ran from 2008 until 2012.^[14] Both fringe festivals provided free events and were seen as a less formal alternatives to the main festival.

Sponsorship controversy

In 2023, an open letter signed by over 50 authors threatened to boycott the 2024 festival over its main sponsor, Baillie Gifford, an investment firm with "up to £5bn invested in corporations that profit from fossil fuels".^[15] This followed environmental activist Greta Thunberg pulling out of the festival over the sponsorship, accusing the firm of greenwashing by sponsoring cultural events.^[16]

See also

• James Tait Black Memorial Prize
• Book trade in the United Kingdom
• Books in the United Kingdom

References

1. "Edinburgh International Book festival celebrates 30 years". BBC News. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
2. Glass, Wendy (11 September 2015). "Edinburgh International Book Festival Goes From Strength to Strength". The Scots Magazine. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
3. "The Literary City". Edinburgh City of Literature. 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
4. "Edinburgh crowned the capital of literature". The Guardian. 14 October 2004. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
5. Stolworthy, Jacob (1 April 2020). "Edinburgh Fringe and Festival cancelled". The Independent. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
6. Carrell, Severin (31 July 2020). "Edinburgh book festival sets up online signings as it adapts to pandemic". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
7. "Edinburgh International Book Festival gets under way". BBC News. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
8. Miller, Phil (29 April 2016). "Landwords festival in Falkirk". Herald Scotland. Arts News. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
9. Miller, Phil (4 July 2016). "A new chapter: Edinburgh's book festival to expand across country in August". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
10. "New chapter for home of Edinburgh book festival". BBC News. 10 February 2017.
11. Williams, Martin (11 May 2022). "New chapter to begin as book festival finds permanent home". The Herald. p. 9. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
12. Burnett, Peter (2006). "Deliberately Thirsty". Textualities. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
13. "Edinburgh Book Fringe 2016". Word Power Books. 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
14. "West Port Book Festival". About us. Edinburgh Books. 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
15. Lucy Knight (11 August 2023). "Authors threaten boycott of Edinburgh book festival over sponsors' fossil fuel links". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
16. "Greta Thunberg pulls out of Edinburgh Book Festival over 'greenwashing'". BBC News. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edinburgh International Book Festival.

• Official Edinburgh International Book Festival website
• Official Edinburgh Festivals Guide

External links

• Webcam coverage (during festival)
• Scottish Publishers Association
• The Man Booker Prize Some of the longlisted authors attend the Festival