The Edinburgh International Book Festival is back in all its wonderful glory.

Packed with events for adults and with a stunning programme for children and young people, the festival which runs from 13- 30 August, celebrates the imagination, issues and ideas at the heart of books and stories, offering new perspectives on a fast-changing world.

This year’s programme builds on the hybrid format developed over the past two years, with live, in-person events, many of which are also available to stream or watch at a later date.

Located at the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) this year’s festival adds new spaces to accommodate more than 600 events featuring over 550 authors, performers, musicians and thinkers from 50 countries.

Central Hall, located on Lothian Road, a five-minute walk from Edinburgh College of Art, is the biggest of these spaces, and will play host to the likes of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa and Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, Outlander writer Diana Gabaldon, as well as Noam Chomsky, Jack Monroe, Alexander McCall Smith, Denise Mina, William Dalrymple and Armando Iannucci.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joins the Festival for two events, interviewing acclaimed novelist Louise Welsh about her new novel The Second Cut, and screen legend Brian Cox about a life on the Scottish stage and his role in television hit series Succession.

For younger readers there are events with some of the world’s best known children’s authors including Jason Reynolds, Cressida Cowell, Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo and Adam Kay.

Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020 winner Maggie O'Farrell launches her hotly-anticipated novel The Marriage Portrait, a portrayal of the battle for survival by a captivating young duchess in 16th century Florence.

Also launching new books at the Festival are some of the world’s best-loved thriller writers: Val McDermid follows up last year’s bestselling 1979 with 1989, the latest in her series chronicling modern Scotland, while Irvine Welsh talks for the first time about his new crime novel The Long Knives.

Douglas Stuart is back on home soil with Young Mungo, the follow up to his Booker-winning first novel Shuggie Bain. and Anne Enright returns to the Book Festival to reflect on finding influence and inspiration in Ireland. Enright will also interview American writer Mary Gaitskill.

“We’ve learned a great deal in the last two years, so that alongside the return of our full-scale in-person festival we can also offer the accessibility and international reach of live-streamed events,” said Nick Barley, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

“The world has changed immeasurably since 2019: we’re learning to live with the effects of the pandemic and war in Europe – but we’re also beginning to imagine what a better future should look like. Exploring these issues in inspiring conversations with scientists, historians, poets and novelists is exactly where the Book Festival comes into its own." 

Every young person attending a Schools event will get a free ticket and a free book this year while all online events, and a selection of in-person theatre tickets, are available on a Pay What You Can basis.

“We’re doing everything we can to make the festival accessible to everyone,” said Nick.

The full programme for the festival can be found here https://www.edbookfest.co.uk