Brand new Book Festival website

Ahh, websites. As Salman Rushdie said, “a website’s work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep”. As T S Eliot said, “a genuine website can communicate before it is understood”. And as Plato said “websites utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand”.

… okay, none of those people said any of those things about websites. But websites can be valuable, trouble-free, nifty and entertaining blighters, and we’re hoping our brand spanking new Edinburgh International Book Festival website, freshly launched two and a half minutes ago, ticks all those boxes.

The beauty of it is that everything is tied together, so you’re always only one click away from further information. You can check out one of our fabulous Elsewhere pieces, then in a single click read a biography of its writer. From there, you can buy their books on Amazon, read any news or articles related to them, listen to their audio recordings, watch their videos, or go straight to reading about their events in the jam-packed 2010 programme – and from there, book your tickets!

What’s more, the place is full of high quality images of our authors – faces both famous and new – with their playful poses, studious gazes, animal friends and unexpected tattoos. Vote for our Readers’ First Book Award; learn about our RBS Schools Programme, educational schemes, tips and Outreach Programme; answer any Press queries; plan your Book Festival visit; delve into our great Media Archive; download our programmes, past and present; keep updated in the world of literature; and much, much more.

So start at the homepage, and get tucked in. Or as Aristotle said: “enjoy”.

(He really did)