Monday 21 June 2010

The programme unveiled

Philip Pullman, Ian Rankin, James Robertson, Nicholas Parsons, Candia McWilliam… Fay Weldon, Lydia Davis, Jo Shapcott, Vidal Sassoon, Seamus Heaney… DBC Pierre, Roy Hattersley, Joseph Stiglitz, Lionel Shriver, Joyce Carol Oates… Carol Ann Duffy, Garth Nix, Louise Rennison, Tohby Riddle… and that’s just the beginning.

In other words: we are in for a treat.

The 2010 Book Festival programme launched on Thursday, and as names and themes appearing this year were announced, I watched people nearby excitedly leaf through their programmes to circle events, gradually transforming their brochures into Kandinsky paintings.

Among the many enthusiastic responses to the launch, The Scotsman has called it “a thrilling new chapter” and the Evening News called it “at the cutting edge”. And we agree with them both – but then, we would, wouldn’t we?

If you still don’t know what goodies are pouring out of the pages of the brochure, download it straight from the homepage of our website and get tucked in.

Lots of people are already getting excited about ticket sales starting on Saturday; it’s going to be a pretty busy day to get hold of tickets. On your marks, get set…

… and that’s going to be a long pause, because I’m not shouting “go!” until Saturday.