Grab yourself a red hot ticket

August is upon us and there’s just 7 days to go before we open so we've created a hand-picked selection of some of the hottest names in publishing – all coming to the Book Festival and all with tickets still available…

(listed in event date order)

Roddy Doyle presents his follow up to The Commitments.
Sat 10 Aug at 8pm, £10 (£8)

George Monbiot gets back to nature with Feral.
Sun 11 Aug, 3pm at 8pm, £10 (£8)

Former Design Museum director AliceRawsthorn offers a life affirming exploration of design as an agent for change.
Sun 11 Aug at 8:30pm, 8pm, £10 (£8)

Much-loved novelist A L Kennedy describes the courage and the crises behind the writing process.
Mon 12 Aug at 11:30am, £10 (£8)

Master Irish writer John Banville returns with his latest novel, Ancient Light.
Mon 12 Aug at 1:30pm, £10 (£8)

Scottish crime writing legend ValMcDermid presents her brand new thriller, Cross and Burn. Mon 12 Aug at 8pm, £10 (£8)

Statistician and political forecaster Nate Silver reveals the art and science of prediction.
Tue 13 Aug at 10, £10 (£8)

Famed neuroscientist Baroness SusanGreenfield shares the story of her remarkable career with Kirsty Wark.
Tue 13 Aug at 6:30pm, £10 (£8)

Joe Sacco casts a light on the power of comic journalism to grasp at the truth.
Tue 13 Aug at 8.30pm, £10 (£8)

Award-winning novelist Jane Gardam presents the final instalment of her bestselling ‘Old Filth’ trilogy.
Wed 14 Aug at 11:30am, £10 (£8)

The popular foodie duo TheFabulous Baker Brothers come to town.
Thu 15 Aug at 3:30pm, £10 (£8)

William McIlvanney presents the gorgeous new editions of Laidlaw, Strange Loyalties and The Papers of Tony Veitch.
Fri 16 Aug at 3pm £10 (£8)

Andrew Wilson explores the intriguing life of Sylvia Plath before she met Ted Hughes.
Fri 16 Aug at 5pm, £10 (£8)

Stand-up funny man Mark Watson brings a tragicomedy in novel form.
Fri 16 Aug at 9:30pm, £10 (£8)

Scotland’s finest, Ali Smith, displays her non-fiction talents.
Sat 17 Aug at 12pm, £10 (£8)

Former US Poet Laureate Kay Ryan presents her Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry.
Sun 18 Aug at 5pm, £10 (£8)

Liz Lochhead, Scotland’s Makar talks about 30 years of Scottish culture.
Mon 19 Aug at 3pm, £10 (£8)

Daniel Rachel takes a look behind the art of songwriting with Idelwild frontman Roddy Woomble.
Wed 21 Aug at 8:30pm, £10 (£8)

Celebrate 20 brilliant years of DCC Bob Skinner with Quintin Jardine
Thu 22 Aug at 4:30pm, £10 (£8)

Get the inside story on the world’s favourite superheroes with Grant Morrison.
Fri 23 Aug at 8pm, £10 (£8)

Paula Byrne presents her brand new biography of Jane Austen.
Sun 25 Aug at 10:30am, £10 (£8)

Poetry and music straight from the heart of the Egyptian revolution.
Sun 25 Aug at 8:30pm, £10 (£8)

Of course the above is but a selection of the programme, there are many more events besides along with some great children's writers andillustrators - you can find them all on the website, searchable by subject, theme, author, age range.... Enjoy!

See the 2013 Man Booker Prize nominees at the Book Festival

So we now know who has been longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize and many of the authors will be appearing in events at this year’s Book Festival. Which will be the winner? We don’t know but we think this lot are in with a good chance…

Tash Aw, Five Star Billionaire
Tash Aw’s Five Star Billionaire follows five extraordinary characters, all of them Malaysian migrants, as they forge new lives for themselves in the dazzling streets of Shanghai.

See Tash Aw on Mon 19 Aug at 8.30pm, £10 (£8)

Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
The Luminaries is a richly evocative historical mystery set in the goldmines of New Zealand. When one man goes there to make his fortune he finds himself in the midst of a series of unsolved crimes and a complex network of fate and fortunes.

See Eleanor Catton on Sat 24 Aug at 7pm, £7 (£5)

Richard House, The Kills
The Kills is an epic novel of crime and conspiracy which moves across continents, characters and genres. Beginning with a man on the run and ending with a burned body, it’s an astonishing political thriller that began life as a sequence of four digital books with accompanying multimedia content that’s well worth a look.

See Richard House on Sun 18 Aug at 8:30pm £7 (£5)

Charlotte Mendelson, Almost English
Almost English is a heart-warmingly funny story following the troubled16 year-old Marina as she struggles to fit into life in a new school and find her identity in a land that isn’t home.

See Charlotte Mendelson on Sat 17 Aug at 7pm, £7 (£5)

Colm Tóibín, The Testament of Mary
The Testament of Mary is a short and immensely powerful novel which sheds new light on this well known figure.

See Colm Tóibín on Tue 20 Aug at 4:30pm, £10 (£8)

New event announced: Another chance to see James Robertson

James Robertson is one of Scotland’s foremost literary talents so it came as no surprise when tickets to his Book Festival event on 18 August were snapped up.

Due to the huge demand for tickets we’ve scheduled another event and you can now seeJames on Friday 23 August at 12 noon.

James’ novels are known for tackling the sometimes difficult territory between real and imagined lives and his work has been inspired by topics such as the Lockerbie bombing and post-war Scottish politics. In this new event James will read from his work and discuss his writing with Ruth Wishart.

Youcan buy tickets to see James in this new event on our website or by calling the Book Festival Box Office on 0845 373 5888