The Highland Park Spiegeltent is also looking particularly impressive as it heads towards completion. As presented by our masterful Site Manager Robin!
Monday, 9 August 2010
Site Build Day 12
The walkways have appeared and are looking very aesthetically pleasing as they wind their way through the trees. They're also incredibly useful for providing a handy circuit around Charlotte Square gardens: all the better for taking photographs in geographical order. Gone are the days when I was taking site photos from the bushes (which never happened anyway).
The Highland Park Spiegeltent is also looking particularly impressive as it heads towards completion. As presented by our masterful Site Manager Robin!
The Highland Park Spiegeltent is also looking particularly impressive as it heads towards completion. As presented by our masterful Site Manager Robin!
Sunday, 8 August 2010
Free events at this year's festival
We've always had a range of free events at the Book Festival, but this year we've given you even more to choose from. Programme Manager Roland talks us through your myriad penny free possibilities:
And here's those daily options in writing: Ten At Ten, a short ten minute reading at 10am in our Writer's Retreat; StoryShop, a chance to hear some new, local writers reading at 4pm in our bookshop; Amnesty International Imprisoned Writers where we pay tribute to persecuted writers from around the world; Unbound, a mini festival within a festival where we invite writers to try out new approaches to writing; and last, but not least, our specially commissioned short stories on the theme of Elsewhere.
Friday, 6 August 2010
Book Competition Answer
Two weeks ago, we asked Book Festival ebulletin readers how many books we keep here on the office shelves...
The above is just a slice of our mighty collection! We received many guesses, from 35 to 35,000: and the real number is 1,482. From Alberto Manguel's unique All Men Are Liars to Nora Chassler's riveting Miss Thing, we in the Charlotte Square offices are very lucky to have this treasure trove of books within reach (or, at least, within reach of the taller members of staff we call upon for the top shelves!).
Congratulations to our competition winner, who has won Garth Nix's Lord Sunday and John Harris's Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, with two tickets to each of these brilliant events.
Sign up to the Edinburgh International Book Festival ebulletin for regular email updates about Book Festival activities, offers, recommendations for events and books, literary news, and competitions like the above.
The above is just a slice of our mighty collection! We received many guesses, from 35 to 35,000: and the real number is 1,482. From Alberto Manguel's unique All Men Are Liars to Nora Chassler's riveting Miss Thing, we in the Charlotte Square offices are very lucky to have this treasure trove of books within reach (or, at least, within reach of the taller members of staff we call upon for the top shelves!).
Congratulations to our competition winner, who has won Garth Nix's Lord Sunday and John Harris's Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, with two tickets to each of these brilliant events.
Sign up to the Edinburgh International Book Festival ebulletin for regular email updates about Book Festival activities, offers, recommendations for events and books, literary news, and competitions like the above.
Site Build Day 9
Next week is the last week of the site build, and Charlotte Square gardens is looking more and more familiar to Book Festival regulars...
Roland shares some international gems
For a taster of some of the fantastic international authors appearing at this year's festival, listen to Programme Manager Roland Gulliver's pick of some hidden gems:
A
nd just in case you missed them, or for some reason you can't listen just yet, here's the writers he mentions: Canadian authors Emma Donoghue and Lisa Moore, who have both been long-listed for this year's Man Booker Prize, as well as fellow Canadian Annabel Lyon, whose debut novel, "The Golden Mean", features Athenian philosopher, biologist and seeker of contentment, Aristotle. Roland is also very excited about pairing up Scotland's own Alan Bissett with Lars Husum, whose "My Friend Jesus Christ" is Roland's favourite book cover of the year. And last, but by no means least, he shoots the breeze on James Miller and Olga Slavnikova's event featuring two very different visions of the near future.
nd just in case you missed them, or for some reason you can't listen just yet, here's the writers he mentions: Canadian authors Emma Donoghue and Lisa Moore, who have both been long-listed for this year's Man Booker Prize, as well as fellow Canadian Annabel Lyon, whose debut novel, "The Golden Mean", features Athenian philosopher, biologist and seeker of contentment, Aristotle. Roland is also very excited about pairing up Scotland's own Alan Bissett with Lars Husum, whose "My Friend Jesus Christ" is Roland's favourite book cover of the year. And last, but by no means least, he shoots the breeze on James Miller and Olga Slavnikova's event featuring two very different visions of the near future. Thursday, 5 August 2010
Site Build Day 8
The 75,816 books (now 86,179!) reported by Booksales Officer Tracey the other day is such an impressive number that we couldn't help but share a visual representation of it. Here are the jungle of boxes for our on-site bookshops, full of books ready to be stacked, shelved, bought and enjoyed, as presented by (from left to right) Nick, Lewis, Warehouse Manager Graham, Ken, Pat and Book Festival Director Nick:
Meanwhile, in Charlotte Square gardens, a forklift truck goes about its business (lifting forks), and rows of welcoming seats line our tents:
And now -- captured by Technical Manager Craig -- for something mysterious...
Meanwhile, in Charlotte Square gardens, a forklift truck goes about its business (lifting forks), and rows of welcoming seats line our tents:
And now -- captured by Technical Manager Craig -- for something mysterious...
An unoriginal food analogy with a good cause
Above: Chattering author Louise Stern
The official Edinburgh Festivals TV channel is serving up a taste of some of the delectable events on offer at our feast of a Book Festival later this month. (Makes you hungry, doesn't it?)
Enjoy videos of Adam Foulds, Andrew O’Hagan, James Brabazon, Louise Stern and Geoff Dyer as they set a trail of sweets to their already very tempting events.
Adam Foulds will be at the Book Festival on Sunday 29 August to reveal his new novel, The Quickening Maze, a remarkable tale of an imprisoned poet contemplating the worlds on either side of the bars.
The charismatic Andrew O’Hagan shares the secrets of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Munroe in his event on Sunday 15 August, through the utterly unique voice of a dog called Maf.
James Brabazon is here on Saturday 28 August with a gripping, moving and sincere account of extraordinary South African mercenary Nick du Toit. He will be joined by James Maskalyk, who will captivate with his tales of his time as a doctor in Sudan.
Louise Stern, who was born deaf, has written Chattering: Stories, and on Sunday 29 August will discuss this intriguing new work as part of our innovative and exciting new Unbound series of events.
On Monday 23 August Geoff Dyer helps answer the controversial question: has the novel reached crisis point? David Shields, Gaby Wood and Stuart Kelly join him in a lively, fascinating debate that promises to linger.
See you soon!
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