Salman Rushdie to speak at hybrid Edinburgh International Book Festival
- Published
Salman Rushdie is to speak at the book festival in August
Authors Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro and Bernardine Evaristo are among those who will be taking part in the first "hybrid" version of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
All 250 events for the August festival will be available online, however, there will also be live events.
Almost half of the speakers plan to appear in person in Edinburgh.
This year's festival is moving from its usual venue in Charlotte Square to Edinburgh College of Art.
The theme will be how to move on from the pandemic under the banner "Onwards and Upwards - Ideas and Stories for a Changing World".
Douglas Stuart won the 2020 Booker prize with his first novel Shuggie Bain
Those appearing include 2020 Booker prize winner Douglas Stuart, who will talk about his novel Shuggie Bain, and 2019 Booker co-winner Bernardine Evaristo, who will introduce her selection of black British writing.
Among other featured writers will be Maggie O'Farrell, Alexander McCall Smith and Val McDermid who will be in conversation with former footballer Pat Nevin.
Nick Barley, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: "We are incredibly excited to produce our first hybrid festival with authors and audiences joining us both in person and online.
"We welcome a mix of Scottish and international voices to discuss their ideas, hopes and dreams.
"In our new home at Edinburgh College of Art, we have created three broadcast studios, two of which can accommodate limited audiences."
Other writers taking part include Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, along with Matt Haig, Ali Smith and Denise Mina.
Artistic influence
Meanwhile, to coincide with her exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, artist Alison Watt will be joined by writer Andrew O'Hagan to discuss the importance of artistic influence.
There will also be events examining issues such as climate change and world affairs, with former prime minister Gordon Brown due to talk about global solutions for global problems.
Mr Brown's fellow former Labour leader Ed Miliband will be joined by Ece Temelkuran to explore the need for major change.
The Baillie Gifford children's programme will offer events for young people including those hosted by Michael Morpurgo, Cressida Cowell and Julia Donaldson.
Meanwhile, the Reading Scotland series, supported by the Scottish government's Edinburgh Festival Expo Fund, has teamed six Scottish writers with six young Scottish filmmakers to create short films based on their novels.
The festival, which runs from 14-30 August, is operating a pay-what-you-can scheme for all online events and limited numbers of in-person tickets for selected events will go on sale at midday on 22 July.