Month: August 2021

Saturday saw the opening of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.   Some lucky children were fortunate enough to meet up with a certain grrrrruff friend!  That is Gruffalo a character invented for children to enjoy by Julia Donaldson.

 

Julia conjured up the idea of the Monster’s name to end in O so that it would rhyme with “doesn’t he know”. The “Gr” being a fierce start to the monster’s name,  with a middle of “uffal” to make up that super name Gruffalo.  A fierce name that displays a pleasing image of a monster, and it also projects an image of a buffalo.  A buffalo more that is scary, fierce, friendly, and a fiend.

You can see Julia Donaldson in action here.  You will need to register, and the event can be seen after registration.

https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/julia-donaldson-songs-and-stories-for-little-ones

Image above is a fond memory of the 2017 Edinburgh Book Festival in Charlotte Square,.  A different world to the one of 2021.  A freer COVID19 free event, packed with live audiences and visitors to the gardens in the Square. All enjoying the sun and the atmosphere of the great literary celebs.

This year they are staging a hybrid  Festival. We hear there is a fabulous online programme of over 250 events for adults and children,  Their events are streamed live on the festival’s website.

Alongside this your are welcome in-person for a wide range of the events in the programme, which you can book using this link to their website , This year’s Book Festival  takes  place from Saturday 14 to Monday 30 August at their  new Festival home: the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh College of Art.

Sun 15 August

• Activist and author of memoir-cum-manifesto The Properties of Perpetual Light Julian Aguon and prize-winning author of poetic essay collection Small Bodies of Water Nina Mingya Powles come together to discuss their books and environmental perspectives in a live event with an author Q&A. BOOK YOUR SPOT
• Poet of the people and the first Young People’s Laureate for London Caleb Femi shares his debut collection which has been called ‘a landmark debut for British poetry’. BOOK YOUR SPOTFollowing the event, Caleb Femi will be doing an in-person book signing in the Festival Village.
• Tara June Winch, winner of Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, brings her third novel to the Festival. Told in three masterfully woven narratives, The Yield is a celebration of language and an exploration of what makes a place ‘home’. BOOK YOUR SPOT

Don’t miss events with Joan Bakewell & Richard Holloway, Pat Nevin & Val McDermid, Tom Devine & Allan Little, Paul Sng, Kit de Waal & Tanatsei Gambura, Nick Bryant, and The Bad Seeds’s Warren Ellis. Tickets for attending these events in-person have all been snapped up but they are available to enjoy live online and on-demand on a Pay What You Can basis.