Line-up announced for Book Festival’s 2025 The Front List series
The Edinburgh International Book Festival has launched the second year of The Front List- its major series of literary events at the beautiful McEwan Hall, in partnership with Underbelly.
This year’s The Front List is expanded to 14 events, following the huge popularity of 2024’s inaugural series which saw many audience members attending a Book Festival event for the very first time.
Together, the events represent the breadth and diversity of the Book Festival’s full line-up of 600+ events which will take place in the Festival’s main venue at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, with voices from across the UK, America, Japan, Russia, and Nigeria taking to the stage.
Full listings for The Front List events – with all events taking place at the McEwan Hall, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, at 1.30pm [except where indicated]:
- Tues 12 Aug: Gavin and Stacey co-creator and writer Ruth Jones lets us into the secrets of her writing craft, and her tender new novel, By Your Side
- Wed 13 Aug: Movie fans won’t want to miss the UK’s favourite film critic, Mark Kermode, who brings us the first edition of his energetic MK3D show (a frequent sell-out of the British Film Institute’s programme) outside London, previewing upcoming releases and revelling in the Golden Age of Cinema
- Thu 14 Aug: The highly anticipated memoir from Scotland’s first female – and longest-serving – First Minister, as Nicola Sturgeon shares the story of her journey from shy, working-class child to one of our country’s most significant political leaders
- Fri 15 Aug: The luminous Maggie O’Farrell celebrates 25 years of creativity since her debut publication
- Sat 16 Aug: Journalist and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the widening gulf between the myth and reality of modern America, on both a personal and international level
- Sun 17 Aug: Essential political insight comes from The Atlantic columnist and author Anne Applebaum and New York Times Diplomatic Correspondent Edward Wong, who together take on recent seismic political shifts and explore whether democracy can ever be truly protected
- Mon 18 Aug: No one knows better the pleasure (and, unfortunately, immense pain) of being a dedicated fan of Scotland’s national football team than sporting legend Ally McCoist, who joins us to discuss Dear Scotland: On the Road with the Tartan Army
- Tues 19 Aug: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie proves to be well worth the wait as she delves into the story and decade-long process behind her new novel Dream Count
- Wed 20 Aug: Schools Edition event with Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Steven Lenton, who’ll take pupils in P4-6 on a globetrotting adventure complete with draw-along,
- Thu 21 Aug: Laura Bates reimagines the story of King Arthur, Excalibur and the Round Table with a magical twist for pupils in S3-6, as part of our 2025 Schools Programme
- Fri 22 Aug: Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last year, speaks about her late husband’s courageous work, Patriot, and continuing his crucial activism
- Sat 23 Aug: Breakthrough writer, and winner of the 2024 Waterstones Book of the Year, Asako Yuzuki, tells us about Butter – the book that took the world by storm, and changed her life completely
- Sun 24 Aug: Critically acclaimed author and Bookert prize winner Ian McEwan looks back over his remarkable body of work and forward to what comes next
- Sun 24 Aug [at 7.30pm]: Yellowface author R F Kuang unveils Katabasis, her thrilling new title about a rescue mission to the Underworld
Tickets for The Front List events go on sale to the public at 10am (BST) on Tuesday 6 May at https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/