Late nights at the Book Festival with Unbound

Visitors to this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival can look forward to nights as exciting and varied as their days thanks to the return of the Unbound programme, delivered in partnership with The Skinny.

Designed to give authors, musicians, poets and other performers free rein in presenting their work and ideas, Unbound events will take place in the Charlotte Square Spiegeltent between Sunday 12 August and Monday 27 August, starting every evening at 9pm with the exception of the final night, which begins at 7pm.

Roland Gulliver, Associate Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said:

We set up Unbound in 2010 to offer something different to our audiences, to challenge the distorted stereotypes of what a book festival is.

It brings together authors, some of Scotland’s most interesting live literature and a selection of international friends and partners and gives them the opportunity to take risks, have fun, challenge their audiences but always to offer a quality night out inspired by books and stories.

Among those appearing are Scottish author Damian Barr whose Literary Salon has sold out across the world and welcomed a range of exciting and high-profile guests.

The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers - a covers band made up of some of crime writing’s biggest names including Val McDermid and Doug Johnstone - will also appear on the Unbound lineup, inviting audiences to sing and dance along to some crowd favourites.

And debate will be sparked and encouraged in the return of the University of Edinburgh’s Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas, during which researchers will present some of their most challenging ideas to the public and host, comedian Susan Morrison.

Elsewhere in the programme, events will celebrate contemporary African voices, explore calypso and the history of the Windrush generation, reimagine biblical stories within Scottish settings, and present poetic highlights all the way from Barcelona.  

With such an eclectic and exciting lineup, the Unbound programme will leave Book Festival audiences spoilt for choice - so it’s just as well that every event is entirely free! Revellers are encouraged to get down to the Charlotte Square Spiegeltent early to secure a seat each evening.

Unbound events take place from 12-27 August, and full details are on the Book Festival website

Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place between 11-27 August 2018 and the full programme, including ticketing information, is available at www.edbookfest.co.uk

Want news and features about Edinburgh's major festivals delivered straight to your inbox? 
Sign up for our regular enewsletters!