BenefactorsJames and Morag AndersonJane AttiasGeoff and Mary BallRichard and Catherine BurnsFred and Ann JohnstonAlexander McCall SmithFiona ReithRichard and Heather Sneller William Zachs and Martin AdamAnonymousTrustsAmerican Patrons of the National Library and Galleries of ScotlandThe Binks TrustBooker Prize FoundationThe John S Cohen FoundationThe Craignish TrustCruden Foundation LimitedDunard FundThe Educational Institute of ScotlandGordon Fraser Charitable TrustMatthew Hodder Charitable TrustThe Morton Charitable TrustThe Margaret Murdoch Charitable TrustThe Robertson TrustTay Charitable TrustProgramme Supporters Australia Council For The ArtsBritish Centre for Literary Translation and the Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationCanada Council for ArtsCulture IrelandDanish Cultural InstituteDutch Foundation for LiteratureEdinburgh Unesco City of LiteratureEmbassy of Sweden Goethe InstituteThe Icelandic Literature FundInstitut Français d'EcosseInstituto CervantesMoniack Mhor Writers' CentreNORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad)Polish Cultural InstitutePro HelvetiaPublishing ScotlandSaltire SocietyScottish Poetry LibraryThe Edinburgh International Book Festival is funded and supported byTitle Sponsor of Schools and Children's Programmes and the Main TheatreMajor Sponsors and Supporters Sponsors and SupportersMedia PartnerThanks to All Our Sponsors and SupportersWith thanksThe Edinburgh International Book Festival is sited in Charlotte Square Gardens by kind permission of the Charlotte Square Proprietors.We would also like to thank all the publishers who help to make the Festival possible. And all the other individuals who have donated to the Book Festival this year.

'He's a decent man buT who believes a word he says? ...last year at tHe Giro he had a Headache and. he won, and you know hoW. in Paris-nice this year he tHoughT he Was coming down with an ear infection and waltzed in firsT. The night before Milan-san remo he was worrying abouT his knee. you know What Happened.'William Fotheringham - Merckx: hAlf man, hAlf bike. the sea, tHe seaangela carterbelieFobsessionpublish and be daMned!china -v- interneTliBrary closureswhose voTe?melting poTs& salad bowlsKeep calm & carry onapo?alyP$eknowledge is powerimMigraTion is the sincerest form of flatTeryJack ParrWritTen by who and why?plutocracysuper inJunctionsavaZzrevengegitmosapir-WhorF hyPothesiseast and westascenT of chinabonus culturethe B.r.i.c.K.swhaT's your dollar value?if people never trust a skinny cheF, tHey sHouldn't Want Their bankers to be poor.#gs elevAtorthe chipPinGnorton seTrescuethe 1 %madnessneutrinoshiggs bosonubikdisaster!so it goes...e-booKsbrave neW worldnovel 2.0there's nothing more portable than papersurrealisMceci n'esT pas une Pipenewton firsT book awardceleBrationmayan 2012 calendarage doesn't coMe itselfMedicinecuresvisionariesmark duggandiscoveryface to inTerfaceworldsepic win!the lonG tailhaPpy slapsyoutubeis real JournalisM dead?harry potteridentitygay rigHtswha's like us?languageto oXford coMma or noT?acHieveMentPrizesl(earn)once a upon a TiMe...an autobiograpHy usually reveals noThing bad about its Writer except His memory.FranKlin P. JoneS the sinGularitytechnophiles& ludditespublic -vs- privatefor a wiTh Tweetwhat is your quesT?the operavirginia Woolfwe Know tHe price of everything and the value of nothingthe99%the three laWsculturemaTurationduck pondsFantasythe futurethe Journeydown is the neW upcontrolownershipsocietyorderFearmoralityJusticevalidationglobalisaTionprotesthistorythe World at your fingertipsblogs'saor alBa'during the autumn of 1940, Betty was seldom noT on The road; walkinG Miles in her hiGh-heeled shoes, with weapons concealed in baskets oF graPes, sHe beGged For lifts from farmers across the demarcation line.caRoline mooRhead-a trAin in wintera government tHat robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. GeorGe BernArd Shawif we don't Want our young People to tear apart our coMmuniTies Then don't let people in poWer tear aPart The values that hold our comMunities together.Russel BrandThe FundaMental thing about human languages is that they can and sHould be used to describe soMetHing; and this soMething is, somehoW, tHe world.Karl PoPperWhite is a race, blacK is a race, but spanish is a language. christianity is a religion, islaM is a religion, but jewishness is an etHnicity. it makes no sense. sunni is a religion, shiiTe is a religion, kurd is a tribe, you see?teju Cole-Open Citytwitter is a greaT place to tell the world wHat you're thinking Before you've had a chance to think about iT.chRis pRilloWhen we blindly adoPt a religion, a Political systeM, a literary doGma, we become automaTons. We cease To groW. Anais ninGramMar is glaMorous? For Many people, tHat would Be an iMpossible associaTion of ideas.david Crystal-the StorY of english in 100 WordsHistory is a science, no more and no less.J. B. Buryi learned long ago That Being lewis carrol was infinitely more excitinG than being alice. Joyce Carol OatesTo be MatTer oF facT about the world is to blunder into fantasy - and dull Fantasy at thaT, as the real World is sTrange and wonderful.RoBeRt heinleinyou Feel That because you are being drowned,controlled conditions of those who ChriStoPher hitchens-all of a sudden, Putin stood uP, looking angry and intiMidating. reflexively, rice also stood up, and in her higH heels she was now Taller than the russian, lookinG down at HiM.Angus Roxburgh - the Strongman: vladimir Putin and the StruGgle For RussiaHaving an ebook is Good. Having a Paper book is good. Having boTh is even better. one reader wroTe to me and said that he read half my first novel from the bound book, and printed the other half on scraP-paper to read at tHe beach.Cory doctOrow-neither e, nor Bookswe met onlineis writTen by the victorleaves us even desperate. go shoPpinG. reassuringly well-stocked can eXpress proximiTy wHoM we speak.the PuBlic.what haPpens in Just eight years' time, in 2020, wHen everytHing-From our inTelliGent cars To our intelligent televisions To our intelligent telephones To our other 50 billion netWorKed devices-are connected? ...what are the human imPlicaTions of tHis great rewiring.? Andrew Keen-digital vertigomeGrahidetentioni alWays knew i was going to be rich. i don't ThinK i ever doubted it for a Minute.Warren BuffettTwo WeeKs later, wHen Mubarak fell, sHe took ofF her galaBeyya and veil and put on a loose trouser suit and a scarF. When i grinned she shrugged: 'just a biT of a change.'Ahdaf Soueif-CairO: mY citY, Our Revolutioni found one day in school a boy of medium siZe ill-treating a smaller boy. i exPostulated, but he replied: 'The Bigs Hit me, so i hiT the baBies; tHat's Fair.' in tHese Words he epitomiZed the history oF the huMan race. BertRand Russell i don't Believe in panicking before iT's absolutely necessary but i caMe close to considering it on tHe morning of 7 octoBer 2008Alistair darling -Back from the Brinkeducationnone are More Hopelessly enslaved Than those wHo falsely believe tHey are freeJ W Goethe"apparently, a democracy is a place where nuMerous elections are held at Great cost without issues and wiTh inTerchangeaBle candidates. "Gore vidalBy tHeir own follies they perished, the fools.homer-the OdysSeyThe sea was even more reMarKaBly full of novelties. By night, wHen the Moon turned tHe waves into a Bolt of velvet That ridged and collapsed in almost coMplete silence, we noticed What seemed to be cHains of light-like Water turned into Fire-decorating the hollows as we cut through tHeM.Andrew MotiOn-Silverit was 1958: sHe goT herself up in chanel-style suits, sTiletTos and black sTocKings, and 'a cream tweed dusTer coat wHich i wore wiTh the sleeves rolled up To the elbows'. The effect was smart buT rakish, fast and a Bit loose.Susannah ClapP-A Card from Angela Cartershould liTerature be poliTical?she Paused to acknoWledge the achievement in her diary: 'i hand my compliMenT to That TerriBly depressed woman, myself, wHose Head ached so oFten: wHo was so entirely convinced a Failure; for in spite of everyThing i think she brought it ofF.'AlexAndra harris-virginia Woolfspeaking To me in tHe orange juMpsuit tHat is his Prison uniForm, vision said, 'in those years, tHere Was only one coMpany which i failed To break into, and that was a MaJor aMerican Pharmaceutical coMpany.'Misha Glenny-dark Market#occuPythe unknowngender Politicsof personaliTyMeanWhile, tHey have to learn, super-quick, how to be good clean Boys, media-savvy Millionaires, all smooth, acTing like Their life has always been like this. liKe they were born to do it. liKe they're not interested in drugs or loose women or gambling. They're not kidding me, mate! i Know they're still dirT.Rodge GlasS - BrinG me the head of Ryan GiggsMorality and logic don't coMe in, iT all depends on chance. if anyone is sHut uP he Has to stay, and if anyone is not sHut uP he can walk about, tHat's all. There is neither morality nor loGic in My Being a doctor and your being a mental PatienT, tHere is noThing but idle chance.Anton Chekhov-Ward no. 6our attenTion span is shoT. We've all got a.d.h.d. or o.c.d. or one of tHese disorders wiTh three letters because we don't Have The time or patience to pronounce the entire disorder.ellen deGeneResWhen he stood up to address the 1962 Edinburgh Writers' Conference, Hugh MacDiarmid remarked that 'it has been a long time since it was possible to stand at the Cross of Edinburgh and shake hands with fifty men of genius.' MacDiarmid was referring to a well-known statement made by the King's Chemist during the Age of Enlightenment, but by 1962 the end of Britain's pre-eminence as an industrial power had hit Scotland particularly hard. Intellectuals of the stature of Locke, Hume and Pasteur were few and far between, and Edinburgh's status as a city of ideas had plummeted. Now, just fifty years on, the city has enjoyed a breathtaking cultural renaissance. Thanks to the growth of Edinburgh's festivals not to mention the galleries, museums, academic institutions and so many other expressions of cultural endeavour in the city year round, we can proudly assert once again that it is possible to stand in the heart of Edinburgh on a sunny August day and shake hands with some of the greatest thinkers of our age.Today, Edinburgh is the world's first UNESCO City of Literature and home to some of the most successful authors on the planet. This year's Book Festival, supported once again by RBS and the Guardian, takes place against that wonderfully rejuvenated backdrop and we are thrilled to welcome no fewer than 800 writers whose ideas will challenge, delight, entertain and provoke thought in equal measure. 2012 is turning out to be a great year for new novels, but just as importantly it's a year for taking stock about what matters to us in a time of uncertainty, doubt and data overload. It is also, of course, a time when Scotland is preparing to make a big decision about its own future. Our programme responds to this need for reflection and thoughtful discussion alongside the celebration of the pure joy of great writing.With more events for children and young people than ever before, a range of themes taking in science, translation and sport, as well as three brilliant guest selectors and an illustrator in residence, this is a Book Festival that aims to appeal to the broadest possible audience.At the Festival's heart is another Writers' Conference, presented in an ambitious international partnership with the British Council and bringing together fifty writers from across the globe. Fifty years after Hugh MacDiarmid's bleak words, Edinburgh will be the epicentre of world literary debate. In this very special year for British culture, and the Year of Creative Scotland, I am proud to present the 2012 Book Festival programme. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have loved putting it together.Nick Barley DirectorContents2 - 3 Key programme themes4 Anobii First Book Award, Author Photo Exhibition5 Edinburgh World Writers' Conference6 - 7 Information for your visit: access, venues, bookshops, cafés, opening times8 - 58 Festival events for adults59 - 80 RBS Children's Programme: for toddlers to teens81 Join the Friends of the Book Festival82 Edinburgh and the festivals, travel info, environment83 Booking information 84 - 85 Author indexThis brochure has been printed on recycled paper. After use, please pass your copy on to a friend, return it to our brochure racks or recycle it.DONATE!Help us to bring the best of the world's writers to Edinburgh each year: www.edbookfest.co.uk/donatewww.edbookfest.co.ukm.edbookfest.co.uk (mobile website) - Book tickets - Browse the Festival by theme or subject - Hear recordings of past events - Read exclusive new writing commissions - Sign up for Festival updates - Join us on Twitter and FacebookANOBII FIRST BOOK AWARDVote for the book you loved.(See page 4)Welcome Edinburgh International Book Festival 11 - 27 August 20121