EDINBURGH WORLD WRITERS' CONFERENCE15:00- The Future of the Novel 17:00 Will the Novel Remain Writers' Favourite Narrative Form? RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] Has the dominant literary form of the 19th and 20th centuries grown stale? Is it no longer the best means of delivering stories in the 21st century? Or does the classic literary novel remain the form best placed to deliver innovative, memorable writing? Drawing on discussions about censorship, style, politics and identity, this session, bringing Edinburgh's 2012 Conference to a close, offers an address by multi award-winning author, Aharon Appelfeld with renowned author Janne Teller in the moderator's chair.Presented in partnership with the British Council. This event will be filmed and broadcast live online at www.edinburghworldwritersconference.org Russia then and now15:30 Anna Reid with Antony Beevor A Second World War Tragedy ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] In Anna Reid's Leningrad: Tragedy of a City Under Siege, she describes the events which led to the loss of around two million Soviet lives. Had the city fallen, the history of the 20th century would have been very different - but did the Germans deliberately avoid capturing the city? Reid is interviewed by Antony Beevor whose Stalingrad set the benchmark for recent writing on this period. ANOBII FIRST BOOK AWARD NOMINEE15:30 Patrick Flanery & Donald McRae Escaping the Long Shadow of Apartheid RBS Corner Theatre, £7 [£5] One of only two writers to scoop the William Hill Sports Book Of The Year award twice, Donald McRae tracks back to his South African childhood for Under Our Skin as he tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary white family living under apartheid. Patrick Flanery's Absolution is a fictional account of a Western Cape author about to write the story of her life. But how candid can she really be? ANOBII FIRST BOOK AWARD NOMINEE 15:30 Will Eaves & Natasha Soobramanien Happy Families Writers' Retreat, £7 [£5] Will Eaves' semi-autobiographical This is Paradise offers a much-praised portrait of a dysfunctional 'ordinary' family that has yielded comparisons to Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections. Natasha Soobramanien wrote two chapters of Luke Williams' Saltire Award-winning novel The Echo Chamber, and she now brings us her debut novel Genie and Paul - the story of a sister's love for her lost brother.16:00 David Crystal 100 Words in Plain English Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] David Crystal is a professor of linguistics and a leading expert in the English language. In this event he describes the language as we have come to speak it today, through 100 words that best illustrate the wide variety of sources and influences that have shaped it since the first definitively English word was written down in the 5th century.THE PRICE OF PROFIT17:00 Ruchir Sharma In Search of the Next Economic Miracle ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] The head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, Ruchir Sharma has first-hand experience of economies across the world. In his provocative new book, Breakout Nations, Sharma argues that the time-honoured method of watching 'global trends' to forecast growth will no longer work. In this event he offers some surprising tips about which countries are the rising stars, and which will be economic flops.17.00 THE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL EVENT Using Fiction to Teach Human Rights Teaching Tolerance to Children RBS Corner Theatre, £7 [£5] From early years onwards, picture books and novels can be powerful tools for educating children about human rights. Fiction can develop empathy, tolerance and understanding, often engaging readers at a deep emotional level. The Guardian Children's Book Editor, Julia Eccleshare, joins leading children's authors Sara Grant and Debi Gliori and secondary school Principal Teacher of English, Isobel Reid to discuss this important issue.17:30- Amnesty International 18:15 Imprisoned Writers Series The Arab Spring Peppers Theatre, Free: Tickets available from the box office on the day of the event 2011 was a year without precedent for the Middle East and North Africa. Amnesty International stands in solidarity with peaceful protesters in demands for human rights and political reform. Our daily series today features extracts from works about the uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. Reading today: Elaine Proctor, Jon Gower, Kate Rawles.DEMOCRACY MATTERS18:30 Chris Mullin In Defence of Politics RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] The former Labour minister and widely acclaimed diarist Chris Mullin makes a welcome return to the Book Festival, this time to argue that, contrary to popular belief, politics is an honourable profession. In this event he sets out what he believes is the great political challenge facing future generations.18:45 Translation Duel: French Where Words Have Many Meanings Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] What happens to the essence of a story when it is translated from one language into another? Author Laurent Binet is joined by acclaimed translators, Adriana Hunter, and Frank Wynne, who will pit their linguistic skills against each other to prove that every translation is a creative work of merit in its own right. No knowledge of French is needed to enjoy this event. Hosted by Daniel Hahn.More about: Aharon AppelfeldThe winner of this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his book Blooms of Darkness, Aharon Appelfeld is the multi-award winning author of some 40 novels in Hebrew. Born on the edge of Romania in 1932, his home town was invaded when he was eight and his mother murdered. He then escaped a Nazi concentration camp, eventually finding his way to Palestine in 1946. Appelfeld's stories, described by his friend Philip Roth as 'midway between parable and history', often deal with young people alone and searching for love in the absence of their parents. See page 83 for booking detailsBook now: www.edbookfest.co.uk 0845 373 588839The streets are filthy, open sewers of vice. The dead are everywhere. Kim Newman, Anno Dracula, 20:30

19:00 Nicci French Two for the Price of One ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] Nicci Gerrard and Sean French first started writing together under the name Nicci French in 1995 and together they crafted a collection of bestselling psychological thrillers including The Memory Game. Now, the husband and wife team join us to launch Tuesday's Gone, the second in a new series of crime thrillers featuring a new heroine - a psychotherapist named Frieda Klein.THE STATE OF BRITAIN19:00- Debate: Rethinking 20:15 the Union (part 2) Would an Independent Scotland Lose Its International Influence? The Guardian Spiegeltent, £10 [£8] David Cameron may not be popular among Scottish voters but he raised an intriguing argument in February. Scotland would, he claimed, lose its influence on the international stage and be marginalised by organisations such as the UN and NATO. Worse, Scotland's entry into the European Union may be vetoed by a Spanish government anxious not to spark its own regional independence issues. Does Cameron's argument add up, or is he just scaremongering? Join us to debate this political hot potato.In association with the Saltire Society.ANOBII FIRST BOOK AWARD NOMINEE19:00 Jon Gower & Wayne Price Blowing Hot and Cold RBS Corner Theatre, £7 [£5] Admired by Alan Warner and Alan Spence and receiving comparisons to Raymond Carver, Wayne Price is clearly one to watch. Furnace is a scintillating series of short stories featuring a hapless backpacker and a summer worker drawn into a dangerous tryst. Jon Gower's Too Cold for Snow is an equally thrilling collection including a paid assassin, a prison ship governor and an avalanche survivor.20:00 THE EDINBURGH GIN EVENT Ian Rankin Desert Island Rebus RBS Main Theatre, £10 [£8] It's 25 years since Knots and Crosses introduced us to John Rebus - and changed the face of crime writing in the process. To celebrate, Ian Rankin shares some of his favourite Rebus moments from the 17 novels featuring this flawed and deliciously puzzling character. A journey across Edinburgh's topography as much as it is a voyage through Ian Rankin's mind, this literary Desert Island Discs promises to be a highlight of the Festival.LITERARY LEGENDS20:30 Kim Newman The Greatest Vampire Novel Since Dracula? ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £10 [£8] Kim Newman's Anno Dracula was first published in 1992 and is now recognised as one of the greatest vampire novels of the century. Re-released in a new edition, the book reinvents Stoker's original Dracula myth, taking it on a spine-tingling and often very funny journey. Today Newman discusses his classic alongside its equally brilliant sequel The Bloody Red Baron and the forthcoming Dracula Cha Cha Cha. DRAWING ON OUR RESOURCES20:30 THE SCOTTISH MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST EVENT Donovan Hohn & Kate Rawles Quirky Adventures into Uncharted Territories Peppers Theatre, £10 [£8] When Donovan Hohn heard how 28,902 bath toys spilled into the Pacific en route to the US from China and have been washing up along beaches throughout the world, he decided to find out more. Moby-Duck is the curious result. Kate Rawles' The Carbon Cycle zeroes in on her 4,553 mile cycle ride from Texas to Alaska, encountering bears, wolves and a lynx.ANOBII FIRST BOOK AWARD NOMINEE20:30 Kenneth Macleod & Louisa Young Life During a Series of Wartimes RBS Corner Theatre, £7 [£5] Louisa Young's My Dear I Wanted to Tell You is a moving tale of love, class and sex during the First World War, featuring soldiers Purefoy and Locke and the women left behind. It's a novel that is racing up the bestseller lists. Kenneth Macleod's debut The Incident charts a story of history, guilt and fate from the Second World War through to the present day, with events reverberating across the generations.21:00- Unbound 23:00 Stories, Music and Literary High Jinks The Guardian Spiegeltent, Free & Drop-In A literary experience like no other. Anything goes: storytelling, music, performance, poetry, stand-up - it's a raw, surprising, sometimes emotional ride. Come with an open mind! The line-up will be announced in July in The Skinny magazine and on our website at www.edbookfest.co.uk.Passionate about politics? Love.Gerry Hassan & Eric Shaw (25 Aug, p50)Tue 21 August (continued) 40Bridegroom... what has a man about to be married got to do with someone who looks after horses? People have come up with some crazy explanations.David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words, 16:00