Rosalie Reports from the Edinburgh Book Festival

Intrepid Little,Brown PR person Rosalie MacFarlane spent some time at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival, and has written up the following post-festival report (with pics!)

The Edinburgh International Book Festival was a resounding success again in August. In spite of the challenging economic climate and mixed weather conditions in Edinburgh, thousands of people flocked to listen to their favourite authors and to discover some new ones.

Charlotte Square Gardens is an oasis of tranquility in the middle of Edinburgh and normally off-limits to the public. However, every August the marquees go up and the gardens become a kind of tented, literary village hosting the renowned Book Festival. This year the festival saw a 7% increase in visitor numbers and 80% of the tickets were sold which represents an increase on previous years, particularly as more than 10,000 additional tickets were available this year. 

There were over 750 adult and children’s book events, and the Book Festivals independent bookshop reported a significant upturn in sales.

Little, Brown was well represented with thirty-four authors giving talks at thirty-seven events. They included the festival favourites - Alexander McCall Smith who gave four talks to capacity audiences, and Margaret Atwood who came over from Canada to give two.

Among the stars were Cherie Blair, Joan Bakewell, Diana Quick and Charley Boorman, who looked as though he had just climbed off his motorbike, having succeeded in completing an arduous tour around the Pacific. Roy Hattersley, a regular attendee was there as was Shirley Williams who gave the Donald Dewar Lecture.

There were a few Scottish authors, notably Iain [M] Banks, Christopher Brookmyre and - new to Little, Brown - Val McDermid. Chris’s friend and fellow crime writer, Mark Billingham was also present.

American thriller writer George Dawes Green had come over from the States, David Sedaris from his home in France, and Emmanuel Jal arrived - in the nick of time - from Kenya. Our literary writers included Sarah Waters, Linda Grant, Sarah Dunant, Jenny Diski and Gillian Slovo.

Authors hugely enjoy going up to Edinburgh for the Book Festival, regarding it as a sort of holiday where they meet their readers in person. The atmosphere in Charlotte Square Gardens, particularly on a sunny day when people can enjoy sitting out on the grass - or playing in the case of the hundreds of children who come in every day - is boisterous and orderly, exuberant and relaxed.

Here are a few photos I took while I was up in Edinburgh...

Charlotte Gardens, Edinburgh

Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh

Joan Bakewell

Mark Billingham

Charley Boorman

Christopher Brookmyre

Alexander McCall Smith

Jeremy Paxman and Roy Hattersley

Diana Quick

Diana Quick

David Sedaris

David Sedaris

Shirley Williams

Shirley Williams plus the press

 

Posted 25/09/2009 16:52:29 by Darren Turpin with 1 comments.