Disobedient’s Guide to the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2026 | Katie Veitch
The 2026 Programme outside the Futures Institute.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival 2026 programme is here. With over 600 events to choose from, it can all get a bit overwhelming. So, I’ve pulled together some of my top pick events to ease your struggles in your own selection - scraping it down to 12 was harder than getting a sticker off a TK Maxx candle.
The festival is from the 15th-30th August this year, with most events taking place across the Futures Institute and McEwan Hall. Ticket prices certainly can mount up with these popular festivals, listed below are pricing options for different groups which allow for a bit of flexibility.
Pricing for most events (excluding workshops):
Full Price: £15.50
Over 60: £14.50
Under 30: £10.50
Student: £10.50
Access Booker: £10.50
North Edinburgh Neighbourhood Scheme: £10.50
Income Support: £5.00
The theme this year is ‘Changing Your Mind,’ and honestly, I found myself way more interested in the themed events than I thought I was going to be. So many great discussions are planned around accurate information, the difference in consciousness between real people and AI, and how we can change our conversation and listening style to open our minds and embrace new perspectives.
Another stand out from this year’s programmes is the amount of translated fiction and translators on the line up. There is such interesting conversations to be had around translated fiction, including: the crediting of translators versus the dependence on a translator to give you a westernised journey into other cultures; the recognition of unique aspects of other countries’ literature versus the reduction of an entire nations’ texts to one genre or style; and the persistence of labeling namely Japanese fiction ‘translated’ just because the author has a Japanese name, when the work may have been originally written in English.
Picture from the launch event.
The Futures Institute offered a great venue in the summer sun last year, with lots of outdoor space to relax, read and meet new people, and so many fun tasks and incentives to get kids into reading - all of which and more are planned again for this year. So without further ado, here are some of my dead-certs for this year, across four themes I’ve pulled together myself; Navigating The World Today, Developing Our Minds, Straight-up Books and Live Lit.
Navigating The World Today
Beyond Borders: Women in Conflict
Wednesday 26th 2-3pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/beyond-borders-women-in-conflict
Speakers from the Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme - global leaders in peacemaking and conflict resolution - come together to share their experiences on the frontline. Covering war, climate change, human rights and the fight for peace. I think there is loads to be learned from these women, and I’m hoping for transparent, genuine conversations about all the violence going on in the world without hidden agendas that are often behind similar conversations in the media.
Fergus McIntosh: The Matter of Facts
Sunday 23rd 3:15-4:15pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/fergus-mcintosh-the-matter-of-facts
The New Yorker’s Head Research Editor, Fergus McIntosh, shares his methods for fact-checking in a world of constant misinformation at increasingly convincing quality. He is going to share some of his AI-free process, some interesting stories, and detective work along the way, and discuss what really counts as ‘fact’ today. I’m looking for some research tips and big discussions on how I can still consume information and learn in a world that is constantly hiding motivations with the power of huge budgets to build the smokescreen.
Natasha Walter and Talat Yaqoob: A Feminist Response to Polycrises
Saturday 22nd 1:45-2:45pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/natasha-walter-talat-yaqoob-a-feminist-response-to-polycrises
Activists and writers of ‘Feminism for a World on Fire’ and ‘Building a Feminist Nation’ discuss global feminism, and call for a collective resistance against the mounting multiple crises going on today, including war, human rights pullbacks and male violence against women and girls. Acknowledgement of the danger women face around the world is so important and needs to be shouted to be heard. I’m looking for experiences from around the globe that I don’t already know about, to increase my own awareness and understanding of how it all links together, and to check that my own feminist theories are addressing the full problem.
Jem Calder and Derek Owusu: New Masculinities
Friday 21st 5-6pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/jem-calder-derek-owusu-new-masculinities
Authors of ‘I Want You To Be Happy’ and ‘Borderline Fiction’ engage in a ‘fiercely intelligent exchange of ideas’ on what masculinity does, should and could look like in a modern world. I think these two authors’ writing styles are brilliant, accessible and fresh, and so to hear them discuss this topic is hugely appealing. Patriarchy destroys the lives of men as well as women, and so discussion around how equality can improve the emotional and social lives of men and how masculinity can be beneficial once it is detached from violence and isolation would make for a brilliant literary event. I’m interested to see the male/female audience split at this one too!
Working on Your Mind
The Books that Changed My Mind
Tuesday 25th 8:30-9:30pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/the-book-that-changed-my-mind
Fiammetta Rocco (Emeritus Director of the International Booker Prize), Kiran Desai (author of ‘The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny’), and Claudia Rankine (author of ‘Triage’) discuss the books that were turning points in their lives. I’m eager to hear what their picks are, and to listen to discussion around how fictional characters, abstract poetry and compelling narratives can change how we think, how we speak to people, how we spend our time. Books have such a major impact on who I am as a person, and I’m always keen to explore how culture shapes my experience of life, how picking up one cover versus another can create a butterfly effect.
Workshop: How to Talk Across Divides with Sarah Stein Lubrano
Tuesday 25th 11am-1pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/how-to-talk-across-divides-a-workshop-with-sarah-stein-lubrano
Author of ‘Don’t Talk About Politics: How to Change 21st Century Minds’ explores conversational styles and habits that prevent progress. Looking to her own thorough research, ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience, Sarah will guide participants with varying beliefs through conversations that open up the possibility for change and collaboration. I’m always up for learning some new conversational methods to counter the often overwhelming passion and urgency that can run through me when faced with an opposing viewpoint that, in my perspective, puts other people in danger. The point is not to win, but to protect and save those at risk. Sign me up!
Note: This is a workshop, and so more expensive than panels, with full price tickets at £40, and varying prices down to Income Support tickets at £10.
Workshop: Deep Listening with Emily Kasriel
Sunday 23rd 2-3:30pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/deep-listening-a-workshop-with-emily-kasriel
BBC journalist and mediator, Emily Kasriel shares her Deep Listening practice, aiming to build authentic connections, expressions and methods of understanding. Teaching, demonstrating and offering the chance to put these skills into practice, I think there is much to be learned from this workshop. The more we hear people, truly, deeply, the more we can learn from them.
Note: Full price tickets at £30 down to income support tickets at £8.
Eve Tong Print from the launch Event
Straight Up Books
Leila Elder and Mahmud El Sayed: Future Histories
Saturday 22nd 4:30-5:30pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/leila-elder-mahmud-el-sayed-future-histories
Science-fiction Arabfuturist author of ‘The Republic of Memory’ joins editor of the short story anthology, ‘Iran +100’ to discuss possibilities of future worlds. After studying a Futures module at university, exploring predictive techniques, and writing speculative fiction for years, I find the concept of testing ideas of the future to be fascinating. Having the consequences of current actions in mind at all times helps us live more purposefully and morally, and allows us to make changes and creations to benefit those who will come after us. Global perspectives on this always expand my understanding and imagination, so I am super excited for this discussion.
Graeme Armstrong: Raveheart
Wednesday 19th 5:30-6:30pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/graeme-armstrong-raveheart
‘The Young Team’ author is back with another excellent novel. Raveheart showcases working-class culture, community, and connection and shows the people behind the reputation. Add in a bit of future speculation, and this is set to be a hugely fun and authentic story. EIBF could certainly do better when it comes to working-class representation, and so showing our interest and support for this iconic Scottish writer is hugely important. The stories that come from the people that live with the consequences of the actions of the few are the ones that we need to be listening to. Graeme is excellent at breaking down the fear of the youths, showing them that they don’t have to live in the box that they were forced into, and highlighting the audience that wants to hear these stories in all their complexity, chaos, and raw truth.
Polly Barton, Daniel Han and Anton Hur: In Other Worlds
Wednesday 19th 12:15-13:15pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/polly-barton-daniel-hahn-anton-hur-in-other-words
‘How does a book survive a journey between languages?’ What a question. Polly Bee translator of Asako Yuzuki’s Butter, Daniel Han, translator of José Eduardo Agualusa’s A General Theory of Oblivion, and Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity and Publisher and Translator of the outstanding Honford Star publishing house, come together to answer just that. I cannot stress how talented and interesting these three are - they are my frontlist - and I am so eager to hear them discuss the intricacies of translation, its creativity and challenges, and some perspectives as to the ethics of works in translation.
Live Lit
Fresh Words: Gutter Magazine
Friday 21st 11:45am-12:45pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/fresh-words-gutter-magazine
Fresh voices from one of Scotland’s most impressive literary magazines. Never sleep on Gutter’s picks.
Pay What You Can tickets.
Scotland Through Poetry
Monday 17th 6:30-7:45pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/events/scotland-through-poetry
I’ll let the EIBF summary for this one speak for itself. Taylor Dyson is shit hot, and another brilliant working class voice coming from the festival this year, and Ceitidh Chaimbeul gives us a beautiful gaelic female perspective.
Join your host, Beth Cochrane, for a glittering line-up of poets from across Scotland. From Scots Scrievers to Gaelic singers, Edinburgh Makars to Edwin Morgan Poetry Award-winners, tonight’s roster use their poetry – sometimes tender, sometimes uplifting, sometimes downright raucous – to explore everything from the journey of diaspora to the naming of unspeakable desires. Featuring: Clementine E Burnley, Ceitidh Chaimbeul, Taylor Dyson, Hannah Lavery, Michael Mullen, and Andrés N Ordorica. You won’t want to miss this.
I could have picked so many more events, but we have to stop somewhere - these are my non-negotiables. I’d love to hear about your top picks that weren’t on my list and what I need to reconsider…
Katie Veitch
She/her
Creative Writing Editor
While studying English Literature and Library and Archive Management at the University of Glasgow, Katie Veitch began writing for online creative magazines and university publications. She has had work published by a range of journals, all surrounding the themes of womanhood, isolation, independence, and the working-class experience.
You can learn more about Katie and her editorial work at https://veitcheditorial.com/
