Gill Arbuthnott begins the session by talking first of Val McDermid’s long career in crime fiction. She also jokingly suggests that any Whiskey magnates should contact her. There is already a Val McDermid bar, football stand, and mortuary, a Val McDermid malt would complete the set nicely. Niamh Nic Daeid is Professor of Forensic Science at Dundee … [Read more...] about EdBookFest: Val McDermid & Niamh Nic Daeid
EdBookFest: Richard Havers with Ian Rankin
Given the musical preferences of Rebus it’s no surprise that Ian Rankin chose to talk to Richard Havers when asked to select some events for the book festival. Havers’ two most recent books focus on the American Jazz labels Blue Note and Verve. They begin by discussing the fact that Jazz was essentially the Rock n Roll of its day. It played in all … [Read more...] about EdBookFest: Richard Havers with Ian Rankin
EdBookFest: Jenny Uglow
Kate Mosse introduces Jenny Uglow as one of the UK’s leading biographers and historians, adding that one of the things that has always stood out is that in all her work the women are just as present as the men. Uglow’s latest book, In These Times, is about life in Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. It is essentially a crowd biography, based on … [Read more...] about EdBookFest: Jenny Uglow
EdBookFest: Will Gompertz
After an introduction from Steven Gale, Will Gompetz asked if we were in the mood for a humorous preamble. A murmur of agreement elicits a response of “Shit, haven’t got one of those.” He soon finds one however, discussing the pros and cons of being a BBC correspondent. It seems that on a fairly regular basis people leap towards him on the street, … [Read more...] about EdBookFest: Will Gompertz
EdBookFest: Tom Holland
After being introduced by the chair Allan Little, Tom Holland stood to talk about his latest book. Dynasty is about the rise and fall of the house of Caesar. Holland starts by saying that it’s always exciting to talk about a new book for the first time (it doesn’t officially launch for another few weeks). He was particularly glad to talk about it … [Read more...] about EdBookFest: Tom Holland
EdBookFest: A.L. Kennedy
Stuart Kelly introduced A.L. Kennedy by stating that even with her gloriously unpredictable career no one would have predicted a Doctor Who book. She does have another, perhaps more predictable, book, Serious Sweet, coming out next year. She had apparently described it to him as ‘just a happy love story’ and Kelly jokes that he doesn’t believe a … [Read more...] about EdBookFest: A.L. Kennedy