Book Festival programme – some tasty teasers announced on the Front List

Edinburgh Reporter

29-05-2025

The full programme for the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme will be announced on 10 June, but as a taster the Front List includes 14 events including two for schools with Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Laura Bates.
The list includes names such as Maggie O'Farrell, Ian McEwan, R.F Kuang, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Asako Yuzuki and Nicola Sturgeon.
Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya will also come to Edinburgh this yea. Yulia, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last year, speaks about her late husband's courageous work, Patriot, and continuing his crucial activism.
These events will take place at McEwan Hall near to the Edinburgh Futures Institute and is an expanded version of last year's events, all run in collaboration with Underbelly.
Maggie O'Farrell will celebrate 25 years since her first book was published and Ian McEwan will share with audiences his thoughts of past work and what comes next.
Movie fans won't want to miss the UK's favourite film critic, Mark Kermode, who brings us the first edition of his energetic MK3D show (a frequent sell-out of the British Film Institute's programme) outside London, previewing upcoming releases and revelling in the Golden Age of Cinema alongside very special guests including Succession patriarch, Brian Cox.
No one knows better the pleasure (and, unfortunately, immense pain) of being a dedicated fan of Scotland's national football team than sporting legend Ally McCoist, who visits the festival to discuss Dear Scotland: On the Road with the Tartan Army. And Gavin and Stacey co-creator and writer Ruth Jones lets us into the secrets of her writing craft, and her tender new novel, By Your Side.
Jenny Niven, Director and CEO, Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: 'We are thrilled to be returning to the beautiful McEwan Hall, and expanding our partnership with Underbelly to present 14 The Front List events in 2025. At this challenging moment in history and politics, we'll be offering a comprehensively informed and critical eye on international affairs, and also the chance to escape them through the work of some of the world's foremost fiction writers, entertainment, and sporting figures. There's plenty more to come in our full programme announcement, but we hope our line-up for The Front List offers a delicious taster of what you can expect from this year's Book Festival.'
Marina Dixon, Head of Programming, Underbelly, said: 'Underbelly's partnership with the Book Festival continues to bring some of the most vital, thought-provoking voices of our time to the heart of the city and the festival season and so we're absolutely delighted to welcome back The Front List. At Underbelly, we're passionate about creating space for bold ideas and unexpected conversations—and The Front List does exactly that. It's a real joy to be working together again on a programme that feels urgent, alive, and connected to the spirit of the Festival.'
Tickets for The Front List events are available at edbookfest.co.uk.
To ensure these events remain accessible in times of great economic pressure, under-30s can purchase tickets at just £14 and £5 tickets are available to those in receipt of governmental income benefits.
Full listings for The Front List events:
Tues 12 Aug, 13.30 – Ruth Jones
Wed 13 Aug, 13.30 – Mark Kermode
Thu 14 Aug, 13.30 – Nicola Sturgeon
Fri 15 Aug, 13.30 – Maggie O'Farrell [Sponsored by the National Library of Scotland]Sat 16 Aug, 13.30 – Ta-Nehisi Coates [Sponsored by the University of Edinburgh]Sun 17 Aug, 13.30 – Anne Applebaum & Edward Wong [Supported by the Turtleton Charitable Trust]Mon 18 Aug, 13.30 – Ally McCoist [Sponsored by Digby Brown]Tues 19 Aug, 13.30 – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wed 20 Aug, 13.30 – Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Steven Lenton [Schools Edition]
Thu 21 Aug, 13.30 – Laura Bates [Schools Edition]Fri 22 Aug, 13.30 – Yulia Navalnya
Sat 23 Aug, 13.30 – Asako Yuzuki
Sun 24 Aug, 13.30 – Ian McEwan
Sun 24 Aug, 19.30 – R F Kuang
All events take place at McEwan Hall, Teviot Place, EH8 9AG.
McEwan Hall audience – credit Mihaela Bodlovic
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