EIBF 2008: Monday 11th August

Two supremely talented writers. Andrew Greig is a poet, mountaineer, memoirist, novelist. His Romanno Bridge is superb storytelling, spun around the search for the Stone of Destiny. Award-winning Andrew Crumey incorporates quantum mechanics and general relativity into his fiction – Sputnik Caledonia is an exuberant tale of childhood, space travel and telepathy.

BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent is essential listening for those seeking top quality reportage from around the world. Now gathered into a new volume are more dispatches from celebrated reporters, bringing remarkable stories from the four corners of the earth.

The stories behind two hugely successful Scottish businesses. David Erdal gives an inspiring account of how Loch Fyne Oysters was rescued by employee ownership to become a leading UK business. Premier chef and food writer Martin Wishart started his eponymous Michelin-starred Edinburgh restaurant in 1999; he shares his innovative approach to modern French cuisine.

When children move beyond picture books their needs become more complex, which offers many opportunities and challenges for writers. Linda Strachan, bestselling children’s writer and author of Writing for Children, offers practical tips on how to make the most of writing for this exciting age group. (Maximum 20 places)

An essential double bill of multi-talented writers. Robert Crawford is one of our finest poets and critics; his new collection Full Volume enchants and enlightens. Kirsty Gunn’s beguiling poetic prose in the coming-of-age novella The Boy and the Sea won her the inaugural Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award.

One of the most respected politicians in Britain, Sir Menzies (‘Ming’) Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, is admired across party lines for his honesty and integrity. In his autobiography he talks of his early years as a top athlete, his later victorious battle with cancer and his peers at the forefront of British politics. Chaired by Brian Taylor.

A cornucopia of first class Scottish crime writing. Gillian Galbraith has already built a devoted following for her Alice Rice detective series set in Edinburgh; while new authors Karen Campbell (formerly of Strathclyde Police) and Caro Ramsay explore the dark side of Glasgow’s mean streets in hugely praised debuts.

Winner of Britain’s most prestigious awards for her breathtaking fiction, A L Kennedy is also increasingly renowned as a stand-up comic. Here in a brand new special monologue, her black, hilarious wit ranges over the many absurdities of a writer’s existence with dazzling humour and brilliance. You’ll never look at an author the same way again.

Sir Ben Kingsley is just one of the admirers of this leading Scottish writer’s remarkable new novel on Shakespeare – he has bought the film rights. A departure from his previous territory recalling his upbringing in the East Neuk of Fife, Christopher Rush’s Will has all his trademark passion for language – and he reads and speaks wonderfully too.