EIBF Events on Friday 17th August

• Meet the Author - Party Pavilion

Acclaimed author Tormod Caimbeul (Norman Campbell) will be making a rare appearance, to read from Shrapnel, his new Gaelic novel, which has drawn praise from critics far and wide. Everyone welcome. Buffet and drinks will accompany reading. Please RSVP shia.arshad@rnib.org.uk

• Meet the Author - RBS Main Theatre

The single most influential Scottish novelist of modern times, and Scotland's only Booker winner, James Kelman's profound, philosophical and distinctive fiction has given voice to forgotten and marginalised communities. This year sees the reissue of his groundbreaking early work. A major literary event.

• Litearture and Culture - ScottishPower Studio Theatre

The great Canadian writer Alice Munro (who is descended from the great Scottish writer James Hogg) is present at the Book Festival this summer in various forms: through video-conferencing, long distance book-signing and also in the passion and enthusiasm of Liz Lochhead. Our most beloved poet explains why Alice Munro's stories matter so much.

• Fine Fiction - ScottishPower Studio Theatre

An hour with Louise Welsh is an hour of delight. One of the leading Scottish writers of her generation, her latest work The Bullet Trick – about an ageing Glaswegian conjuror in decadent Berlin – is filled with magic and darkness.

• The DM Hall Event - RBS Main Theatre

The final chance for this festival to bask and glow in the company of the most congenial, gentle and charming world-bestselling, international publishing phenomenon on the planet. Writing about Botswana or Edinburgh's New Town, Alexander McCall Smith restores faith in the essential goodness of life.

• The List Event - ScottishPower Studio Theatre

An immensely welcome visit from one of Scotland's most dizzyingly talented and original writers, now living in Spain where his last extraordinary novel, The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven, is set. Ever since his debut Morvern Callar, Alan Warner has entranced with the scope and ambition of his literary vision. Chaired by Janice Forsyth of BBC Radio Scotland's The Radio Café.

• Nature and the Environment - Poppers Theatre

You Are What You Grow: Life, Land and the Pursuit of Happiness is a wonderful series of reflections on contemporary life sparked by Antonia Swinson's love affair with her allotment. Based round her very popular columns, it is inspiring, practical and thought-provoking in equal measure.