From its beginning in 1983, the Edinburgh International Book Festival has grown into a major annual Festival draw in the capital every August, attracting around 250,000 visits, and is claimed to be the largest public celebration of the written word in the world. Up until 2020 it was based at a fondly-remembered tented Festival village in Charlotte Square Gardens, but this year the action takes place mainly at the Edinburgh College of Art buildings at Lauriston, in the city’s Old Town.

Art makes an appearance as a connecting theme every Festival – this year with events such as celebrated artist Alison Watt in conversation with writer and former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway (who has spoken at every Festival for the past 23 years) discussing his collection of poetry and quotations The Heart of Things; plus art curator and author James Birch in discussion about his audacious project to stage a retrospective in 1988 of Francis Bacon’s paintings in the Soviet capital – Bacon in Moscow.