Edinburgh International Book Festival: Emily St John Mandel and Marlon James

“All Together Now” is the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s rallying call in 2022.  Building on the hybrid format they’ve developed over the past two years, the festival is making their live, in-person events available to stream. The Book Festival celebrates the imagination, ideas and issues at the heart of books and stories, offering new perspectives on the world around us.

Everyone is welcome to come to the McConnell Library to watch a series of author talks from Edinburgh. The two authors we’ll feature at this event are Emily St John Mandel and Marlon James. Each screened talk runs for about an hour. Feel free to stay for one or both!

Emily St John Mandel: Parallel Worlds and Artistic Possibilites

Emily St John Mandel’s newest book, Sea of Tranquillity, spans several centuries and the breadth of the universe. From a teen in British Columbia to a detective in a black-skied city, the sound of a violin shakes the world of all those who hear it. Readers of Mandel’s previous novels – including Station Eleven – know that this is a writer of incredible imagination and skill; if you’re not yet a Mandel reader, join her and Heather Parry to find out for yourself.

Marlon James: A Fantastical Star

What does a writer do once they’ve won the Booker Prize? If you’re the indefatigable Marlon James, you embark on a wildly ambitious series that defies easy characterisation. The second in the Dark Star trilogy Moon Witch, Spider King draws inventively on African mythology and fantasy to tell us the story of the witch Sologon, who bows to no man. An hour spent with the unique mind of Marlon James is an hour you won’t forget. Join him and Jess Brough this evening.