Edinburgh International Book Festival: Ian Rankin and Diana Gabaldon

“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 Ian Rankin and Diana Gabaldon. Each screened talk runs for about an hour. Feel free to stay for one or both!

Ian Rankin: Here’s to Absent and Imaginary Friends

Even without a Rebus novel, Ian Rankin has had quite a year. The novel co-authored with William McIlvanney, The Dark Remains, hit the spot – both with McIlvanney aficionados and with Rankin’s legions of readers. Then he turned to television with the innovative series Murder Island, involving real-life amateur detectives. Now Rankin is finishing a new Rebus thriller. Join him as he discusses McIlvanney, Murder Island and imagining John Rebus afresh with Sam Baker.

Diana Gabaldon: The Outlander Phenomenon

In 1991, Diana Gabaldon published Outlander, the tale of a post-Second World War nurse who accidentally time travels to Jacobite Scotland. Outlander became one of the bestselling book series of all time and spawned the hugely popular TV programme. In 2021, Gabaldon published the ninth book in the series, Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone. She returns to the Book Festival for the first time since 2014 to discuss Claire, Jamie and all things Outlander.