‘Comedy is my self-defence’
On miserable book tours and during her parents' divorce, novelist AL Kennedy consoled herself with humour. She explains why she is now performing on the Fringe.
Keep it brief
A new £15,000 prize for short stories suggests Britain is finally getting over its obsession with the novel. And not before time, says Aida Edemariam.
South African author storms festival
Edinburgh captivated as apartheid-era veteran tells of nation's change.
Fo delights his audience with boyhood tales
The Nobel prize-winning writer Dario Fo regaled a sell-out audience at the Edinburgh international book festival yesterday with tales from his boyhood, and attributed his skills as a wordsmith to the great storytelling traditions of his Italian upbringing.
Love of the land
His plays inspired riots and a revival of Irish culture, yet rarely have they been done justice. Until now. Colm Tóibín on the doomed genius of JM Synge.
‘We can always touch the hem of the great one’s skirt later’
Dame Muriel Spark, mistress of ambivalent irony, thrilled her fans with a rare public appearance at the book festival in Edinburgh, the city she still calls home, despite having lived in Italy for years.
50 pages of new novel are stolen
Louis De Bernières, author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, has lost 50 pages of his next book by leaving them on a laptop computer and going to the Edinburgh festival.
Evil genius
Paul Claudel was a misogynist, an anti-semite and an Islamophobe. He was also regarded as one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists. By Tim Ashley.
Poet’s corner
Each day this week we will publish a specially commissioned song or poem from a leading festival talent. Today it is the turn of Tina C, who is launching her bid to be president of the US in the 2008 elections at this year's festival. Tina says: "This is my hymn to Edinburgh, taking the tune of one of my favourite patriotic American songs, My Country 'Tis of Thee."
Otis Lee Crenshaw
Each day this week we will publish a specially commissioned song or poem from a leading festival talent. Today it is the turn of Rich Hall's comic ex-country singer, Otis Lee Crenshaw.
Gary le Strange’s G2 Song
Each day this week we will publish a specially commissioned song or poem from a leading festival talent. Today, it is Gary le Strange's 'G2 song'.
Harold Pinter is famous
What are people queuing at the Fringe box office buying tickets for?