Summerhall August Festival 2013

Returning for their third year, Ron Butlin (Edinburgh’s Makar / Poet Laureate) with acclaimed musicians Dick Lee and Anne Evans have updated their 5***** show with generous helpings of Edinburgh Science. This unique and very off-beat celebration of Edinburgh is witty, satirical and highly entertaining – guaranteed!

Following the success of the first Summerhall Historical Fiction festival in April, we present a one day event, chaired by the organisers, Allan Massie and Iain Gale, in which they and a panel of authors and historians will discuss the perils, pitfalls and popularity of the genre. Is it a way in to understanding the past or merely irresponsible meddling with the truth?

Set on a struggling farm in a fiercely beautiful country teetering on the brink of civil war, this second novel by one of international literature's rising young stars weaves a brilliant tale of family drama and political turmoil. Katie Kitamura is based in New York and has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wired, the Guardian, and Frieze. She was a finalist in the 2010 and 2013 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Awards for her debut novel, The Longshot and for Gone to the Forest.

For seventy years John Berger has made an outstanding contribution to the Culture of Europe, and Scotland.

Summerhall is proud to present three Public Seminars exploring Berger's work as Artist and Art Critic; as Philosopher and Political activist; as Novelist, Poet and Storyteller. The panel will consist of Anne Michaels, Alasdair Gray, Richard Demarco, Tom Pow, David Kennedy, Manfred McDowell plus a team of outstanding Scottish artists, writers and thinkers. Sessions will be chaired by Timothy Neat.

Ghost Stories with one of the finest traditional storytellers living in Scotland. As darkness descends, join storyteller and musician Marion Kenny for spine chilling supernatural tales in one of Edinburgh's most atmospheric venues. The Demonstration Room situated in the old veterinary college at Summerhall has it's own gruesome past and is famously haunted.