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Monday, June 28, 2004

Edinburgh international book festival - I’ve found myself in possession of the brochure for this years Edinburgh book festival. From which, if I was in Edinburgh and could afford to go to a load of events then I would be interested in the following:

14th August 2004 – Hari Kunzru & David Mitchell – both authors were selected in the most recent Granta Best Young British Novelists. Which is where I first encountered Kunzru – while his first novel The Impressionist doesn’t entirely catch my interest, his second novel, Transmission, which was extracted in the Granta collection does – a story about a computer virus and its spread across the world. Mitchell on the other hand has published three novels, the most recent is Cloud Atlas, which I’ll wait for in paperback – but I certainly enjoyed Ghostwritten and Number 9 Dream.

16th August 2004 – A.L. Kennedy – a Scottish author with several short story collections as well as a couple of novels – Now That You Are Back dealing with the reincarnation of Cyrano De Bergerac and Everything You Need dealing with the relation between a father and daughter where the daughter doesn’t know the man is her father. Apparently this counts as the launch of her latest novel Paradise, which presumably was where the extract from her second selection as Granta Young British Novelist came from.

20th August 2004 – Iain Banks – one of the most well known Scottish writes, with something like 20 novels to his names. Ranging from his more mainstream, if controversial novels, to his science fiction work under the name Iain M. Banks.

20th August 2004 – Zoe Strachan & Louise Welsh – two newish Glaswegian authors, I’ve been curious about Strachan’s Negative Space, though never got round to reading it, while Welsh’s The Cutting Room is a decent enough crime debut. Both release new novels at the book festival, Strachan – Spin Cycle, and Welsh – Tamburlaine Must Die.

21st August 2004 – Jeanette Winterson – I’ve only read her Power Book, but Winterson has many more and has gained a definite reputation over the years. Her most recent novel Lighthousekeeping is apparently along the same vein as Power Book, but better…

23rd August 2004 – Toby Litt & Will Rhode – mainly noted since I’ve just finished reading Rhode’s debut novel Paperback Raita, which was a decent enough heist/road novel set in India. With Litt I’ve read his short story collection Exhibitionism, which had some decent moments, but on the whole was hit and miss.

30th August 2004 – Ken MacLeod – top Scottish science fiction writer, who released his eighth novel Newton’s Wake earlier this year - following on from his first series (Star Fraction, The Stone Canal, The Cassinni Division, and The Sky Road) and the Engines of Light Trilogy.

No doubt there are other authors at the festival I should know about, but those are the ones that jump out at me. Possibly of interest is the particular focus on Chinese writing this year.

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