Writers Magazine 2009

At the Edinburgh Book Festival 2009

The success of the Edinburgh Book Festival cannot be in any doubt. Turn up hoping to see one of 350 events that are programmed over the three weeks in August and you will very probably have to hope for a return ticket. The events are normally sold out. That is certainly one good way to measure success.

The days when you had to pay to get into the book festival are long gone. Now you can enter it and wander around the wooden track, leading to the performance pavilions and coffee shops, which takes over one of the fine, grassy squares looking to Castle Rock one way and offering a view down to the Firth of Forth if you look the other way.

For serious visitors to the book festival it is vital to peruse the programme and plan in advance. If you only need one or two tickets then you are quite likely to find a return near the date. The Festival runs a very efficient booking system and box office and the staff are delighted to buy back surplus tickets knowing they can resell them to latecomers like myself.

The bookshop

As well as its income from the popular and sold-out events, there is an excellent bookshop which is run by the festival itself. The selection of books, and their layout, makes it difficult to emerge from it without having spent money on books. It helps to know that the profits from these book sales go directly to the funding of book fair which has clearly managed to negotiate supply arrangements, presumably including returns, with the book wholesalers for their well-stocked bookshop.

What is so attractive about the shop is the focus on quality. So you don't have to look through 10 books in order to find one that is interesting. Every other book along the shelves is one that you would like to find time to read.

The importance of children's publishing is also recognised as the programme had a stream of daytime events for young readers, although teens and young adult readers were not in evidence - but in the summer-time teenagers doubtless have more important matter to attend to.

The children have their own bookshop. The shelves were arranged for the convenience of people of all sizes and there was a very relaxed policy, it appeared to me, about taking books down and having a good look through them.

In both bookshops they adopted several ways of categorising the writers. Alongside a formidable wall where the writers were set out in alphabetical order, the titles could also be found in something approaching the traditional genres with today’s guests prominently displayed.

But this is a thinkers’ bookshop where you are not going to find popular page-turners. Although Edinburgh calls itself a book festival, in truth it should attach the word ‘literary’ to its title. This is a highbrow and not a lowbrow event, but none the worse for that.

The events

Book festivals have moved on from consisting of a few writers talking about their work and reading selected passages from it. While this has some value it is noticeable how the performance element of writers’ work has steadily improved. You do feel you are rewarded for the tenner you have paid.

The audience was, in my experience, local. The chance to meet well-known authors or to attend debates is evidently an attractive proposition, even though each event will cost in the region of £10 ($16). Personal connection with the writer is evidently much valued. Before or after events the authors can set themselves up in the signing tent. This proved extremely popular. A little eaves-dropping suggests that many birthday and timely Christmas presents were being purchased and inscribed ready for the appropriate gift-giving time.

Debates

The guest director for the show also organises some debates. Two or three recognised writers are invited to address a current issue and then answer questions or comments from the audience. These left me feeling a little unfulfilled since the big question needed either more time or more focus to avoid the conclusion that ‘life is just too complicated’.

As a stimulant for mental activity they were excellent but as debates that sought to work out solutions or identify practical pathways they left one feeling disappointed. However, the dram of whiskey offered after the event provided the lubricant for some excellent round-table talks with other visitors.

Workshops

A few small writers’ workshops were conducted during the show.

The Book Festival does not have anything resembling a formal fringe where new or inspiring writers can come and hope to catch the eye of new readers or pitch ideas that might be taken. It has never been easy for new writers to reach readers and this book fair would seem to provide an excellent potential forum, but the focus is on the already famous.

Frankfurt, New York and London have their book fairs where the business side of publishing is the focus. It is a pity that the Edinburgh Festival does not afford a better showcase for new as well as aspiring writers.

It was good to see how many people who had completed creative writing courses had found their way into the employ of the various cafes, box office and other functions which were so vital to the smooth running of the book festival. The informality and intimacy of this event makes it easy to engage strangers in conversation.

So part of the success of the Book Festival must be the way that all the Edinburgh festivals have now aligned, and integrated themselves, so that they all run concurrently and can feed off each other's visitors. It is another reason to spend some part of August in Scotland’s capital city.

The Book Festival is well worth a visit provided you have some money to spend and are able to plan your visit in advance. But if you are a lonely writer hoping that Edinburgh might provide you with a chance for you to be discovered, or enlighten you about how to find your audience, you will be disappointed.

 © Chas Jones 2009

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