Unfortunately, due to illness, we have had to cancel the Mothers and Daughters, Fathers and Sons session tomorrow at 3.30pm in the library. Apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment caused. 

With only two weeks to go before Portobello Book Festival begins, below is a ticket update.

The following events are fully booked but a limited number of tickets may be available immediately before the event:

Portobello Reporter

Song Books – opening evening event

Lost Edinburgh

My Way: A Muslim Woman’s Journey

Scotland and Slavery

Very limited tickets are still available for the following events:

Writing workshop – writing from nature

Writers in residence – what they do and what they learn

Outside In

Fake News

Tickets for all other events are going well so don’t leave it too late to collect yours from Portobello Library at Rosefield Avenue. Remember all tickets are free!

Library Opening Hours

Monday 10am – 8pm
Tuesday 10am – 8pm
Wednesday 10am – 8pm
Thursday 10am – 5pm
Friday 10am – 5pm
Saturday 10am – 5pm
Sunday closed

Friday 6th October,  12-1.30pm, Library Upstairs

Our first event features authors Archie Foley and Peter E Ross introducing a selection of  personal stories and reminiscences from their new book  Footprints in the Sand – local history from the Portobello Reporter. 

The accounts of events, places and individuals reveal Portobello not just as a holiday resort but also as a community where people lived and worked. Readings by Archie and Margaret Munro.

Local transport can be provided for those who need it. Contact Portobello Library for information.

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

Who will be appearing at

Portobello Book Festival 2017?

All will be revealed soon!

The programme for this year’s festival running from 6-8th October will be launched on 1st September. Check back here for details of all the wonderful events we will be running this year and all the fabulous authors who will be appearing. 

Local photographer Jon Davey was dashing between events on Saturday and has kindly sent us some of his photos to share. You can find out more about Jon and his photography by visiting www.jondaveyphotography.co.uk

SUNDAY 9th OCTOBER 

FAMILY SAGAS, FAMILY SECRETS   11.00am-12.30pm      LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Debut authors Mairi Wilson, Ursula’s Secret, and Shelley Day, The Confession of Stella Moon, talk about their different approaches to creating vivid and exhilarating explorations of the impact of secrets which span generations in a family. They discuss what is said and what is left unsaid as mysteries are uncovered. The authors will be in conversation with Anne Loughnane, whose second novel, A Clarewoman’s Journey, has been published recently.

THE OSCAR OF MOUNTAINEERING  12.15-1.45pm    LIBRARY

In Some Lost Place by Sandy Allan, who hails from Newtonmore, is an exhilarating and harrowing account of his ascent with Rick Allen of one of the last great challenges of Himalayan mountaineering: Nanga Parbet’s Mazeno Ridge. Both climbers were awarded the 2013 Piolet d’Or, the Oscar of mountaineering, for their unique achievement.

Chair: Larry Foster

TSUNAMI: SCOTLAND’S DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION  12.45-1.45pm  LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Acclaimed political writer, Iain Macwhirter, examines the shifting political landscape in Scotland in the light of the events of the past couple of years. Where are we now and what does the future hold?

THE LOCKERBIE BOMBING: THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE  2-3pm LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Kenny MacAskill discusses his latest book which details his decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, on compassionate grounds. He sets it in the context of the commercial and security interests that have overshadowed events in the decades both before and after.

Chair: Alastair Cameron

MEET THE AUTHOR – JAMES ROBERTSON  3.15-4.15pm    LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

In James Robertson’s latest novel To Be Continued…., Douglas Findhorn Elder is in a sorry state. He has just turned fifty, split up with his partner and jumped (before he was pushed) from his job at an ailing Edinburgh newspaper. On the night of his birthday, he makes an unexpected new friend: a talking toad. When a new work opportunity takes the man from the city to the Highlands, the toad goes with him…….

Chair: Jim Gilchrist

PLAYING DIRTY  4.30-6.00pm    LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Competitive sports have recently come into international disrepute over accusations of doping, bullying and corruption. Richard Moore, journalist, author and former racing cyclist, Alan Bissett, novelist, playwright and Rangers fan, and Maddie Breeze, sociologist and author on women’s roller derby, discuss the state of sport in the contemporary world.

Chair: John Kelly