So that’s Portobello Book Festival over for another year. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

Over the weekend, there were about 1000 people in and out of the library and the Baptist Church Hall, and comments across the board have been very positive indeed.  Our intention is always to try as far as possible to make sure that those who make up the community of Portobello see themselves, their experience and their interests reflected in the programme – to be inclusive and local but never parochial! This year’s festival was perhaps the most diverse to date.  The programme is also designed to bring together a distinctive mix of subjects, writers, commentators and readers creating what we hope is an atmosphere that is convivial and stimulating

The organising team would like to thank:

The talented musicians and writers who took part in our SongBook opening event

All our participating writers for inspiring us

Our fantastic chairs for keeping everything running smoothly

Our soundman Hamish for making sure that everyone could be heard

Jock, our resident joiner!

Blackwell’s Bookshop for providing staff for the weekend and making sure all our authors’ books were available for sale after each event

Portobello Baptist Church for their help and use of the premises

Jon Davey who took some amazing photographs

A special thanks to Paul Hudson and the staff of Portobello Library, a fantastic resource on our doorstep, without whose help and time we would not be able to run our festival

And of course, thanks to everyone who came along to the events and created such a vibrant atmosphere.

The 2018 programme – our 10th festival! – will be launched early September with tickets available shortly afterwards. The organising team will be starting to plan for this very soon. Any ideas and suggestions will be warmly welcomed.

The 2018 Portobello Book Festival will run from 5th-7th October.

Another small selection of photos you may have seen on Twitter over the weekend. Not quite the same quality of those already included in the blog as they are only from a phone camera!

A selection of fantastic photos from our brilliant opening evening, thanks to Jon Davey. (All photos copyright Jon Davey Photography)

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