Edinburgh World Writers' Conference 2012, August 17-21
19-07-2012 ¦ Conferences
The World Writers' Conference, part of the annual Edinburgh International Book Festival, will bring together 50 writers who will discuss the role of literature in today’s society. Basque writer Bernardo Atxaga will be participating in the event.
The conference, presented by the Edinburgh International Book Festival and The British Council, will be held in Edinburgh during August 17-21. Inspired by the conference held in Scotland in 1962, this year’s conference will bring 50 world renowned writers to Edinburgh to discuss the current state of literature and the importance of its role in society at large.
The conference will continue over the course of the next 12 months, holding its discussion forum in 15 cities across the globe in host countries like Australia, Canada, China, India, Russia, and Turkey.
Information about the Edinburgh Conference is on the event’s web page. The topics that will be discussed are:
- 17: Should Literature Be Political?
- 18: Style vs Content
- 19: A National Literature?
- 20: Censorship Today
- 21: The Future of the Novel
The following writers will be in attendance:
- Scottish: Alan Bissett, Theresa Breslin, John Burnside, Sophie Cooke, Keith Gray, Kirsty Gunn, Kapka Kassabova, Jackie Kay, Aonghas MacNeacail, Denise Mina, Nicola Morgan, Ewan Morrison, Ian Rankin, James Robertson, Ali Smith, and Irvine Welsh.
- Other UK: Melvin Burgess, Alan Gibbons, Hari Kunzru, Nick Laird, Patrick Ness, China Miéville, Ben Okri, and Owen Sheers.
- International: Aharon Appelfeld, Bernardo Atxaga, Junot Díaz, Nathan Englander, Carlos Gamerro, Xiaolu Guo, Manu Joseph, Margo Lanagan, Michel Le Bris, Yiyun Li, Garth Nix, Joyce Carol Oates, Elliot Perlman, Mattias Politycki, Preeta Samarasan, Elif Shafak, Kamila Shamsie, Kyung-Sook Shin, Dag Solstad, Ahdaf Soueif, Janne Teller, Kim Thuy, Ludmila Ulitskaya, Chika Unigwe, Binyavanga Wainaina, and Samar Yazbek.
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