Added on Thursday 27 Oct 2011

John Byrne Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011
John Byrne was born in Paisley attended Glasgow School of Art. He has worked as painter and set designer, playwright and novelist, He is one of Scotland?s great polymaths. Best known for his plays 'T'he Slab Boys Trilogy' and 'Tutti Frutti'. Byrne has also designed record sleeves including for Donovan and The Beatles. At the Edinburgh Book Festival he discussed his written work, which is held in major collections in Scotland and abroad. Several of his paintings hang in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

Ben Okri Edinburgh International Books Festival 2011
The Nigerian-born, London-based Booker Prize winner Ben Okri is always a popular figure at the Book Festival. 'A Time for New Dreams' weaves together ruminations on childhood, self-censorship, beauty, education and the global economic shutdown, all the while aiming high for his goal that ?true literature tears up the script?, asking questions about who we are and where we are heading. Since his first novel, 'Flowers and Shadows' (1980), Okri has risen to international acclaim, and he is often described as one of Africa?s greatest writers. His best known work, 'The Famished Road' was awarded the 1991 Booker Prize. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His first-hand experiences of civil war in Nigeria are said to have inspired many of his works. He writes about the mundane and the metaphysical, the individual and the collective, drawing the reader into a world with vivid descriptions.

Neil Gaiman Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011.
Neil Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and films. Including the comic book series 'The Sandman'.? Gaiman's writing has received many awards, including Hugos, Nebulas, 'Bram Stoker', Newberry Meal, International Horror Guild Award and 2010 Carnegie Medal in Literature. Gaiman gave a talk at the Einburgh Book Festival 2011.

Liz Lochhead, Scottish Poet and Dramatist, attended the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011.? After attending Glasgow School of Art she lectured in fine art for eight years before becoming a professional writer.? She has collaborated with Dundee singer-songwriter Michael Marra.? In January 2011 she was named as the second Scots Makar or national poet, succeeding Edwin Morgan.?

Pauline Black Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011
The iconic lead singer for platinum-selling 2-tone band The Selecter, Black was the highest profile woman in a movement dominated by blokes. As the undisputed Queen of British Ska, she witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly. Born in 1953 of Anglo-Jewish/Nigerian parentage, she was adopted by a white, working class Essex family but was always made to feel an outsider. Her book 'Black by Design; follows her rise to fame and recollections of the 2-tone phenomenon allied to the search for her real parents.

Lazlo Krasznahorkai Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011.
Krasznahorkai is one of the great Hungarian writers of his generation, an author whose work has been celebrated across Europe for years. His acclaimed debut novel, Satanstango, first published in Hungary at the end of the Soviet era, is finally set to be translated into English thanks to the support of the Irish novelist Colm T?ib?n.?

At the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011 T?ib?n and Krasznahorkai discussed his singular contributions to literature, from his debut to the most recent short work, Animalinside.?

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