Russell Leadbetter
HIS Twitter page describes him as one of America's foremost civil rights, religious and political figures, but for one Saturday in August the Rev Jesse Jackson's immediate focus will be on an audience in Edinburgh.
Rev Jackson, who staged US presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988, will be one of the key names at the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival, details of which were announced yesterday.
He will appear at the Baillie Gifford Main Theatre on Saturday, August 22, and will talk about a life of campaigning for black rights and human understanding.
Other highlights in the festival, which will run from August 15-31, include appearances by US bestselling author Marilynne Robinson, playwright David Hare, and authors Irvine Welsh, previous Man Booker winners Howard Jacobson and Ben Okri, historians Antony Beevor and Ferdinand Mount, Louis de Bernieres, Joanne Harris, Paul Merton and Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley.
Some overseas literary megastars will appear, among them Spain's Jaume Cabré, whose Confessions has sold over one million copies, Germany's Jenny Erpenbeck, winner of the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, South Korea's Han Kang and Alain Mabanckou, from Congo.
Alasdair Gray will talk about his landmark novel, Lanark, to coincide with a new stage production at the International Festival.
Channel 4's economics editor Paul Mason will discuss capitalism and a route to a fairer society with former First Minister Alex Salmond, whose successor, Nicola Sturgeon, will be in discussion with Val McDermid on the subject of the latter's new crime novel. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown will examine the future of Scotland.
In a tribute to Seamus Heaney, a full-length dramatic reading of his translation of Beowulf will take place in a co-production with the Tron Theatre Company. Mark Rylance, the renowned Shakespearean and Wolf Hall actor, will read from Paul Kingsnorth's novel The Wake.
Terry Waite will deliver the Frederick Hood Memorial Lecture, while Ali Smith, winner of the 2015 Bailey's Prize, will give the PEN / H G Wells Lecture.
Taking its lead from the constant migration of people, this year's festival will embark on a 'voyage of discovery to every continent on earth to see how this flow of humanity, and the stories that come with and result from it, shapes our lives, our opinions and our identities.'
Festival director Nick Barley said: "Scotland has always been an outward-looking nation and this year the festival is more international than ever before.
"Charlotte Square Gardens will reflect the idea of the Global Village as we welcome authors from across the planet. Whether they are from Nigeria or North Korea, Colombia or China, these are writers whose stories shed light not only on the big changes in world power, but on the shifting nature of local cultures- changes that are also taking place in Scotland."
Other themes this year will be Britain's changing political landscape, the changing Middle East, and the power of graphic novels and visual storytelling.
Barley later tweeted that the launch had been attended by a 'gorgeous gathering of literary and festival folk.'
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