2016 Edinburgh International Book Festival

A Life on the Scrap Heap In 2001, almost 150 tattered notebooks were discovered in a skip in Cambridge. They were a small part of an intimate diary that began in 1952 and ended half a century later. It took Alexander Masters five years to uncover the identity and real history of their author. In A Life Discarded he shares the true, shocking and poignant story of this mysterious diarist, and a stunning final revelation in his pursuit. Chaired by James Runcie.

My Fight for Human Rights The first Muslim woman and first Iranian to win a Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi is a leading lawyer and activist who has campaigned fearlessly for freedom of speech and equality before the law in her country, despite being betrayed politically and personally, and forced into exile from Iran. She joins us to discuss Until We Are Free, her account of the fight for dignity, human rights and Iranian reform.

Voices in our Heads Two years ago, authors at the Book Festival took part in a major study into the multiple inner voices that make up human consciousness. Now, the leader of that project, psychologist Charles Fernyhough, has completed a major book on the subject, which he discusses with Richard Holloway. The Voices Within weaves human anecdotes with research to demonstrate how inner voices have a far more important role in consciousness than science has previously acknowledged.

Life in the Peloton Those lucky enough to witness David Millar’s spellbinding Book Festival event in 2011 will recall the athlete’s forthright admissions about calorie counting, secret doping and quirky camaraderie on the pro cycling circuit. Now he's back with The Racer, a love letter to racing and an unparalleled insight into the career of a Scottish cycling legend. No other rider has so successfully transformed himself into a charmingly anti-establishment communicator.

The World’s Largest Refugee Camp Dadaab Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya has existed for 25 years. Originally created for 90,000 Somalian refugees it now contains over 350,000 people, including 10,000 third-generation inhabitants. Over a period of four years, Ben Rawlence explored this extraordinary 'temporary' city, getting close to the realities of life for its inhabitants. City of Thorns takes us beyond the shock headlines, offering testament to the frailty and resilience of humanity.

The Funniest Writer in Britain? Already a wildly popular author thanks to her memoir Love, Nina and bestselling debut novel, Man at the Helm, Nina Stibbe returns with Paradise Lodge. Set in a 1970s ramshackle old people's home, this lovingly created story of chaos, love and elderly people is told from the perspective of a 15 year old girl who works there. If there's an heir to Sue Townsend, it's surely Nina Stibbe. She talks to James Runcie.

Unlocking Lockerbie In 2009, then Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill controversially granted the release on compassionate grounds of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted for the Lockerbie Bombing in 1988. Now MacAskill has written his own account of the terrorist attack, the trial and the turmoil that has ensued. With forensic detail he explores the forces at play and why some questions continue to remain unanswered.

One of the Greatest Irish Writers Philip Roth has called it Edna O’Brien’s masterpiece; for John Banville it’s savage, tender and true; Claire Messud describes it as arduous and beautiful. The Little Red Chairs is the work of a truly great Irish writer at the height of her powers. A decade since she wrote her last novel, O’Brien discusses an astonishing story that charts the consequences of a fatal attraction.

John Lennon’s Bad Trip Kevin Barry’s Beatlebone recently won the £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize for ‘fiction at its most novel’. The phrase seems apt: even though this is a story built from familiar elements – an imagined John Lennon, post-Beatles in 1978, trying to pay a visit to an isle off the coast of Ireland that the real-life Lennon bought in the 60s – Barry has produced a tour de force that’s funny, raw and dazzlingly novel.

Egypt: A Devastating Portrait In 2002, The Yacoubian Building was an international bestseller, establishing Alaa Al Aswany as one of the Arab world’s most influential voices. Since then, Egypt has changed radically. However, Al Aswany’s new novel The Automobile Club of Egypt represents another satire on his country’s modern situation. Today he discusses his book and freedom of speech in a post-2011 Egypt whose government has tried to silence him.

The Goalkeeper Who Saved the Day The idea that footballers stay with one club throughout their career is almost laughable in these cash and ego-driven times. But Patrick ‘Packie’ Bonner was one such man, keeping goal for Celtic across three decades while making a global name for himself with a penalty save which took Ireland into the World Cup’s latter stages for the first time. Here, Bonner tells Gerard McDade about his extraordinary career.

East West Street There is no lawyer quite like Philippe Sands QC. Outspoken on a range of human rights issues, from the illegality of the Iraq war to torture in the Bush administration, the Professor of Law at University College London is also a highly respected barrister who has been involved in the major human rights cases of recent times from Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Guantánamo. In conversation with James Runcie, Sands explores the deep personal inspirations that drive him professionally to challenge governments and champion just causes.

Nine More Curious Incidents First he found literary acclaim with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, then he struck gold with a National Theatre play based on the bestselling book. Now, Mark Haddon turns his hand to short fiction, and today he discusses his gripping collection of nine stories, The Pier Falls, which range from the collapse of a seaside pier to the discovery of a huge cave in the Amazon rainforest. Supported by the Hawthornden Literary Retreat

Middle-Aged Misery Mid-life crises arrive at different times for different people. For journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer, hers made its presence felt at the age of 44. Out of Time is Sawyer’s investigation of this most challenging of life moments, in which she describes not just her own experiences, but recounts the stories of many others who are navigating the choppy waters of their 40s and 50s.

Making Banking Better Nearly a decade after the Great Recession of 2007-09, banking may have become one of the world’s less popular professions, but has the financial system itself actually changed much? If not, what corrections to banking and financial practice do we need? Former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King discusses his insightful and important book, The End of Alchemy. Part of our A Changing Society series of events.

Dangerous Heroines Two debut novels whose lead characters will entrance, unnerve and delight. Evoking the blood, filth and beauty of Georgian London, Janet Ellis’ The Butcher’s Hook introduces us to young Anne Jaccob who embarks on a passionate love affair with shocking consequences. In A Ghost’s Story, Lorna Gibb tells the story of Katie King's life and afterlife. From Victorian Scotland to the present day, she haunts all she meets. Chaired by Jenny Brown. Part of our First Book Award Nominee series of events.

Strange to be Doing This Without Her The acclaimed author of Under the Skin and The Book of Strange New Things reads from a collection of deeply moving poems entitled Undying. In tender, bittersweet verse, Michel Faber grieves for his wife Eva who died in 2014 after a six year battle with cancer. His fearless poems present brutally honest meditations on Eva’s death – and how it feels to say a long, heartbroken, impotent goodbye. Chaired by Richard Holloway.

Extremely Talented and Incredibly Close The bestselling US author of Everything is Illuminated launches his first novel in 11 years. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Here I Am is the story of a fracturing New York family, set against the backdrop of a much wider catastrophe as an earthquake engulfs the Middle East, sparking a pan-Arab invasion of Israel. Clever, courageous and delightfully irreverent, Safran Foer unveils one of this year’s most talked about novels. Part of our Redrawing the Middle East series of events.

A Road Trip Through America With the publication of Dirt Road, Scotland’s only Booker Prize winner joins a Scottish publisher for the first time in decades. This brilliantly accessible road movie of a novel arrives with Canongate’s typical panache, alongside a film adaptation of the book. We proudly welcome James Kelman, the writer described by Amit Chaudhuri as ‘the greatest living British novelist’, to discuss perhaps his most significant novel yet with Brian Taylor.

Deceptively Brilliant Fiction With over three million copies of his books sold to date, Mark Billingham’s career as a novelist has been a slam-dunk success. And he’s back for more this summer with Die of Shame, his smartest, most unusual thriller to date. When six people meet each week to discuss addiction, they share their most shameful secrets. So when one of them is murdered, will any of the others testify? He discusses his book with fellow crimewriter Val McDermid.