Kate Tempest and George the Poet will be appearing at Edinburgh Book Festival in August.  The festival, which runs from August 15-31, will feature Tempest in conversation with her editor, Don Paterson  and performing. George the Poet will be performing Search Party, his first collection of verse. Also on the bill at the book festival will be Costa poetry prize winner Jonathan Edwards with Ryan van Winkle, plus a day of spoken word events on Saturday 22 August.  

It starts with Bus Stops, Cul-de-sacs and Rutted Tracks, celebrating the contradictions and expectations of place in spoken word and the characters therein, with Luke Wright, Deanna Rodger, Mike Garry and Will Burns. That’s followed by Reimagining Philip Larkin, marking the 30 years since his death. Helen Mort, Tim Cockburn, Jenny Lindsay, Clare Pollard, Sam Riviere and AF Harrold read their favourite Larkin poems and perform newly commissioned pieces, which playfully seek to evoke and imagine Larkin’s take on the developments of the last 30 years. The event is chaired by Luke Wright. A comic verse event features Rob Auton, John Osborne, Kate Fox, and Elvis McGonagall, then there’s Voices in the Dark, with four “poet-explorers” in a darkened theatre. Janette Ayachi, Emma Jones, Andrew McMillan and Catherine Smith provide the soundscape. More details