Blake
Friedmann authors Manu Joseph, Monique Roffey, and Kapka Kassabova all feature
at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which begins on Saturday 11
August. In addition Manu Joseph and Kapka Kassabova are among 50 international
authors taking part in the new Edinburgh World Writers' Conference, which is
also part of the festival.
The Edinburgh World Writers' Conference brings international writers
together to discuss the role of literature today. Fifty world
renowned writers will join members of the public every afternoon at
the Edinburgh International Book Festival from 17-21 August 2012 to discuss the
five topics that almost brought writers to blows during the infamous Writers' Conference of 1962. Book tickets
here online. After Edinburgh, the World Writers'
Conference will go on to visit 15 different cities over 12 months, giving
writers and readers in different countries the chance to add their
voices to the growing debate about writing and its relationship to
contemporary life.
For more on the Edinburgh World
Writer's Conference see here.
See below for the authors' events:
Monique Roffey Wednesday 15 August 10:15am -
11:15am: After Disaster Strikes
Praise for Monique Roffey:
THE WHITE WOMAN ON THE GREEN BICYCLE was shortlisted
for the Orange Prize 2010, and for the Encore Award for best second novel 2011.
'Monique Roffey is a writer of verve, vibrancy and
compassion, and her work is always a joy to read.' Sarah Hall
'Monique Roffey's compelling new novel ARCHIPELAGO is
studded with striking images....Roffey is adept at conveying wonder.' --Natasha
Tripney, The Observer
'ARCHIPELAGO is lovely: a novel full of sensual,
elemental description, soaked in loss and damage and softly haunted by the
Caribbean's bloody history of slavery.' --Claire Allfree, Metro
Kapka Kassabova Friday 17 August 6:45pm - 7:45pm:
You've been Tangoed
Praise for Kapka Kassabova & TWELVE MINUTES OF
LOVE:
TWELVE MINUTES OF LOVE was shortlisted in the
non-fiction category for Creative Scotland's Scottish Book Awards.
'Like Isabel Allende…Kassabova has a gift for measured,
eloquent, no-frills storytelling.' --Scotland on Sunday
'A touching and insightful chronicle of a ten year
obsession that dragged her around the world and back again by the heartstrings.
Kassabova is that rare thing, an author who excels in every genre.' -- Lee
Randall, The Scotsman
'A mesmeric memoir of love, lust and tango. '-- Marie
Claire
'A captivating and elegant meditation on love, longing,
travel and the art of the tango. Kassabova is a powerful new voice whose
writing demonstrates, in every sentence, that nonfiction can be every bit as
creative as fiction.' --'Book of the Year' The Australian
Manu
Joseph Monday 20 August 7:00pm - 8:00pm: Love and Humanity in the City
Praise for Manu Joseph's SERIOUS MEN:
Winner of the The Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010,
shortlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize 2010, the Commonwealth Prize South
Asia & Europe Best First Book 2011, and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse
Prize 2011
'A searing new voice.'-- Megan O'Grady, Vogue
'Manu Joseph's skills as a writer are tremendous.' --
Manil Suri
'One of the strongest debuts of 2010, this bittersweet
Mumbai tale of high minds and low plots [is] more Lucky Jim than White
Tiger…Touching, hilarious, this collision between the Mumbai of stars and of
mud rediscovers a deep Indian vein of humane and sophisticated comedy.'
-- Independent
'This remarkable debut novel is one of the very best
novels ever to come out of South Asia, and points to a new direction after the
earlier wave of writing by Salman Rushdie, Rohinton Mistry, and Vikram Seth…If
there is one novel you must buy this year, whether or not you have the
slightest interest in South Asia, make it this one. It will revive your hope in
contemporary fiction, and make you convinced again that the novel at its best
has no competition in making sense of our world…' -- Anis Shivani, Huffington
Post
