Edinburgh International Book Festival 2026: Non-fiction highlights

From politics to psychotherapy, this year’s EIBF non-fiction strand has something for everyone, writes Susan Mansfield

The programme for this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival encompasses current affairs, politics, history, science, sport, memoir and much more. BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, so often a voice of sanity in a turbulent world, and winner of this year’s Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction for The Finest Hotel in Kabul, brings her unique perspective and experience to the stage (27 August) and will also interview former Prime Minister Gordon Brown (28 August).

Fergus McIntosh, chief fact-checker at The New Yorker, will talk about truth in journalism (23 August) and will join Lewis Goodall, from the podcast The News Agents, and others for a panel on the future of news (22 August). Goodall and Edward Wong, the New York Times diplomatic correspondent, will talk about the state of UK-US relations (22 August).

On the key subject of technology, journalist Cory Doctorow and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales will reflect on the idealistic early days of the internet, and how far it has travelled since (17 August). Yi-Ling Liu offers an insight into the Chinese internet (15 August) and writer Michael Pollan and neuroscientist Anil Seth will discuss consciousness in a machine-led world (23 August).

As important as the headlines themselves are the human stories behind the headlines. Asne Seierstad, author of the bestselling The Bookseller of Kabul, will talk about the life of ordinary Russians under Putin (24 August), while Charlotte Higgins explores art and culture in Ukraine, looking at the roles they come to play in a country at war (22 August).

Molly Crabapple tells the little known story of the Jewish Bund, a left-wing movement in Europe active in the first half of the 20th century which fought the Tsar, rejected Zionism and resisted the Nazis (28 August). And two Book Festival favourites, Philippe Sands and Colm Tóibín, will join forces to remember Argentina’s Dirty War (30 August).

A number of acclaimed fiction writers feature at the Book Festival this year with non-fiction titles. Louis de Bernières will take about his memoir, Smelling of Rooks, about a writer’s life in Norfolk (27 August), while Mark Haddon will present his, Leaving Home, about growing up in the East Midlands (15 August). Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent, will talk about Death of an Ordinary Man, a tender, honest account of the death of her father-in-law (22 August).

Booker Prize winner Anne Enright will talk about her essays, collected over a lifetime in Attention: Writing on Life, Art and the World (15 August), while leading essayist Brian Dillon brings his new book, Ambivalence, about his formative years in Dublin and the books which shaped him (24 August). Doireann Ni Ghriofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat, brings to life the true stories of the inmates of Cork’s Victorian asylum (15 August).

And there’s much more: broadcaster and historian David Olusoga reflecting on his career (24 August); leading sports journalist Simon Kuper on World Cups past and present (20 August); and scientist Daisy Fancourt and choreographer Wayne McGregor on why the arts are good for our wellbeing (22 August), while the nation’s favourite psychotherapist Philippa Perry presents a live edition of Ask Philippa (15 August).

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