The fringe Edinburgh High Street

 

It's always part of the Edinburgh festival experience to walk from Fringe central near George square down the Bridges to the high street, just to savour the atmosphere and colour and sample some of the shows on offer for another year.

PHOTOS at Edinburgh International Book Festival 2014

Game of Thrones George RR Martin arrives

Kate Adie

Bonnie Greer

Alan Massie

A few images from Edinburgh International Book Festival 2014.

Huruki Murakami at Edinburgh

There was a definite hushed awe over Murakami's rare appearance at a book festival.  Twenty years ago he started the ‘Wind Up Bird Chronicles’.  He usually writes in the first person narrative and he said he was uncomfortable with using the third person - that he didn't want to look down at people, but to rather stand on the same level as his characters; it was more democratic he thought. He said his writing has been a long journey.

His first novel appeared in 1979.  He appeared unassuming and reclusive - he said that he wished to be a quiet person and to live a quiet life. He wrote about extraordinarily strange people and events though!.

He appreciated strong interferences to push the story forward.  He enjoyed irony he said and many of his stories are terrifying and scary.  He spoke of the bloody histories and the collective memories of history and he thought that everybody is cursed and poisoned by the past. The Manchurian history was important for his writing. 

The Well. He spoke of his lifetime dream to be sitting at the bottom of the well where he was super heavy. The water might be coming up. He wrote of nightmares and odd unrealistic coincidences and he said that strange coincidences happened to him.

Questions. He said that the translation of his books were good.

He said that  his stories were not planned and that he had no idea where the story was going. 'It is not fun to know the conclusions. I like to think, what's going to happen today. I like to be spontaneous.

'Imagination is an animal I keep alive.'

He said that once a book is gone, it is gone. 

Why were his characters so sad? I didn't notice he replied, Everybody is sad.

He said he liked to write to music that runs through the novel.' I need music to write on - the harmony and rhythm is important to me to keep the readers reading. I need music.'

I am always looking for the right music to help to me write.,

Murakami is a serene and humble man.

Vic Galloway Jura Unbound, Night of Music and Words

Siobhan Wilson

A night of Music and Words. This evening was a highly successful one with Scottish voices. Galloway has written a book 'Songs in the Key of Fife.'  He spoke of the creative people and places - was it the coastline of Fife or that you use your imagination of die he wondered.

 

Andrew Mitchell of the Hazy Janes began the evening at the Jura Unbound at Edinburgh International book festival 2014, with a strong set of songs on both piano and guitar.  We were treated to powerful and moving readings by authors - Anneliase Mackintosh, Kate Tough and Liam Murray Bell.

Later we had the beautiful voice of Scottish songstress Siobhan Wilson. 

Michael "Vic" Galloway (born 4 August 1972, Muscat, Oman) is a DJ on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 1, Galloway presents a self-titled show on Radio Scotland (formerly known as Air) every Monday from 8:05pm-10pm and does the BBC Introducing Scotland Radio 1 programme Wednesday evenings/Thursday mornings from 12:00-2:00am. He presents BBC Scotland's T in the Park television coverage every summer and has also presented the station's The Music Show.