The 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival is now fast approaching, with almost 700 events lined up and 641 writers scheduled to attend.
Among these talented authors are a number of previous Booker Prize nominees and winners, including last year’s winner Samantha Harvey and the legendary Ian McEwan.
And with the 2025 Booker Prize longlist set to be announced on Tuesday, July 29, there is no better time to reflect on past nominees for one of the world’s most significant literature prizes.
With this year’s festival taking place from August 9 to 24 in its new home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, tickets are now available with some already having sold out.
So if you’re ready to book and are in need of some inspiration, here are the 25 past Booker Prize nominees attending the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival.
1. Samantha Harvey
The most recent winner of the Booker Prize for her novel Orbital, Samantha Harvey will appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday, August 14 to reflect on her year since winning one of literature’s highest honours. | AFP via Getty Images
2. Ian McEwan
One of the greatest living writers – and a man who needs no introduction – Ian McEwan will appear during the 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival ahead of the publication of his new novel, What We Can Know at McEwan Hall on Sunday, August 24. McEwan became a Booker Prize winner in 1998 for his novel Amsterdam and he is one of the few writers to have been nominated on six occasions. | Getty Images
3. Amitav Ghosh
Best known for his Ibis trilogy, Indian author Amitav Ghosh was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2008 for the first book in the series, Sea of Poppies. During the Edinburgh International Book Festival, he will sit down with Bee Rowlatt to discuss Wild Fictions, a collection of his writings from the last 25 years, on Monday, August 11 at Venue T. | Leonardo Cendamo/Getty Images
4. Laila Lalami
Nominated for the Booker Prize in 2015 for her novel The Moor’s Account, Moroccan-American writer Laila Lalami will appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Friday, August 22 alongside Catherine Chidgey to discuss their new dystopian tales. | Contributed