The Edinburgh International Book Festival – which takes place from 9-24 Aug as part of Edinburgh’s big festival month – has announced its programme for 2025.

There will be nearly 700 events featuring 641 writers from 35 countries, with this year’s key theme being ‘repair’. Says the official blurb, “the key theme this year is ‘repair’, which seeks to explore the many things around us which feel broken, and how we might seek to fix them”.

“Using informed insights from a range of experts”, it continues, as well as “lessons learned from our ancestors, the richness and connection offered by the natural world, hands-on activities and our own inherent humanity”, the festival will offer “a wide range of active opportunities to rebalance the mind, reinvigorate the spirit, reconcile with others, and restore a sense of calm and hope in the face of a world in chaos”.

Expanding on the theme, the festival’s director Jenny Niven says, “This year’s key theme starts from the belief that the brilliant ideas of writers and thinkers can help us repair a host of seemingly ‘broken’ things in our society”.

That includes things “from the cycle of fast fashion and our relationship with the environment, to cultural reparations and the state of our politics”, she goes on. “It’s a statement of hope and resilience and an invitation for our audiences to think about what repair might mean for them”.

The festival will kick off with an opening gala in which a number of authors will each read a newly commissioned piece of writing responding to the ‘repair’ theme. Writers taking part in the gala include Najwan Darwish, Jenni Fagan, Amitav Ghosh, Rachel Kushner and Cacica Juma Xipaia.

Elsewhere in the programme, there’s a brand new strand for young adults which includes appearances from Alice Oseman, creator of the ‘Heartstopper’ series; model and activist Munroe Bergdorf discussing topics from beauty standards to cancel culture’; and Caroline O’Donoghue showcasing her new ‘YA’ sci-fi fantasy romance.

The festival also includes an industry-centric event called ‘Global Ink: Discover The Power Of International Collaboration’, which aims to bring together publishing professionals from around the world for “thought-provoking discussion” and to “spark new connections”.

Tickets for this year’s Book Festival go on sale on Saturday, 21 Jun.