The Edinburgh International Book Festival has announced a partnership with Celtic Connections – Glasgow’s annual folk, roots and world music festival – which will see the two organisations collaborate on “ambitious new work at the intersection of literature and music”.

In 2026, the headline collaboration will be ‘The Golden Road’, a project that combines Indian classical and Scottish traditional music, inspired by the award winning book ‘The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed The World’ by Scottish historian William Dalrymple.

The project will premiere at Celtic Connections 2026, which runs from 15 Jan to 1 Feb, and will then “evolve and return in an expanded form for a landmark performance” at the 2026 Edinburgh International Book Festival in August.

An official statement explains that “this journey from Celtic Connections to the Book Festival will see the project grow and develop, offering audiences a fresh and ambitious reimagining of the work at each stage”.

The Book Festival will also partner on another show as part of Celtic Connections next month, with ‘Rhymes And Reels’, which will include two previous EIBF commissions and a new Creative Connections commission.

Harpist Esther Swift will present her musical settings of Jackie Kay’s poetry, and poet / novelist Angus Peter Campbell will appear with his daughter Brìghde Chaimbeul, blending readings in English and Gaelic with accompaniment from small pipes.

The new commission sees former National Poet Of Scotland Liz Lochhead collaborate with renowned Highland fiddler Duncan Chisholm.