Isla MacFarlane from The Edinburgh Reporter reported on the programme of the Beyond Borders International Festival of Literature and Thought 2016.

Beyond Borders summer events programme will be hosted at Traquair House and several other venues across the Borders and Edinburgh from 27-28 August 2016.

The programme will include a number of art exhibitions and performing arts pieces. This year’s theme is both domestic and international issues involving Scotland and the world.

BBIF Traquair House and Grounds

The programme features both local and international artists and politicians, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mister, writers and historians Alison Weir and Peter Frankopan and emerging talent Isabel Buchanan.

Highlights of the programme will include BBC International Chief Correspondent Lyce Doucet chairing a discussion between Nicola Sturgeon and Staffan de Mistura as they explore the role of women in peacemaking and politics.

Elsewhere in the programme, ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson will reveal how she was outed as an agent. Veteran diplomat Sir Kieran Pendergast will describe the severe impact on the UN of Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq.

There is a wide variety of historical talks to attend: Alison Weir will give a talk on Mary, Queen of Scots, while Jerry Brotton relates the connection between Elizabethan England and the Islamic world.

Former BBC chief Kate Adie described the Festival as “a rather wonderful party, but you are talking about serious, interesting matters.”

The Beyond Borders, International Festival of Literature and Thought takes place at Traquair House on the 27th-28th of August. 

Find the article here.