Push The Boat Out (PTBO) has unveiled the full programme for its 2024 edition, featuring a teeming selection of poetry readings, interviews, roundtable discussions, in conversations and more. In a break from its usual venue of Summerhall, the festival will now take place at four venues; Dance Base, Dovecot Studios, Pleasance and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. This year’s edition will take place from Friday 22–Sunday 24 November, and will feature more than 120 artists involved in more than 50 events. Tickets for all events are available now. 

Taking part in PTBO will be leading poets and writers like Alexander McCall Smith, Salena Godden, Raymond Antrobus, Caroline Bird, Ella Frears, Kathleen Jamie, Imtiaz Dharker, Len Pennie and Michael Pedersen. Iona Fyfe will also be in attendance to present an evening fusing poetry and music, while Sunday 24 November will feature an evening celebrating the art and activism of legendary poet Benjamin Zephaniah. 

‘Disrupting The Narrative’ is the major strand flowing through this year’s PTBO, featuring performances and discussions from Hannah Lavery, SCOREScotland, Tinderbox Collective, Niroshini Thambar, Jeda Pearl, Shasta Ali, Niall Moorjani, Alycia Pirmohamed, Lisa Williams and Kat Gollock. The strand will offer new creative perspectives on how Edinburgh's colonial history has shaped the city, its institutions and people. 

Also in the programme is a series of performances curated in association with the National Theatre Of Scotland, including three new commissions from David McNeish and Ruxy Cantir, Tim Tim Cheng and Alexandra Shrinivas (main picture), and Raymond Wilson and Ross Somerville. Meanwhile, Bearing Witness will find Alycia Pirmohamed, Nastassia Layla Isawi, Nat Raha and Azad Ashim Sharma interrogate how poets and artists can continue to create art in the face of mounting global devastation. 

Workshops at the festival will feature poets like Michael Hofmann, Slim Shaka and Naomi Shihab Nye, and cover topics as diverse as mushrooms, music and tarot. 

The festival's appearance this year was thrown into uncertainty after Summerhall, its usual venue, was handed a winding up petition from HMRC for unpaid corporation tax (a request that the arts venue disputes). Robert McDowell, the director of Summerhall Management Ltd, wrote on Instagram, ‘We believe there is no corporation tax due to HMRC and have been working with professional advisors to address and resolve matters with HMRC. Summerhall Management are defending the proceedings raised and we hope a resolution can be achieved which will allow us to deal with this and move on quickly.'

Speaking of the problems, festival organisers wrote, ‘We are so thankful to each and every one of you for your patience, support, and kindness at a tricky time in our festival calendar. It means so much to us that we can still share our festival weekend with you all. ’

Find out more about the Push The Boat Out programme on the festival’s official site. 

Push The Boat Out, various venues, Friday 22–Sunday 24 November.