Today, writing for young adults is such a major part of the publishing industry, it seems strange that there aren’t more book festivals with a focus on that nebulous stage between childhood and adulthood. According to a 2024 report commissioned by Harper Collins and Nielsen Book ratings, around three-quarters of YA readers were adults, with 28% being over the age of 28. Clearly, the days of bookshops and libraries being segregated into ‘adults’ and ‘children’s’ sections, with readers graduating ceremonially from Charlotte’s Web to Charlotte Brontë, are long gone. 

In a similar vein, while Edinburgh International Book Festival has for many years staged a vibrant children’s festival alongside the main programme, events dedicated to young adult literature are a comparatively recent phenomenon. This year, the Book Festival will include an extensive programme of events aimed at young adults, featuring some of the starriest names in the publishing firmament.

The most zeitgeisty of these is Alice Oseman, creator of the Heartstopper series of graphic novels, whose beloved teenage-boy sweethearts Nick and Charlie reached a massive audience thanks to the acclaimed Netflix TV adaptation. Oseman will be discussing her work on the tenth anniversary of the novella that set the Heartstopper series in motion. Other well-kent names include Rebecca F Kuang, whose Yellowface won the Fiction Book Of The Year at the 2024 British Book Awards, and whose work bestrides genres and ages. Her forthcoming thriller Katabasis follows a pair of Cambridge academics battling to save their adviser from the underworld. Elsewhere, Munroe Bergdorf, the model, activist and editor, launches her non-fiction work Talk To Me, a guide to tackling tricky conversations with confidence, which covers everything from beauty standards to gender identity.

In time-honoured book-festival style, several events will involve authors chewing over important themes. Josh Silver, author of Traumaland and a mental-health nurse, explores how to better understand our minds, alongside Andy Darcy Theo, creator of the epic romantasy series, Descent Into Darkness, in an event entitled ‘The Monsters Inside Our Head’. 

Feminism, female narratives and empowering women are the subjects of a two-header featuring Manjeet Mann, an award-winner for The Crossing, and Bea Fitzgerald, the bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen. Meanwhile, stories of family, friendship and culture are the order of the day for a ‘fresh fiction’ event with Dean Atta (I Can’t Even Think Straight), Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Wild East) and Asli Jensen (Love On Sight) on the panel.

Away from traditional meet-the-author events, the young adult strand also includes a YA literary quiz, this year’s Loud Poets Grand Slam Final and a bookbinding workshop run by Edinburgh Printmakers. There’s even a platonic speed-dating event entitled Meet Cute, where bookish types can make a new friend and chat about their favourite titles every two minutes. 

Events for Young Adults, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Saturday 9-Sunday 24 August; main picture: Bea Fitzgerald / credit: Desiree Adams.