Nicola Sturgeon to unveil memoir at Edinburgh International Book Festival

Nicola Sturgeon is to launch her memoir at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

The former First Minister is to appear alongside Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and author Maggie O’Farrell in an expanded series to be held at a venue alongside the main festival in August.

Also unveiled in the line-up are author Ian McEwan, as well as Gavin And Stacey co-creator and writer, Ruth Jones, who will discuss her new novel, By Your Side.

Ms Sturgeon will speak about her long-awaited memoir, Frankly, at the festival on 14 August. Last month, she took to Instagram to reveal that the book is to offer an “open, honest and candid” account of her “achievements” and “heartbreaks”.

It ha been suggested that the title is a nod to comedian - and close friend of Ms Sturgeon - Janey Godley, who died last year. Ms Godley made comedy voiceover videos of Ms Sturgeon’s political briefings during the coronavirus pandemic which featured the phrase “Frank, get the door”.

The expanded series, The Front List, will be held between 12 August and 24 August, at McEwan Hall, near the main venue, the Edinburgh Futures Institute.

Writers RF Kuang, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Asako Yuzuki, the winner of the 2024 Waterstones Book of the Year, will also appear, along with football star Ally McCoist, who will discuss Dear Scotland: On The Road With The Tartan Army.

More than 600 events will be announced on June 10, with participants from the United States, Japan, Russia, and Nigeria as well as the UK.

A spokesperson said: “We are thrilled to be launching Frankly, the highly anticipated memoir from Scotland’s first female – and longest-serving – first minister, as Nicola Sturgeon shares the story of her journey from shy, working-class child to one of our country’s most significant political leaders.

Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya is to appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

“We’re joined by acclaimed and international writers, speaking about their careers and works. The luminous Maggie O’Farrell celebrates 25 years of creativity since her debut publication, and Ian McEwan looks back over his remarkable body of work and forward to what comes next.

“With the Trump administration continuing to unravel the last 70 years of established world order with breathtaking speed, essential political insight comes from The Atlantic columnist and author, Anne Applebaum, and New York Times diplomatic correspondent, Edward Wong, who together take on recent seismic political shifts and explore whether democracy can ever be truly protected.

“Poignantly, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last year, speaks about her late husband’s courageous work, Patriot, and continuing his crucial activism.”

Jenny Niven, book festival director and chief executive, said: “We are thrilled to be returning to the beautiful McEwan Hall, and expanding our partnership with Underbelly to present 14 The Front List events in 2025.

The cover of Nicola Sturgeon's upcoming memoir | Nicola Sturgeon/Pan Macmillan

“At this challenging moment in history and politics, we’ll be offering a comprehensively informed and critical eye on international affairs, and also the chance to escape them through the work of some of the world’s foremost fiction writers, entertainment, and sporting figures.

“There’s plenty more to come in our full programme announcement, but we hope our line-up for The Front List offers a delicious taster of the many flavours and perspectives you can expect from this year’s Book Festival events.”

Tickets for The Front List events go on sale to the public at 10am on Tuesday, 6 May and are available at edbookfest.co.uk.