Edinburgh boasts an incredible creative community and lively arts scene. Below is an overview of just some of the extraordinary bookshops, libraries, publishers and other literary enterprises that call this city home. You can also check out our custom-built Literary Map (coming soon) to help story lovers navigate the city, or go to What’s On to find upcoming events.
Use this guide to explore our unique history and vibrant contemporary landscape.
— Hannah Lavery
Edinburgh is a festival city through and through. We are home to Edinburgh International Book Festival – the largest literary festival of its kind in the world taking place every August.
The Scottish International Storytelling Festival, takes place every October and Push the Boat Out, Edinburgh’s international poetry festival, sets sail in November. CYMERA: Scotland’s Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Writing happens each June.
Recent additions to our literary festival line-up include First Date, a programme for lovers of romance (April) and Edinburgh Women’s Fiction Festival (October), an inclusive celebration of women’s writing.
Literature Alliance Scotland manage Find a Book Festival, a regularly updated calendar of Scottish literary festivals.
“Whether I’m appearing or not, I come here every day because the world’s writers will walk through those gates.”
Edinburgh’s libraries are the beating heart of their communities, providing books, literacy support, events, workshops and more.
Edinburgh celebrates Scotland’s poetic legacy and continuing creativity with The Scottish Poetry Library, a purpose-built library for poetry.
It is also home to the National Library of Scotland, the nation’s largest library and one of the major research libraries in Europe, and The Library of Mistakes, a free and friendly hub of curiosity with a collection dedicated to the history of financial markets.
The blog Tales of One City shares the latest news from Edinburgh’s libraries.
“Is there a kinder place that you can find than your local library?”
High street, antiquarian, second hand or niche, Edinburgh is happily stuffed with a range of bookshops to suit every taste. You can find your local independent book by searching by city or postcode on Books Are My Bag or, if you want to support a specific shop but can’t get there in person to buy it, you can order it online at Bookshop.org.
“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.”
Scotland’s long, rich literary heritage has been treasured and shared by families, within communities, from town to town and further afield. Our songs, poems and stories have travelled across the globe!
It is also a place of generous creativity, and this is reflected in the number of incredible organisations here in Edinburgh that work to amplify voices, advocate for all stories, and help make literature an everyday joy for all.
We have created a list of just some of these organisations, enterprises and charities that call Edinburgh home on this site, under Resources & Opportunities.
To keep up-to-date with the wide-ranging and continuously developing list of charities and organisations on the literary scene across Scotland, we also recommend the Literature Alliance Scotland website.
“a space for poetry and people to tryst on three foundation stones of language –”
The first book printed in Scotland was printed in Edinburgh in 1508. Today, publishers and agencies in Edinburgh help to produce some of the most exciting contemporary writers in the world. A gateway to a vibrant publishing nation, you can find out more about the Edinburgh branches of global brands, Edinburgh-founded presses and independent and speciality publishing houses at Publishing Scotland.
“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect [them] precisely as you wish.”
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