| Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) has announced that Jenny Niven will replace Nick Barley as Festival Director. Jenny will begin her new role in September 2023 after Nick has overseen his final Festival programme, following a hugely successful 14 years. Jenny Niven is a leading cultural producer and director with 20 years of experience working across a range of literature and wider cultural projects in Scotland and internationally. She is founder and Director of the award-winning Push the Boat Out, a festival of poetry, spoken word and language; Executive Producer of Dandelion, an epic programme of sowing, growing and sharing across Scotland, and was previously the Head of Literature at Creative Scotland. She was named in The List’s ‘Hot 100’ people influencing Scotland’s arts and cultural landscape in 2022. During her time at Creative Scotland, Jenny led in the creation of the sectoral review of Literature and Publishing in Scotland, the Muriel Spark 100 Centenary celebrations in 2018, and Creative Scotland’s first Scots Language Policy. She will join the team as the Festival prepares for an exciting move to its new permanent home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, a landmark development based on the site of the old Royal Infirmary on Lauriston Place, in 2024. Jenny Niven said “I am absolutely thrilled to be appointed to lead the Edinburgh International Book Festival as its new Director. The Festival has influenced Scottish culture, and shaped the development of book festivals globally, for 40 years. There’s no greater platform to bring together the conversations that we need to have, to celebrate the role of creativity, imagination and story in understanding and reshaping the world around us, and to demonstrate that exploring the world collectively via books and ideas is one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences you can have. The opportunity to reimagine the Festival in its exciting new home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, and to lead the organisation at such a pivotal time for Scotland’s cultural life, is an honour. Following the inspirational lead of Nick and his predecessors, I am excited to begin working with the impressive Festival team and board, and the incredible network of partners the Festival has cultivated in Scotland and beyond, to build on the Festival’s stellar reputation and to shape its future.” Chair of the EIBF Board of Directors Allan Little said “We are very excited to welcome Jenny Niven as the new Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Nick leaves incredibly big shoes to fill, but Jenny is no stranger to the Festival or the world of the written word here in Scotland, and indeed further afield, and we look forward to seeing what she brings to this new Book Festival chapter.” For more information on Edinburgh International Book Festival visit: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/ Irene Brown |
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