Times sponsorship announced for Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival and Times Newspapers Ltd have announced a major new media sponsorship deal. Catherine Lockerbie, Director of the EIBF, said: "The Book Festival has grown to global pre-eminence over the last few years, and our reputation is further enhanced with this association with one of the UK's leading newspapers." The association is worth a six figure sum over three years, and Magnus Linklater, Scotland Editor of The Times, said: "The Times is delighted to be sponsoring this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival, which has grown into Britain's greatest and best-loved literary event. We look forward to joining authors and their readers in the tented splendour of Charlotte Square, and to supporting the discussions and debates which make this a uniquely enjoyable celebration of writing." The Edinburgh International Book Festival will run from 11th to 27th August in the beautiful setting of Charlotte Square Gardens in the heart of historic Edinburgh, the world's first UNESCO City of Literature. A truly international celebration of books and reading, this year's Festival will welcome authors, politicians, journalists, poets and thinkers from over forty different countries with the biggest ever programme of discussions, debates and readings. Major themes this year include Focus on China and India, looking back at the history of these fascinating countries as well as looking forward at the global implications of these two fast growing economies. In this, the sixtieth year since India gained her independence, and 150 years since the Indian Mutiny, the Book Festival brings together the finest writers on and from the subcontinent. Slavery Stories introduces books on white slavery, the abolitionists of the Atlantic slave trade and new forms of slavery in the 21st century while East & West examines relations between the Islamic world and the West with a special emphasis on British Muslims. Visitors to Charlotte Square can also enjoy the hugely popular philosophy and psychology series, Matters of the Mind.   E&OE