Wolf Hall was one of the most remarkable novels of recent years and it has become the bestselling Man Booker Prize winner to date. And now Hilary Mantel has become the first British writer and the first woman to win the Man Booker Prize twice. Judges hailed her new book Bring up the Bodies as "remarkable" and that the book "transcends the work already written by a great English writer". You can hear her talking about her work in this live recording of her 2012 Edinburgh International Book Festival event. She talks to James Runcie, director of a stunning BBC2 documentary about Mantel.

'If there were a prize for best reader of one’s own poems, Paul Durcan would probably win it hands down,' proclaimed the Guardian's reviewer of Durcan's latest poetry collection, Praise in Which I Live and Move and Have My Being. The popular Dublin-born writer paid a well overdue visit to the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2012 (his first since 1995) and thrilled audiences with his quirky, jaunty, insightful new poems. This is a live recording of the event.

At the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival, Broughty Ferry's fictional hero Bob Servant was brought to life by Greg McHugh (aka Gary Tank Commander) in a sell-out performance. Since then, filming has begun to turn Neil Forsyth's comedy creation into a BBC TV series and there’s also a new book. In this event, recorded live at Edinburgh International Book Festival, leading Scottish actors perform scenes from the book, and Neil Forsyth talks about his life as a writer.

The race to identify the Higgs Boson has led to multi-billion dollar investment in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The return promises to be the revelation of how the universe came into being. Frank Close is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford University and in his book The Infinity Puzzle he tells the astonishing story of three scientists whose work has played out against a backdrop of high politics, and who stand to win a Nobel Prize. In this event, recorded live at Edinburgh International Book Festival, Professor Peter Higgs, who first identified the concept of the Higgs Boson in the 1960s, interviews Frank Close, the first such public event after the announcement of the breakthrough discovery at CERN.

The last time Michael Palin appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival was in 1987, when it was directed by Jenny Brown. Since then, the co-founder of Monty Python's Flying Circus has become an adventurous travel journalist, while Brown is now Scotland's leading literary agent. Twenty five years on, both returned for this event, which was recorded live at the Book Festival, and talked about Michael Palin's captivating new novel, The Truth, whose action leads its hero around the world – thanks to a deal struck by a leading literary agent...

It is time to stop classifying dyslexia as a disability argues Vivian French; we need to start appreciating that different brain-wiring and neurobiological patterns allow people to process information in unique ways. Although dyslexia may cause difficulties with reading and writing, people with it prefer thinking in narrative form, often making them natural storytellers and actors. An ability to visualize 3D structures also means many are gifted artists. Vivian leads the discussion with Dr John Rack, Head of Research, Development and Policy at Dyslexia Action and actor, playwright and songwriter Matthew McVarish.

In his non-fiction work, he’s tried to start a new country and helped a comedy friend find as many of his namesakes as possible. Now Dundee-born Danny Wallace brings us his debut novel, Charlotte Street, in which a man becomes obsessed with the images inside a discarded disposable camera. Does that sound filmic? It should do, as Working Title has already optioned the movie rights. In this event, recorded live at Edinburgh International Book Festival, Danny Wallace talks about his new book and uses his legendary wit and charm to entertain a full house.

According to Alex Salmond, his eclectic cultural interests range from Miss Marple to Star Trek and in this evening’s unmissable event the First Minister talks about life beyond politics with the most successful British literary novelist of the past 30 years. Ian McEwan also boasts a wide range of interests beyond fiction – not least among them film, music and science.

He may be best known for the disco hit Le Freak but Nile Rodgers’ influence on pop music has been so very much greater than that. Rodgers wrote and produced classics such as Like a Virgin for Madonna, We Are Family for Sister Sledge and David Bowie’s bestselling album Let’s Dance. He’s worked with Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Prince and Debbie Harry; he’s jammed with Jimi and dined out with Diana. Nile Rodgers also happens to be a brilliant storyteller, and in this event, recorded live at Edinburgh International Book Festival, he talks to Irvine Welsh, recounting the joy and pain of a life at the heart of the pop industry, and he throws in an impromptu jamming session just for the hell of it.

The Man Booker-shortlisted and Whitbread-winning author of Headlong and Spies travelled to Edinburgh to discuss his latest novel, Skios. Michael Frayn is one of Britain’s most respected playwrights and he brings his mastery of the stage farce to this new comedy. As the Fred Toppler Foundation prepares for its annual lecture, it turns out there’s a case of stolen identity that threatens to get the organiser into hot water… This is a recording of the live event at Edinburgh International Book Festival.