Posted by Justine Solomons on 19 August 2026, in News
This summer, for me, has been a mix of book work, Byte work and play. The play being very important! In fact, I’m just back from a brief visit to the Edinburgh Fringe and Book Festival, where I attempted to fill my creative well with comedic, musical, bookish and theatrical inspiration.
I adored hearing Irvine Welsh talk about his new book, Nothing Can Save Us. I actually fan-girled over Welsh the next day while he was eating breakfast, just before seeing Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, and Cory Doctorow talk about the future of the internet.
Jimmy Wales came across as a thoroughly lovely man. His book is called The Seven Rules of Trust, and trust is at the core of his business model, which allows everyone to edit Wikipedia entries. He said that while the entries aren’t always perfect, they’ve found that, overall, they’re a net positive to Wikipedia.
Cory Doctorow’s message in his book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, was also one of hope for individuals. He made the point that “No one ever said this is so good AI could have written it.” We spotted Cory later that day walking around Edinburgh, and I had to shake the hand of the man who coined the phrase “enshittification.”
I first met Elf Lyons at the ALSO Festival years ago, and she was the talk of the Fringe with her incredible show, Women on the Verge. It’s coming to London and New York, and I insist you all get tickets.
Behemoth, a London comedy sketch group, were so funny that I broke down into uncontrollable laughter — so much so that I almost cracked them up. They even thanked me for laughing so much after the show.
Stand-up comedian Davina Bentley also thanked me for laughing. I couldn’t help it; she was very, very funny. Check out her show, Dancing While Old.
And if you want funny and haven’t seen Garry Starr yet, book a ticket. He’s touring his naked-penguin show, Classic Penguins, in which he acts out the greatest Penguin Classics books while breaking almost every taboo. It should be wrong, but he’s so nice and extremely talented. It’s very, very funny.
I also met one of the writers on The Golden Girls and Gilmore Girls Stan Zimmerman, who has penned a verbatim theatre piece based on suicide notes called Right Before I Go. It was incredibly moving — so much so that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Please check out the play.
It was great to see Andy McLeod perform his show based on his book, Soho Days and Camden Nights. Soho Days has just been published by Omnibus Press, alongside a republication of his first book, Anoint My Head. It’s a wistful and witty look at the music business, told through the story of a wannabe rock star who was managed by Ricky Gervais, failed, then became a music promoter and now fronts the Cure tribute band, The Incurables.
Read or listen to Andy’s books, or go and watch The Incurables. They’re playing all around the country.
On our last day, we did a little sightseeing, first visiting the stunning Eduardo Paolozzi Millennium Windows in St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, and then foregoing culture for nature by walking up to Arthur’s Seat. It’s extremely beautiful and a little tricky, but nothing I couldn’t navigate without sliding down by my seat!
As the Lemonheads song goes, “I lied about being the outdoor type.”
