Since 1983, Edinburgh Book Festival has been one of the UK’s largest and most important literary events. The festival runs from 15–31 August and includes some 700 events. Last year, 220 000 visitors enjoyed readings, debates, presentations and workshops – and at least as many are expected this year.

It is pleasing to be able to present eight authors from Sweden – some very famous, others yet to be translated. The Swedish participants will appear alongside prize-winning British authors such as Anne Fine, John Burnside, Sir Michael Holroyd and Michael Symmons.

The purpose of this Swedish-Scottish partnership is not just the presentation of the Swedish authors, but also, or above all, dialogue, discussion, and demonstration of the significance of translation and the importance of reading the literature of countries other than one’s own.

This year, Swedish literature is well represented. Johannes Anyuru, the poet, debuted in 2003 with the critically acclaimed Det är bara gudarna som är nya (Only the Gods are New), and his Städerna inuti Hall (The Cities inside Hall) will be published in the autumn. Marjaneh Bakhtiari made her name in 2005 with Kalla det vad fan du vill (Call it What the Hell You Like) and last year returned with the novel Kan du säga shibbolet? (Can You Say Shibboleth?) Henning Mankell regularly appears on the British bestseller lists, most recently with Italian Shoes. He is currently in the limelight in connection with the BBC’s highly acclaimed television series, which features Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander. Eva Runefelt is a poet who was awarded the De nios lyrikpris last year for her collection of poems I ett förskingrat nu (In a Scattered Now) and who was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for the same work.

Fredrik Sjöberg is an entomologist who was nominated for the Augustpriset in 2006 for Flugfällan (The Fly Trap) and the following year brought out Flyktkonsten (The Art of Flight), an unlikely story about the forgotten artist Gunnar Widfors. In the autumn, Russinkungen (The Raisin King) will be published. Annika Thor has won numerous prizes for her books for young people and will soon be introduced to the English speaking world for the first time with A Faraway Island in Linda Schenck’s translation.

Per Wästberg will be coming out in English at the end of the year in Tom Geddes’ translation of the novel Sparrmans resa (Sparrman’s Journey), a biographical novel about the doctor, botanist, zoologist and disciple of Linné, who during his travels became a fierce opponent of the slave trade. Klas Östergren's Gentlemen is available in English translation and Tiina Nunnally’s translation of Orkanpartyt (The Hurricane Party), a dystopic satire on climate change, will be published shortly.

The ALMA award (The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award) will be presented in Edinburgh.