No warts and all tale from Sir Sean Connery - new book debuts in Edinburgh

More than five years after he first contemplated his literary debut, and after exhausting two ghost-writers along the way, Sir Sean Connery will finally launch his long-awaited memoirs, as the centrepiece of this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival - reports The Times.

Entitled Being a Scot, the book is co-authored with Murray Grigor, the film-maker, and will be released in Sir Sean's native city on his birthday, August 25, the last Saturday of the book festival, which is sponsored by The Times.

Such is the level of anticipation around the event, that Sir Sean, a literary novice, is certain to upstage many big names on the bill, including Salman Rushdie and Louis de Bernieres - who are both presenting their new novels - along with Rick Wakeman, the musician, and the actress Miranda Richardson.

Ironically, given its title, Sir Sean introduced his work at the launch yesterday of the festival programme in a short comedy, filmed in the Bahamas, the islands some 4,000 miles away where the world's most famous Scottish nationalist chooses to live.

Catherine Lockerbie, the festival's director, is one of the few people to have seen an early copy of the book and described it as “a rather remarkable document”.

It is said to tread only lightly over Sir Sean's occasional fraught private life but covers in detail his early years in Edinburgh, as both a milkman and an amateur bodybuilder, and goes on to record his opinions on many aspects of Scottish cultural life, including sport, architecture and the gothic tendency in Scots literature.

The memoirs have endured a troubled history. Initially, Sir Sean set out to write an autobiography with the author Meg Henderson, but the two fell out, allegedly because she wished to delve too deeply into Sir Sean's personal life. Subsequently, an arrangement with the biographer Hunter Davies came to nothing, again supposedly because Davies favoured a “warts and all” approach.

Being a Scot was scheduled to be published last year to mark the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union, but its belated unveiling happily coincides with the 25th anniversary of the festival. It also coincides with the centenary of Ian Fleming, who created James Bond, the character whom Sir Sean immortalised on the big screen in the 1960s and 1970s.

In his film introducing the festival, Sir Sean made light of the delays in publication. “I'm not impressed - we're somewhat behind schedule” he tells his co-author. “We still have two months to the festival,” retorts Grigor. “Well it's a good job for you that its my birthday.” “We're getting there, Sean,” implores Grigor, to which Sir Sean replies: “What's this 'we' sh*t?”.

Ms Lockerbie said that it was essential to bring Sir Sean to Edinburgh for the launch of his book. “This is a truly long-awaited and anticipated event. This book has been through more permutations than James Bond has had shaken, not stirred Martinis.”

Ms Lockerbie added that the actor remained “the one true Bond”, despite the fact that five other actors have played the role on screen.

Sir Sean's appearance is one of a number of festival events to mark the Fleming centenary. Charlie Higson, the creator the TV comedy series The Fast Show, will launch the fifth and final instalment of his Young Bond series, while Ben Macintyre, The Times writer, will read from his authorised biography of Fleming, For Your Eyes Only.

This year's festival is the biggest so far, featuring 800 authors from 45 countries in more than 750 events. Sell-out audiences are expected for Rushdie and de Bernieres, along with other bestselling authors, including Julian Barnes, Hanif Kureshi, Anne Enright and Terry Pratchett.

Some authors - Alan Sillitoe, Michael Rosen, Emma Tennant and Liz Lochhead - appeared at the first festival in 1983. Others, including the Lebanese writer, Rabih Alameddine, come to Edinburgh for the first time, invited to participate in a Writers of the World event. Alameddine's novel, The Hakawati, was “a fantastic work alternating between Arabian Nights-style storytelling and the contemporary Middle East,” Ms Lockerbie said.

Wakeman, another unconventional literary figure, will be in conversation, discussing his life with the rock band Yes. Richardson voices the character Horrid Henry as part of the children's festival bill.

Ms Lockerbie said that one of the great successes of recent festivals had been their ability to raise pressing contemporary political issues and create debate. She added that this had become a cornerstone of its appeal.

“I specifically want our festival to be an ever-more powerful catalyst and meeting place for thinking about and speaking about current world affairs.”

Themes this year include a Focus on China, events to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, and discussion of the continued occupation of Iraq by American and British troops. Keynote speakers 0include Robert Kagan, the foreign policy adviser to Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for the US presidency; and General Sir Mike Jackson, one of Britain's most respected soldiers and a critic of the Government's defence policies.

Other politicians on the bill include John Prescott, Tony Benn, Sir Menzies Campbell, and Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's former chief of staff. Alex Salmond will deliver the National Library of Scotland Donald Dewar Lecture, while Ian Rankin will interview “a renowned figure from the world of politics” whose identity will be revealed on the eve of the festival.

Irvine Welsh is one of a number of regulars on the festival bill, returning with a new thriller, Crime. His novel Trainspotting established his reputation as the chronicler of Edinburgh's heroin-based counter culture, whose hero Renton mocked: “Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career ... but why would I want to do a thing like that?” The accountancy firm KPMG has chosen to sponsor Welsh's event.

Tickets

Edinburgh International Book Festival August 9-25. Tickets on sale from

10am, June 20. Phone 0845 373 5888 or online at www.edbookfest.co.uk.

From June 20-22, tickets available from Edinburgh International Conference Centre; from June 23-August 8 Waterstone's, 83 George St; or from August 9 at Charlotte Square box office

Diary dates

August 9
Louis de Bernieres launches
A Partisan's Daughter
Bill Paterson remembers a Glaswegian childhood

August 12
Mary Warnock tiptoes over the moral minefield of euthanasia

August 13
Iain Banks discusses Matter

August 16
Terry Pratchett looks back at
25 years of Discworld

August 23
Charlie Higson concludes his Young Bond series

August 24
Salman Rushdie introduces
The Enchantress of Florence

August 25
Sir Sean Connery and Murray Grigor launch Being A Scot

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