Push the Boat Out poetry festival returns to the Pleasance in Edinburgh with more than 120 artists

Edinburgh's international poetry festival is back this November, and it is bigger than ever. Push the Boat Out will bring more than 120 artists to the city for 75 events across four days, from 12 to 15 November, at the Pleasance and venues across the capital.

This year's theme is The Space Between, which the festival describes as the places where people, ideas, identities and art forms meet. Festival director Emma Collins says the programme invites audiences to discover poetry in unexpected places and forms, through intimate readings, ambitious new commissions, spoken word, late-night gigs and workshops.

The line-up brings together voices from Scotland and around the world. Former Scots Makar Jackie Kay appears at a special preview event aboard The Fingal on 31 October, and the current Makar, Peter Mackay, curates Our Many-Voiced Country, celebrating writers working in Gaelic, Chinese, Spanish, Persian, French and Doric. International guests include Naomi Shihab Nye, Lorna Goodison and Kwame Dawes, and the opening night cabaret is headlined by Luke Wright.

New work is central to the festival. Three poetry-led performance commissions have been created in association with the National Theatre of Scotland, and a new piece by poet Iain Morrison and visual artist Corin Sworn has come out of the festival's first residency, in partnership with Little Sparta. The festival closes with a commissioned collaboration between musician Aurora Engine and writers JL Williams, Dean Atta and Kirsty Logan.

There are plenty of ways in for newcomers. A creative writing workshop takes place on Portobello beach, the Edinburgh Sea Shanty Co. hosts an afternoon of shanties, and food writer Ella Risbridger hosts a Poetry Tasting Menu at Valvona and Crolla. For the first time, there are events specifically for children and families, including an appearance by former Children's Laureate Joseph Coelho and a Bookbug story and song session.

The festival also includes industry events on publishing, copyright, contracts, editing and mentorship, along with one-to-one sessions with independent publishers for writers hoping to take the next step.

Councillor Margaret Graham, the city's culture and communities convener, described the festival as a brilliant example of Edinburgh's cultural spirit.

The full programme and tickets are available on the Push the Boat Out website.