CYMERA is an Edinburgh based book festival for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror fans. Now in it’s sixth year, the festival has become one of the highlights of the UK’s geek calendar. We caught up with festival director Ann Landmann to find out more.
STARBURST: How did Cymera come about?
Ann Landmann: Cymera was born out of a frustration that few of my favourite authors ever appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. I love the buzz of a book festival, and I wanted to bring that experience to my favourite community. With my background in book events, starting up a genre-specific book festival was the obvious answer, and although I’ve been known to say that running a book festival as a hobby (Cymera is entirely run by volunteers) is a terrible idea, I have no regrets.
What’s new, and what have you kept from previous festivals?
2024 is our sixth festival, and we’re always tweaking the programme to make it more fun, attractive and inclusive. I am delighted that Strawmoddie Theatre are back with another Pratchett play, and our Games space is back with some exciting RPGs for people to join in. New for 2024 is our limited-edition merchandise – I am obsessed with the design by the brilliant Morag Hannah.
What are you looking forward to the most with the festival?
I can’t wait to see so many of my favourite people in one place, hopefully having a great time. From authors whose work love to publishers that have supported us to the readers that I’ve met through the festival and, of course, our brilliant festival volunteers, many have become regulars.
What’s been the most interesting challenge so far, when it comes to the festival?
It’s always what I refer to as the “Festival Jigsaw” – fitting all the different programme items into our limited space and time. Cymera could easily run for a full week, but our budget doesn’t allow it.
How hard is it to make something both online and offline?
We’re committed to making Cymera accessible to all, and offering a hybrid festival is part of that. We are very fortunate to be working with our livestream partner Channel 7A, who have supported us since our very first festival in 2019, when we streamed a few events to Facebook. For us it is just another part of the programme, and while it takes some extra resources, we love being able to connect with those that can’t join us in person.
If I can’t make it to the Festival, what’s the next best thing?
Join us online! All our events are live-streamed or on Zoom. And put the 2025 dates in the diary now – we’re back from June 6th to 8th, 2025.
What’s the next big thing you are working on that you want to tell the world about?
In November 2025, we’ll be back with our second Writers’ Conference. It’s a full day of talks, workshops and networking for genre writers, in-person in Edinburgh and online. We’re just confirming the date so keep an eye on our socials.
CYMERA 2024 runs from May 31st to June 2nd, and is available online and in-person. You can find out more here.
