The Edinburgh International Book Festival does not get started until this coming Saturday - the 9th of August -but yesterday an announcement was made which affects its autumn programming (yes, the book festival exists outside its August time slot).

David Malouf, the Australian novelist, short story writer and poet, is to be the second Muriel Spark International Fellow - the award established by the Scottish Arts Council in 2004. The first fellow was Margaret Atwood.

During his four week stay in Scotland from mid-September to mid-October, Malouf will appear in a Meet the Author event at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh as part of the EIBF's autumn programme; deliver a public lecture hosted by the University of Edinburgh; give a masterclass to students of Creative Writing at the University of St Andrew's School of English; and appear at an event at the Scottish Poetry Library.