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Vanessa Redgraw is one of the stars appearing at Holyrood this August
Politics gets its own festival
. Words: Allan Radcliffe
Major ideological players heading for Holyrood
dinburgh has a new festival to add to its already
bustling calendar of events. Billed as the ‘place
where people and politics come together". the Festival of Politics will have Holyrood Parliament‘s angular. granite walls resounding to a wide array of talks. debates and personal appearances by well known personalities from politics. media and the arts on 24—26 August.
If the word ‘politics‘ finds you releasing the safety catch on your Browning. then suspend your cynicism. as the three—day festival really does transcend the tedious back- and-fonb of bread-and-butter party politics.
The programme features a number of timely discussions on subjects ranging from the changing face of British democracy and the impact of devolution on animal rights to the perennial question of whether politics is still too male. There will be a special series of talks on ‘People and the [and covering land issues relating to Scotland as well
as Asian and African countries. Us! readers will doubtless be intrigued by a special session on the economic impact of lidinburgh's festivals while the ‘Reporting Democracy" event finds the BB("s political editor Andrew Marr chewing over the strengths and weaknesses of our political media with ()scar-winning film producer David Puttnam.
()ther big names to grace the festival include actress and [f.\'l(‘lil" ambassador Vanessa Redgrave. who will be discussing her years as a human rights campaigner. and European (‘ommissioner .\'eil Kinnock. who appears in conversation with presiding officer (ieorge Reid. Veteran Liberal Democrat Shirley Williams will also debate the future of British politics while renowned commentators Allan Massie and Dr Tom Devine discuss aspects of Scottish national identity.
www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk
THE LIST BLAZES TRAIL WITH T IN THE PARK OFFER
I Drive from your mind all notions of anachronistic free gifts, the flimsy poster or the faulty CD that bounces from track to track with gay abandon. The next issue of The List (available 6 July) sees your favourite magazine breaking new ground for promotional freebies, thanks to T in the Park. We‘re giving away a free download card as a T in the Park taster. The card gives access to tracks from several of the artists performing at Scotland’s music festival and arrives with a code, allowing you to download songs from the festival website and burn the tracks onto your hard drive. This credit card-sized piece of technological innovation provides a fantastic opportunity to hear previously unreleased live tracks by some of the artists performing at T in the Park, including Foo Fighters, Travis, Razorlight and the Streets. More importantly, this is the first festival in Europe to offer such a promotion. (AR)
I Scotland’s Cultural Commission makes its final report outlining the framework for our culture's future support on Thursday 23 June. Speculation has it that the commission, chaired by James Boyle, will recommend combining Scotland’s arts funding bodies into two, one a private company with the power to raise money.
I Meanwhile. the Commission has received a warning letter from organisations funded by the Scottish Arts Council, not to attack what they see as one of the founding principles of arts funding. The letter. signed by around 50 groups. restates the belief that 'Creativity Wlil only thrive when it is at arm‘s length from government.
I Edinburgh University Press is publishing the most wide-ranging anthology of 20th century Scottish poetry available. The Edinburgh Book of Twentieth-Century Scottish Poetry features around 400 works by 150 poets. While the wee!- kent MacDiarmids and MacCaigs are well represented, neglected figures range from master balladeer Robert Service to women poets such as Helen Adam.
I This year's Edinburgh International Book Festival features around 500 authors including literary giants Salman Rushdie (pictured). Margaret Atwood and Andre Brink. The international nature of the event is emphasised more than ever this year. and there is particular focus on the literary cultures of China. Canada and Russia.
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