j Events
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to jules.graham@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Jules Graham.
Glasgow
Joe Pieri Waterstone's. l53~ l57 Sauchiehall Street. 332 ‘)I05. 6.30pm. Free. The Glasgow social historian reads from his new autobiography The River ()fiWeltlln’)‘. Simon Biggam and Ewan Morrison Hillhead Library. 348 Byres Road. 33‘) 7223. 7pm. Free. The two new contemporary authors read frorn their debut works. Biggam's These are Only Words and Morrison‘s collection of short stories. The Last Book You Read.
Edinburgh
BeatniX Poetry Mite The Jazz Bar. I Chambers Street. 220 4290. 7.30-l0pin. £4 (£3). A mix of open mic. performance poetry and singer/songwriters.
* Scottish lntemational Storytelling Festival Various venues. 556 ‘)57‘). lintil 5 Nov. Titnes vary. Prices vary. A celebration of oral storytelling featuring music. song. film. workshops. talks and intemational guests. See www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk
Glasgow
Evenement Franco-allemand Alliance Francaise de (ilasgow. 3 Park Circus. 33‘) 4281. Until 4 Nov. Times vary. Free. A conference specialising in the Iiuropean comic book scene. Meet the popular cartoonists and join in the discussion.
Edinburgh
Prof Christopher A Whatley Quaker Meeting House. 7 Victoria Terrace. 225 4825. 7pm. Free. The Professor talks about his new book. The .S'eots' and the (Xnion. which offers a new interpretation of the I707 Act of Union.
Tuesday 7
Edinburgh
The Future of the Classical Italian Cultural Institute. 82 Nicolson Street. 668 2232. 6pm. Free. Salvatore Settis discusses his latest book with the historian Iiric Hobsbawm. examining the way in which we relate to our classical past.
Michael Fry Quaker Meeting House. 7 Victoria Terrace. 225 4825. 7pm. Free. Fry launches his book about the background to the 1707 Union. The Union: ling/and. Scotland and the Treaty of 1707.
Wednesday 8
Glasgow
Neil Mackay and David Pratt Borders Books. ‘)8 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6pm. Free. The two authors read from their new books. the first to be launched in the new Herald Books imprint.
Edinburgh
Derick Thomson Scottish Poetry Library. 5 Crichton's Close. Canongate. 557 2876. 7.30pm. £3 (£2). The Poetry Association of Scotland presents the Stornoway poet (AKA Ruaraidh Mac'l'homais). writer in both (iaelic and Iinglish.
Glasgow
Piers Gough CCA. 350 Sauchiehall Street. 352 4900. 6 —7.30pm. Free. (iough is on hand to launch two new an publications. Areal/e.“ A rtists and Place- making (edited by Rhona Warwick) and Home ()rnanients (by Daphne Wright). Vicki Feaver The Poetry (‘lub (Glasgow School of Art). 167 Renfrew Street. 0l505 6l2686. 7pm. Free. Readings from the contemporary poet. including her most recent collection The Book of Blood.
30 THE LIST 2---l(3 Nov 2006
Edinburgh
Toby Litt: Muriel Spark The Augustine Church. 4i 43 (ieorge IV Bridge. 668 201‘). 7pm. Free. Contemporary author Litt gives the Annual Muriel Spark Society Lecture.
3!: Rupert Everett Queen‘s Hall. 87~-8‘) Clerk Street. 668 20l‘). 8pm. £10. The quintessential Iinglish rake elucidates on his new memoir. Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins .
Glasgow
Andrew Fairlie Borders Books. ‘)8 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. Time tbc. Free. The Scottish chef drops in to sign Class Cuisine a cookery book created with local school children to promote healthy eating.
Edinburgh
Stewart Conn‘s 70th Birthday Celebration Counting House. West Nicolson Street. 667 ()876. 7.30) 1.30pm. £5 (£3). Jim C Wilson hosts the proceedings as the Iidinburgh Makar. Stewart Conn. celebrates his 70th year with performances by hoards of local poets. See www.shoreixwtscotik for more details.
Glasgow
* Rupert Everett Citizens' Theatre. I l‘) (iorbals Street. 42‘) 0022. 7.30pm. £10. See Thu 9.
Edinburgh
Poetry Book Group Scottish Poetry Library. 5 Crichton's Close. ('anongate. 557 2876. 6.30- 8.30pm. £5 (£3). [p for discussion this month is ll'omls ete by Alice ()swald. Please book in advance.
Tuesday 14
Glasgow
Pete Bennett Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6pm. Free. Fverybody's favourite 'I'ourette's sufferer and Big Brother winner signs his expeditious autobiography.
Keith Charterhouse Waterstone‘s. I53-I57 Sauchiehall Street. 332 ‘)|05. 6.30pm. Free. The children's author reads from and signs copies of the latest adventures of aspiring child superhero Lee. Lee '3 Holiday Shout/men.
Ilija Thianow (ioethe Institut. 3 Park Circus. 332 2555. 7pm. Free. Writer and journalist Neal Ascherson chats with the author of Der IIeltens‘ainmler (The Collector oflliirltls). a biography of British explorer Sir Richard Burton.
Edinburgh
Pete Bennett \‘t’aierstone's. l28 Princes Street. 226 2666. 1pm. Free. See above. Mary Contini Italian Cultural Institute. 82 Nicolson Street. 668 2232. 6pm. Free. Scots-Italian journalist and travel writer Contini reads from and signs her latest book. I)ear ()li'i'ia. about a Scots famin learning to adapt to life in Italy. With complementary wine and refreshments.
Wednesday 15
Glasgow
* Scottish PEN Borders Books. ‘)8 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6pm. Free. In retiiembrance of the assassination of Russian jounialist Anna Politkovskaya. Drew Campbell. Anne Donovan. Margaret Iilphinstone. AI. Kennedy and Laura Marney read pieces on censorship.
Thursday 16
Edinburgh
John Comino-James Stills. 23 Cockburn Street. 622 6200. 6pm. £2 redeemable with purchase. Slides and a talk from John Coinino-James about the intimate. tight-knit community of Cayo Hueso in Havana. Cuba revealed in his new photography publication. A Few Streets; A Few People.
Comics
CRIME NOIR DAVID LLOYD Kickback
(Dark Horse) oooo
Well-established comic book artists usually get around to writing their own material at some point in their careers. Veteran British artist David Lloyd, who remains best known for his collaboration with Alan Moore on the virtuoso V for Vendetta, takes a stab at writing his own script. and the re8ults impress. Originally published in France. and now in English for the first time. it‘s a noir thriller set in an American metropolis where a turf war has broken out between previously allied local hoodlurns and the corrupt police. As the book's protagonist. Detective Joe Canelli. investigates what led to the explosion of Violence. he wrestles with his own sullied conscience and disturbing childhood
memories.
Lloyd's atinOSpheric artwork is as good as ever. but what really impresses in this gripping read — dedicated to his dad — is the Juggling of crime genre stOrytelling conventions with themes about personal responsibility and the uneaSy relationship between fathers and sons. (Miles Fielder)
TRAVELOGUE GUY DELISLE
Shenzhen (Jonathan Cape) oooo
Canadian animator Guy Delisle spends a lot of time in the far east overseeing animation projects. In his first travelogue he visited North Korea: this time around he spends interminably dull days. weeks and months in China's economic marketplace Shenzhen.
a city that epitomises many Chinese stereotypes of efficiency and bureaucraCy. Culture clashes and his constant loneliness and boredom are the main themes. all told through his soft pencil work. reminiscent of Tin Tin.
The book is insightful. Delisle providing as much commentary on the society he finds himself trapped within as anything Bill Bryson has penned. The images enhancing y0ur grip on the often bizarre situations he finds himself within. Delisle is an eminently likable narrator and you can't help but feel for him and his desperately monotonous plight. Another great example of how expansive comics can be as a medium for conveying any story. (Henry Northmore)
AUTOBIOGRAPHY i COLLECTION
JOE SACCO But I Like it (Fantagraphics) oooo
Containing some of the same material as previous Sacco collection Notes from a Defeatist. this new selection is a more fOCLised attempt to archive and give order to the reams of material he amassed as a mUSIC mad young man who spent his days roadie-ing with. and doing publicity art work for. various American rock and grunge bands. The best piece here (as it was in Defeat/st) is the 33 page slice of gonzo comic book journalism, In the
Company of Long Hair. which details the time Sacco spent with Gerry Mohr's hard roclc/punk outfit The Miracle Workers (this collection even comes with a live sampler. recorded at the time. of one of the band‘s German gigs). The longer pieces here are fairly hit and miss. but some of the shorter pieces in the final part of this neatly ordered anthology (‘The Stones and l‘. 'The Same Old Blues Crap‘) are very funny. while the A4 reprints of Sacco‘s posters. flyers and sketches plus the introductions by Mohr and Sacco are deeply cherishable. (Paul Dale)
CRIME
NABIEL KANAN The Drowners (Image) oooo
The US has the crime comic market sewn up with titles such as Stray Bullets and 700 Bullets. But this London-set. noir- styled murder mystery draws fine comparison with its Transatlantic cousins. UK writer-artist Nabiel Kanan's fourth graphic novel (his others include Exit and the Eisner Award nominated Lost Girl) exhibits the grit and wit one expects of the genre. but it's elevated by a macabre storyline and some Quite Surreal plot twists.
Most notable among these is the apparent return from the dead of a woman who was drowned in the Thames following her romantic involvement with a dotcom media mogul. The lives of a number of other characters are sacked into the whirlpool created by the death of the beautiful and enigmatic Haley. but their relationship to the dead girl and the Outcome of their post-mortem involvement with her are far from obvious.
(Miles Fielder)