www.list.co.uk/books
Events
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days betore publication to suzanne.black@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.
Saturday 1 0
Glasgow
FREE Seeds of Thought (.‘(‘A. 350 Sauchiehall Street. 352 4900. 7.30pm. Ticketed. Live spoken word, acoustic music, drama sketches and open mic.
Tuesday 1 3
Edinburgh
Book launch: ‘The Bard’ National Library of Scotland. George IV Bridge. 623 3845. 8pm. Ticketed. Launch of Robert Crawford‘s new book examining Robert Burns‘ enduring popularity. [Email events(a)nls.uk or phone 0131 623 4675 to book.
Wednesday 14
Edinburgh
FREE Getting Started at NLS National Library of Scotland. George IV Bridge. 623 3845. l lam. Find out how to register. seek out specific books and peek inside the Reading Rooms, then enjoy a lifetime of reading books for free. limail events@nls.uk or phone 0|3l 623 4675 to book.
Storytelling Gate: Burns an’ a’ That Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43—45 High Street. 556 957‘). 7pm. £4. An altemative Bums night. part of a series of monthly storytelling events. Writer. musician and storyteller (‘olin McAllister hosts the evening. where you can contribute or sit back and just enjoy the Bums-themed music and song.
Thursday 15 -
Edinburgh
Tfanslating Mein Schatten in Dachau Central Library. George W Bridge. 242 8000. 6.30—8pm. £10 (£6). The second of a two-part workshop led by Ken (‘ockbum to translate an anthology of poems written by survivors of concentration camps from German to English. You do not need to be able to speak German to take part in these workshops. Please note: change of venue. FREE Inspirations at NLS: O’Hagan on Burns National Library of Scotland. George [V Bridge. 623 3845. 7pm. Andrew ()‘Hagan talks about how Robert Bums has inspired him in an event chaired by Rosemary Goring. limail events(0)nls.uk or phone ()I 3l 623 4675 to book.
Edinburgh
FIE! Discovering Family History at NLS National Library of Scotland, George W Bridge. 623 3845. l lam. Look for family secrets or royal blood in your family‘s past with this practical workshop. limail events(a>nls.uk or phone 0| 3| 623 4675 to book.
Monday 19
Edinburgh
Rab Wilson: Just a Look at . . . Burns Scottish Poetry Library. 5 Crichton‘s C lose, Canongate. 557 2876. 6.30—8pm. £5 (£3). Scots poet and Robert Bums fan Rab Wilson looks at some of Bums‘ poems. including ‘1)aith and Dr Hombook‘ and ‘The Twa Dogs‘. Please book in advance.
Tuesday 20
Edinburgh
FREE New Poems, Ghiefly in the Scottish Dialect Scottish Poetry Library. 5 (‘richton‘s Close, (‘anongate. 557 2876. 7.30pm. Ticketed. To celebrate the launch of the anthology Best Laid .S'r-lwnws. meet contributors Alasdair Gray. David Kinloch and Douglas Dunn as well as Robert ('rawford. Please book in advance.
Wednesday 21
Edinburgh
FREE World Burns Night: Love and Liberty 'l‘ollcross Community Centre. I I7 Fountainbridge. Multicultural entertainment in celebration of ‘Scotland's Bard‘. Robert Burns. compered by Stan Reeves of the Robert Fish Ceilidh Band. [Email events(a)nls.uk or phone 0| 3| 623 4675 to book.
Glasgow
Ceol‘s Crate C(‘A. 350 Sauchiehall Street. 352 4900. 8.30pm. £|2.50. A special (‘eltic Connections version of the monthly Gaelic club and platform for Gaelic art and culture with Kathleen Maclnnes. Stevie Jackson (Belle and Sebastian), Norrie Maclver, Quest, The 'l‘empus Fugitives and Maire Ni (‘hoilm. Part of ( 'elrir‘ ( .'mzrm'1imz.s‘.
Edinburgh
FREE Robert Burns: The Patriot Bard Blackwells, 53—59 South Bridge. 622 8222. 6.30pm. Ticketed. Patrick Scott liogg. author of Robert Burns: The Patriot Bard. talks about the new biography.
RSE Burns Supper 'Ihe New Club. 86 Princes Street, 226 4881. 7pm. £85. Burns Supper held by The Royal Society of Edinburgh with entertainment from (‘lark McGinn. Scottish singer-songwriter Gill Bowman and Scottish music.
Tessa Ransford: Selected Works Scottish Poetry Library. 5 Crichton‘s Close. (‘,anongate, 557 2876. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). Poet and founder of the Scottish Poetry Library, Tessa Ransford shares some of her favourite poems in conversation with Ken Cockbum. Please book in advance.
Comics
SUPERHERO
WILL EISNER The Best of The Spirit (DC/Titan) coco
”3 UJlLL El/NER
With his domino mask. blue suit, red tie, blue fedora hat and gloves. Denny Colt aka The Spirit was what one newspaper in the 19408 referred to ‘the only real middle-class crimefighter'.
Created in 1940 for a strip in a Sunday newspaper by pioneering comics writer and artist Eisner. The Spirit did not find his spirit until Eisner returned from service in World War II (decent but uninspiring ghost writers kept the strip going in his absence).
This selection of ‘action, murder, mystery' released in the media hullabaloo of Frank Miller‘s new film adaptation of some of the Eisner-penned Spirit adventures is a good place to start for those unfamiliar with the iconic superhero.
For the sake of context, 1940’s “The Origin of the Spirit' is printed here and looks fairly ropey alongside the sophistication and singular wit of what follows. (Paul Dale)
CRIME GILBERT
HERNANDEZ
Speak of the Devil (Dark Horse) 00.
One half of Los Bros Hernandez takes time off from the long-running magic realist Mexican soap opera of Love & Rockets for this nasty little tale that mixes teen melodrama with stalk'n’slash chills. It's a crazed cautionary tale in which a high-school swim champ named Val plays out her youthful angst — partly precipitated by her often absent father leaving her mad mother for a
brunette bimbo — by donning a devil’s mask and becoming the local Peeping Tom. But Val’s furtive nocturnal escapades encourage her to cast aside received notions of morality and what begins as harmless voyeurism swiftly becomes a gruesome serial killing spree. More chilling still, her criminal acts entice friends and family to do likewise and the apparently nonsensical murders are multiplied by the copycat killers. It‘s a dark and disturbing vision of a modern urban America in which crushing conformity begets rebellion and psychosis. (Miles Fielder)
SCI-Fl GERRY FINLEY- DAY & VARIOUS The VCs: You’re Hit, You’re Dead (Rebellion) m
73‘ . Rebellion here reprints ZOOOAD's sci-fi tale of space warfare. The VCs. for the first time. in which the Vacuum Cleaners take on the power of the alien Geek empire. Created by Gerry Findley-Day (who also created Rogue Trooper) in many ways The VCs was about the futility of war told from the perspective of new recruit Steve Smith as his steep learning curve throws him into the midst of a vicious intergalactic conflict.
Brought to life with art from Mike McMahon, Cam Kennedy. Gary Leach and more this is classic QOOOAD action from 1979-1980. lt's
dated but still a hell of a lot of fun with a blunt message that still resonates today.
(Henry Northmore)
SCI-Fl
BRIAN K VAUGHN & PIA GUERRA
Y: The Last Man (Deluxe Edition Book 1) (Vertigo/Titan) ecu
Brian K Vaughn is one of the most interesting writers in comics Runaways, Ex Machina and Pride of Baghdad offering a new perspective when it comes to graphic storytelling. Y: The Last Man has been similarly praised and deservedly so.
In many ways this book plays with Richard Matheson’s premise from / Am Legend, but with a twist, as a mysterious 'event' has caused the death of every male mammal on the planet except our vaguely inept hero Yorick and his (also male) capuchin monkey Ampersand. Teaming up with special agent 355 and Dr Mann they are attempting to cross America to discover an explanation for his survival and ultimately a way of repopulating the planet. But it is an America that has drastically changed and Yorick’s sheer novelty value alone puts them in great danger.
Vaughn obviously exaggerates the effects of a maleless world for dramatic purposes but there's a grain of truth in his scenario, while Yorick‘s incompetence makes him more believable than throwing a 'hero‘ into the mix. Though be warned. this collection ends on a big cliff hanger.
Currently Y is one of the buzz projects in Hollywood and it's great to see it getting the full hardcover ‘deluxe’ treatment.
(Henry Northmore)
8—22 Jan .9009 THE LIST 35