Books EVENTS
EVENTS Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to books@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Laura Ennor.
Thursday 4
Glasgow Alistair Moffat: The Faded Map Renfield St Stephen’s Church, 260 Bath Street, 332 2826. 2.15pm. £8 (under 18s/students/RSGS members free). Alistair Moffat discusses his new book The Faded Map, a chronicle of ancient Celtic kings and kingdoms. Edinburgh FREE Getting Started at NLS National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3918. 6pm. Learn how to register and use the catalogue, plus sneak a peek inside the Reading Rooms. FREE Martyn Murray: The Storm Leopard Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. The distinguished evolutionary biologist and conservationist discusses his first book, The Storm Leopard, with Aubrey Manning. Booking required. Dark Tales Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 8.30–10pm. £8 (£6). Adults only session of storytelling intended for dark winter nights. With Robert Howat, Fiona Herbert, David Campbell, Gerry Durkin, Jack Martin and James Spence.
Friday 5
Glasgow Reading the Leaves Tchai Ovna, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. £2. Poetry and storytelling evening.
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE Muriel Spark Society Annual Lecture National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3918. 6pm. Martin Stannard talks about ‘Meeting Muriel Spark’, after she contacted him in 1992 inviting him to become her official biographer. Followed by a signing of his recently published definitive biography. Booking required.
Saturday 6 Edinburgh FREE Poetry, Stuff and Nonsense: Poetry Day at Blackwell Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 2–4pm. Poetry can be a little intimidating for the uninitiated, so drop into Blackwell’s poetry section for guidance from the Book Doctor. There’s a performance of The Jumblies, a play based on the nonsense poetry of Edward Lear, at 2pm. Poetry & Motion Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road, 228 2688. Times vary. Prices vary. A mini-season of poetry- inspired films curated by the Scottish Poetry Library and the Filmhouse, including Under Milk Wood starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Keats biopic Bright Star and Robert Frost: a Lover’s Quarrel with the World, a documentary made just before the poet’s death in 1963. Until Sun 14 Nov.
Monday 8
Glasgow FREE Archive Taster Session Glasgow Women’s Library, 15 Berkeley Street, 248 9969. 2pm. A new series of workshops where you can gain practical archives experience, meet other volunteers and take a peek at the materials stored at the Women’s Library. This week’s session looks at the handling of photographs. Edinburgh FREE Nothing But Poetry for Fiction Readers Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6–7pm. Stuck in
30 THE LIST 4–18 Nov 2010
Gok Wan
With his memoir Through Thick and Thin (you can surely see what he’s done there?), Mr Wan recalls his upbringing on a Leicester housing estate. His folks ran a Chinese restaurant which might have something to do with the fact that Gok bloomed to some 21 stone when he was a teenager. Find out how he conquered that as well as the bullying he suffered for being a young, gay Asian man. ■ Waterstone’s, Edinburgh, Sat 13 Nov.
a prose rut? Try some recommendations from Blackwell’s staff and open your eyes to a world of wholly satisfying versifying. FREE Blackwell Book Quiz Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6pm. Test your literary credentials in teams of up to five members. Please arrive for 5.45pm.
Tuesday 9 Edinburgh FREE Discovering Family History at NLS National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3918. 2pm. Delve into your family’s past as NLS reveals genealogy research techniques in this practical workshop. Includes a short tour of the library. Booking required.
168 Renfrew Street, 353 4690. 7pm. Poetry from Bernard O’Donaghue, Hazel Frew and Miriam Gamble with the St Mungo’s Mirrorball poetry network. Edinburgh FREE Borne on the Carrying Stream Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 6pm. Book launch for Borne on the Carrying Stream edited by Eberhard Bort. Part of the Carrying Stream Festival. FREE Ian Edward: Woodlanders – New Life in Britain’s Forests Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Launch of a new book about the ways in which people are getting back to nature and interacting with the UK’s woodlands. Booking required.
Wednesday 10 Friday 12
Glasgow ✽✽ Jackie Kay: Red Dust Road Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552
4267. 9.30pm. £8.50. The launch of Red Dust Road, a warm and humorous autobiographical account of Kay’s upbringing in Scotland by adoptive parents and her later encounters with her Highland mother and Nigerian father. With musical interludes from vocalist Suzanne Bonner. Part of Glasgay!
Edinburgh Storytelling Cafe: Luck of the Irish Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7–9pm. £4. Settle in for an informal evening of stories and song with a Scots-Irish flavour. Poetry Association of Scotland: Andrew Greig Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). Andrew Greig reads from his new collection, The Loch at the Green Corrie, a work partly inspired by the poet’s friendship with Norman Maccaig, whose centenary is celebrated with a series of events at the Library this week.
Thursday 11 Glasgow FREE Poetry Club The Art School,
Close, 55 High Street, 524 0160. 10am–4pm. £5. An event for budding writers aged 14–17, with workshops, performances, talks and a free lunch! See www.scottishbooktrust.com/youngwriters conference to sign up. Nothing But the Poem Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. 11am. £5 (£3). The MacCaig centenary celebrations continue as the SPL’s poetry reading group focuses on the simple and often humorous work of the Edinburgh poet. The Faith Healer Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 01224 635208. 2.30pm & 7pm. £9 (£7). See Fri 12.
✽✽ FREE Meet Gok Wan Waterstone’s, 98/9 Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive, Leith, 554 7732. 5pm. See caption.
Monday 15
Glasgow FREE Archive Taster Session Glasgow Women’s Library, 15 Berkeley Street, 248 9969. 2pm. Another practical workshop in archiving skills, offering you the change to become a volunteer at the library and gain access to its fascinating collections. This week’s session is focusing on re-housing materials and making boxes. Edinburgh FREE Poems Aloud: Norman MacCaig Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. 3pm. Rounding off the poet’s centenary celebrations is a recital of Norman MacCaig’s verse. With tea and biscuits! FREE A Blonde Bengali Wife The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, 243 2626. 6–8pm. Signing and reading from Anne Hamilton, author of a new travelogue detailing her experiences of a cultural exchange in Bangladesh. FREE Blackwell Book Group Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8206. 6pm. The book group turns its attentions to Hans Fallada’s Alone in Berlin, a tale of the varying fortunes of neighbours in a Berlin street in 1940. Email events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk to register for the group and get a discount on the chosen book.
Tuesday 16
Edinburgh FREE Rax Me That Buik by Ian Gordon Brown Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Launch of a new book celebrating and telling the history of the National Library of Scotland’s extensive collections, which feature writings from everyone from Mary, Queen of Scots to David Hume. Booking required.
Wednesday 17 Edinburgh FREE Les Wilson: Fire in the Head Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Launch of the first novel from journalist and filmmaker Les Wilson, a saga of jealousies and murder in a hippy commune on the west coast of Scotland. Booking required.
Glasgow FREE Reading Allowed Tchai Ovna, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. Monthly evening of storytelling and poetry reading. Edinburgh The Faith Healer Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 01224 635208. 7pm. £9 (£7). Irish storytelling theatre from Brian Friel, presented by Blue Tiger Theatre, and featuring tales of a dubious faith healer called Frank, his wife Grace and agent Teddy.
Saturday 13 Thursday 18
Glasgow Consequences and Complicities of Conceptualism: Vanessa Place and Mark Sanders Tramway, 25 Albert Drive, 0845 330 3501. 2.30–4.45pm. Entry with Festival or Day Pass. A talk from theorist Mark Sanders and talk and performance from writer, editor, theorist and publisher Vanessa Place, followed by an interactive discussion about combating accusations of experimental music’s elitism. Part of Instal 10. Edinburgh Young Writers’ Conference Scottish Book Trust, Sandeman House, Trunks
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE Ryan Van Winkle: Tomorrow, We Will Live Here
Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Launch of a poetry collection from Reader in Residence at the Scottish Poetry Library Ryan Van Winkle. Booking required. Noisy Words Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. 7.15pm. £14 (£6–£10). The composers from Noisy Nights and writers from Words, Words, Words team up for the Autumn Festival. Writers and composers are invited to submit proposals for the night. Part of the Traverse Autumn Festival.