Books EVENTS
his late friend’s poems. Part of Glasgow International Jazz Festival. Sunday 3
Edinburgh FREE Spark! Creativity Showcase The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 6pm. See Sun 26. FREE The Midsummer Murder Mystery Cabaret Voltaire, 36–38 Blair Street, 220 6176. 8pm. Illicit Ink (aka Edinburgh Napier University’s Creative Writing MA students) presents an evening of murder-themed poetry and prose, tied together by a sleuthing compere.
Monday 4
Edinburgh FREE Blackwells Book Quiz Blackwells, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8201. 6pm. Test your literary credentials in teams of up to five members. Please arrive for 5.45pm.
Thursday 7 Glasgow FREE Poetry Discussion Group Mitchell Library, North Street, 287 2999. 6–7pm. Lively and informal discussions of poetry on the first Thursday of every month.
Saturday 9
Glasgow Words Per Minute The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1000. 4–7pm. £5. Now in a new Saturday slot, the monthly spoken word, music, film and performance event continues with more top Scottish talent.
Sunday 10 Edinburgh FREE Spark! Creativity Showcase The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 6pm. See Sun 26.
Tuesday 12
Glasgow FREE Behind the Scenes Mitchell Library, North Street, 287 2999. 2.30pm. Guided tour around the dusty shelves of the largest public reference library in Europe. Booking essential. Edinburgh FREE Toddler Surgery with Jo Frost Waterstone’s, Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, 6 Lady Road, 666 1866. 10.30am. The lady best known to most as the Supernanny signs copies of her latest book and offers advice on how to tame your terrible twos. Electric Tales The Stand, 5 York Place, 558 7272. 8.30pm. £4 (£3). A chilled night of funny yarns and verse told by a range of performers, with the sole aim of cheering you up.
Wednesday 13 Glasgow FREE Graphic Novel Book Group Mono, 12 Kings Court, King Street, 237 1137. 7.30pm. A book group for those who like plenty of pictures with their words, run by Plan B Books. Discount on the selected book in the shop for all group members.
Thursday 14
Edinburgh FREE Toddler Surgery with Jo Frost Waterstone’s, 98/9 Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive, Leith, 554 7732. 10.30am. See Tue 12. FREE Readeasy Writers’ Group The Forest Café, 3 Bristo Place, 220 4538. 6–9pm. A fun, welcoming and constructive environment in which to try out scraps of new writing in front of a friendly audience of fellow writers. Email your piece to 46 THE LIST 23 Jun–21 Jul 2011
PREVIEW OPEN MIC EVENT ALAN BISSETT The Forest Café, Edinburgh, Tue 28 Jun They say you should never go back. But in Scottish literary circles, dipping into the past to offer fresh insight of the present is nothing to be scared of. Irvine Welsh had no fears revisiting his Trainspotting radges in Porno, while more recently Alan Warner allowed his brazen hussies of The Sopranos to take another trip into oblivion with the Booker-longlisted The Stars in the Bright Sky. And now Alan Bissett has dipped into his back catalogue to reprise the characters from his acclaimed 2001 debut Boyracers for Pack Men. In the new book (due out in early September),
Bissett sets the action in 2008 around the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester, when thousands of red, white and blue-clad fans descended upon the city. Among the hordes are Dolby, Brian, Frannie and Alvin, while amid the impending chaos and carnage, the hearts and souls of The Lads are put royally to the test. Bissett will be punting his September publication
good and hard come the time, but for the Inky Fingers Open Mic event at the capital’s Forest Café, he’ll be flexing his performance skills. And there’s no reason why you can’t be sharing a stage with him, given the monthly event’s open policy for participants ‘regardless of style, experience, or identity’. (Brian Donaldson)
inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to get involved. FREE Frances Fowle Central Library, George IV Bridge, 242 8000. 6.30pm. Art historian Fowle discusses her new book, Van Gogh’s Twin: The Scottish Art Dealer Alexander Reid, about a stubborn Scot who had some very famous friends in the turn-of-the-century art world. Booking essential.
Friday 15 Edinburgh Guid Crack: Summer Nights Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 557 1050. 7.30pm. £3 suggested donation. The monthly club presents the first in a flurry of weekly storytelling and song sessions, with a different guest storyteller each time. This week it’s Grace Banks, while further sessions feature Robert Howat (Fri 22 Jul) and Bob Pegg (Fri 29 Jul).
Sunday 17
Edinburgh FREE Garden of Delights Storytelling Day Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place, 248 2979. 11am–4pm. Drift down to the Botanics for a day of summer magic with the Talking Trees Storytellers, who are spinning yarns in various locations around the garden. Suitable for all ages. FREE Spark! Creativity Showcase The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 6pm. See Sun 26.
Wednesday 20 Glasgow FREE Weegie Wednesdays The Universal, 57–59 Sauchiehall Lane, 332 8899. 7.30pm. Monthly
forum offering writers, poets, publishers, booksellers, librarians, creative writing students or anyone else with a literary interest the chance to get together socially and talk about books and publishing. Edinburgh FREE The Golden Hour The Forest Café, 3 Bristo Place, 220 4538. 8pm. Loose cabaret evening with words, music and ‘raunchy cartoons’, hosted by your erudite and moustachioed host Ryan Van Winkle with readings and live music. This is set to be the penultimate regular monthly Golden Hour event, as the future of the Forest Café hangs in the balance and the organisers move on to other projects, so there’s extra reason to get down and show some support.