Books EVENTS Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 16 days before publication to books@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
Thursday 21
Glasgow FREE The Immaculate Heart Waterstone’s, 153–157 Sauchiehall Street, 332 9105. 6–7.30pm. Launch of the sophomore novel from Paisley writer Andrew Raymond Drennan, brought to you by well-pedigreed publishing upstarts Cargo. Edinburgh FREE JA Flannery and KM Smith: Sir Henry Wellcome – Backwood to Knightwood Blackwells, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Launch of a new, lavishly illustrated book detailing the life and times of Sir Henry Wellcome, founder of the Wellcome Trust, a charitable organisation that supports projects in human and animal healthcare. FREE The Edinburgh Bookshop Book Group III The Edinburgh Bookshop, 219 Bruntsfield Place, 447 1917. 7.30–9pm. Third meeting of the new book group at this lovely Bruntsfield shop. Up for discussion this time is James Robertson’s sweeping portrait of modern Scotland, And the Land Lay Still.
Friday 22
Edinburgh FREE Lachlan Mor MacMhuirich and the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Harlaw Writers’ Museum, Lady Stair’s Close, Lawnmarket, 529 4901. 11am. Dedication of a new memorial stone to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Harlaw and Gaelic Bard Lachlan Mor MacMhuirich’s epic war poem, the Harlaw Brosnachadh. Guid Crack: Summer Nights Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 557 1050. 7.30pm. £3 suggested donation. The monthly club goes into overdrive with a flurry of weekly storytelling and song sessions, with a different guest storyteller each time. With guest Robert Howat.
Saturday 23
Glasgow ✽✽ FREE An Illustrated Talk with metaphrog Plan B Books, 5
Osborne Street, 237 1137. 2–3pm. Comic duo Sandra and John discuss the history of graphic novels and their own work (as metaphrog). Part of the Merchant City Festival.
Edinburgh ✽✽ Oxfam Comic Event 2011 McDonald Road Library, 2–4
McDonald Rd, 529 5644. 11.30am–4pm. £4. A day of appearances by comic writers including Andy Diggle (The Losers, Hellblazer, Batman), Gary Erskine (2000AD, War Story), John McShane, Morris Heggie (Dandy, Broons) and Jeremy Briggs (Down The Tubes, Bear Alley), plus a stall selling some of Oxfam’s impressive stock of comics and graphic novels. Advance tickets available from Oxfam on Morningside Road.
Sunday 24
Edinburgh FREE Spark! Creativity Showcase The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 6pm. Open session for musicians, songwriters, poets, storytellers and Check out the GreatOffers on page 6
40 THE LIST 21 Jul–4 Aug 2011
My Life in Books
HITLIST THE BEST BOOKS & EVENTS
A crime fiction special for the regular literary event. Which makes them sound less keen to divulge as happens to be the case. Tonight, the authors taking the stand are Helen FitzGerald (left), a former Barlinnie probation and parole officer, and Karen Campbell (right), who spent years in the police force before turning to writing about fictionalised crime rather than filling out endless forms on real felonious occurrences. ■ Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Tue 26 Jul.
performers of any kind, all hosted by William Douglas. Tuesday 26
Glasgow ✽✽ FREE My Life in Books: Crime Fiction Special Glasgow
Women’s Library, Mitchell Library, 15 Berkeley Street, 248 9969. 6pm. Crime writers Karen Campbell (The Twilight Time) and Helen Fitzgerald (Dead Lovely) discuss the influence books have had on them throughout their lives. See caption, above.
Wednesday 27
Glasgow The Year of Open Doors Book Launch The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, 565 1000. 7pm. £4. Cargo Publishing launches the paperback version of its recent collection of contemporary Scottish writing, with readings from contributors Alan Bissett, Anneliese Mackintosh and Colin McCredie, plus music from great Glasgow performers Aidan Moffat, RM Hubbert and Doug Johnstone. Clydebank FREE Poetry Book Group The Doublet, Milldam Road, poetrybookgroup@hotmail.co.uk. 7.30pm. The group discusses two pamphlets: work by Heather Phillipson from the Faber New Poets series, and Hannah Lowe’s The Hitcher, published by The Rialto Bridge (see therialto.co.uk for information). Email for further details.
Thursday 28
Edinburgh ✽✽ FREE Scottish PEN Event National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3918. 6pm. Readings of work by Liu Xiaobo, Nelson Mandela and others, performed by Lin Anderson and Louisa Waugh, at this Scottish PEN event to celebrate those who carry on writing in the face of book bans, imprisonment and worse.
Friday 29
Edinburgh Guid Crack: Summer Nights Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street, 557 1050. 7.30pm. £3 suggested donation. See Fri 22. With guest Bob Pegg.
Saturday 30
Glasgow ✽✽ FREE Becky Beasley and Alasdair Gray in conversation
with Lisa Le Feuvre and Tom Morton CCA, 350 Sauchiehall Street, 352 4900. 3pm. Two artists who straddle the worlds of visual and literary art, in conversation with British Art Show 7 curators Le Feuvre and Morton.
Sunday 31
Edinburgh FREE Mud, Poetry and Printmaking John Hope Gateway Centre, Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. 4pm. Carrie Akroyd presents a talk on the poetry of John Clare, and the impact his words have had on her art, as well as on larger themes of landscape change and wildlife. Booking essential: email e.gallant@rbge.org.uk. FREE Spark! Creativity Showcase The Jazz Bar, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298. 6pm. See Sun 24.
Monday 1
Edinburgh FREE Blackwell 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 4
Edinburgh FREE Getting Started at NLS National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3918. 2pm. Find out how to register, search for books and peek inside the Reading Rooms, then enjoy a lifetime of reading books for free.
Metaphrog As part of the Merchant City Festival, comics duo Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers discuss the history of graphic novels and their own work as metaphrog. Plan B Books, Glasgow, Sat 23 Jul.
Oxfam Comic Event 2011 There’ll be a chance here for comics buffs to get their hands on Oxfam’s large stock of graphic novels, plus appearances come from the likes of Gary Erskine and Morris Heggie. McDonald Road Library, Edinburgh, Sat 23 Jul.
Karen Campbell and Helen FitzGerald The authors of works such as After the Fire (Campbell) and My Last Confession (FitzGerald) discuss the deep influence that literature has had on them. See caption. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Tue 26 Jul.
Scottish PEN Event To mark those who continue producing literary works in the face of oppressive forces, Lin Anderson and Louisa Waugh perform readings of work by the likes of Liu Xiaobo and Nelson Mandela. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Thu 28 Jul.
Becky Beasley and Alasdair Gray The two literary artists happily join in conversation with British Art Show 7 bods Lisa Le Feuvre and Tom Morton. CCA, Glasgow, Sat 30 Jul.
Joe Dunthorne The author of the universally-lauded Submarine (later turned into a beloved Britflick by Richard Ayoade), unleashes Wild Abandon, the story of a Welsh commune coming apart at the seams. See interview, page 40. Hamish Hamilton.
Stefan Merrill Block Based on the true story of his grandparents’ fraught and ultimately traumatic relationship, Block delivers a fictionalised biography of their troubled lives. See review, page 41. Faber.
Julian Barnes Barnes’ latest slim corker is The Sense of an Ending, in which a divorcee looks back on the period of life when everything changed. But did he remember it properly? See review, page 41. Jonathan Cape.