Events
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to jules.grahamGIlst.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Jules Graham.
Thursday 20
Glasgow
Sydney Devine Borders Books. Fort Retail Park. 390 Provan Walk. 77.3 2910. Noon. Scotland's very own rhinestone cowboy signals the launch of his autobiography with some line dancing.
Edinburgh
Glass Works Scottish Poetry Library. 5 Crichton‘s Close. Canongate. 557 2876. 7pm. Free. ticketed. Guest reader Mandy Haggith reads from Letting the Light In. one of a series of poems from lidinburgh poet Stephanie Green's new collection.
Fresh Talent ()ttakar‘s Bookshop. [hit 16. Cameron Toll Shopping Centre. 6 Lady Road. 666 I866. Authors Nick Brooks. Laura Marney. Rodge Glass and Keith Gray talk about their travels from aspiring to published authordom.
Edinburgh
* Scottish International Storytelling Festival Various venues. 556 9579. Times vary. A celebration of Scottish and intemational storytelling with special guests. featuring music. song. film. workshops and talks. The festival runs until Sun 30 ()ct. See www.scottishstorytelling centre.co.uk.
Glasgow
George R Martin Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. lpm. Free. The popular sci-ti writer drops in to sign copies of A feast/or ( 'mii's. the latest volume in his Song (if/re and Fire series.
Monday 24
Glasgow
Coversatlon Pieces: George Melly Royal Concert Hall. 2 Sauchiehall Street. 0141 353 8000. 12.30pm. £4. Join the traditional jau. singer. critic. wit and raconteur as he reflects on his fascinating career in Slowing Down.
Asne Selerstad Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6pm. Free. The author reads from With Their Barks to the Il'orlil. her new book tracing the lives of 13 Serbs struggling under Milosevic.
Glas ow
Alan orbes Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 8.30pm. Free. Forbes discusses Iz'i'eijvdav Heroes. his new book documenting the history of the Strathclyde Fire Brigade.
Wednesday 26
Look Who’s Talking: Stephen Fry 'Iheatre Royal. 282 Hope Street. 332 9000. lpm. £5.50 (£4). The Q! guy dissects the art of writing poetry in The (Me less Traveller/3 ('tt/m‘klttg l/lt’ I’m’l Hit/tilt.
Edinburgh
Stephen Fry 'lhc Hub. Castlehill. Royal Mile. 473 2000. 7pm. £4. See Wed 26. Poetry Translation Centre Wodd Poets’ Tour Scottish Poetry Library. 5 Crichton's Close. Canongate. 557 2876. 7.30pm. £3 (£2). Host James Byme. translator Hafiz Kheir and Sarah Maguire join poets Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi and Panaw Naderi for readings.
Thursday 27
Glasgow * An Evening with Alan Bennett
28 THE LIST 20 Oct 3 NOV 2005)
Clyde Auditorium. Finnieston Quay. 0870 0404000. 7pm. £8.50. The Talking Heads legend tells us his Untold Stories.
Friday 28
Glasgow
Look Who's Thlldng: Roy Nathaniey ’lheatre Royal. 282 Hope Street. 332 9000. Iprn. £5.50 (£4). The fonner MP talks about The lz’dii'anlians.
Brian Johnstone and Jane l'llrshfleld 'lhe Glasgow School of Art. 167 Renfrew Street. 353 4526. 7pm. Free. Award-winning L'S poet Hirshfteld reads alongside the gent who first brought her to Scotland.
National Tell a Story Day Tron 'Iheatre. 63 Trongate. 552 4267. 7.30—9pm. £3 (£2). Gareth Cashin hosts this evening of spoken word. Call ()141 559 5318 for Open Mic slots.
Edinburgh
Performance Poetry: Anita Govan North Fdinburgh Arts Centre. 15a Pennywell Court. 315 2151. 7.30pm. £5 (£2.50-£3.50). ()ne of Scotland's finest perfonnance poets launches her first published collection of poems. Jane.
Saturday 29
Glasgow
John Mackay Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. Iprn. Free. The newsreader talks about Heartland. his new story about a man uncovering a terrible family secret.
Edinburgh
Treasure Tales North l‘xliiiburgh Arts Centre. 15a Pennywell Court. 315 2151. 10am & 1 lam. £4 (£1.50--~£2). Gareth Cashin tells Maori myths and other stories from around the world.
Sydney Devlne Waterstone's. 98/9 ()cean Tenninal. Ocean Drive. Leith. 554 7732. lpm. Free. The country star signs copies of his autobiography Simply Devine.
Edinburgh
Shore Poets 'lhe Canons' Gait. 232 Canongate. 556 4481. 7.45pm. £2 (£1 ). A capella vocalists the Decibelles. perfonn alongside poets Judi Benson. Gill McConnell and Allan Crosbie.
Edinburgh
* The Canongate Myths Royal Lyceum Theatre. Grindlay Street. 248 4848. 7.30pm. £7. An opportunity to hear Karen Amistrong and Margaret Atwood in conversation with Richard Holloway at the launch of Canongate‘s ambitious project. See News. page 7.
Edinburgh Alan Blssett and Allan Guthrie
Waterstone‘s. I28 Princes Street. 226 2666. 6pm. Free. The respective authors of The Ittr't‘edihle Adam Spark and Tim Hay Split discuss and sign copies of their books.
A Matter oi Life and Death National Library of Scotland. George [V Bridge. 226 4531. 7pm. Free. ticketed. Joseph Knight author. James Robertson. resurrects three forgotten Scottish writers. while Valerie Gillies presents poems from Lament.
Wednesday 2
Glasgow
Conversation Pieces: Sydney Devine Royal Conch Hall. 2 Sauchiehall Street. 353 8000. lpm. £4. The country star regales tts with tales from his 50 years in show business.
Glasgow
Harry Reid Borders Books. ‘)8 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6pm. Free. Reid reads from The Final ll’histle.‘ The Strange Death ometiish I'imthall. a candid exploration of the beautiful game.
Comics
HUMOUR
CHRIS WARE The ACME Novelty Library
(Jonathan Cape) eeee
Chris Ware achieved widespread recognition in the UK when his painfully funny graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth won the Guardian First Book Award. Of course. Jimmy Corn'gan wasn‘t really Ware's first book — it was a hardbound reprint of a story initially senalised in Ware's ongoing comic The ACME Novelty Library. This second collection of strips culled from the comic. once again featuring Jimmy Corrigan, but also Sparky the (beheaded) Cat. Super-Man (the child-abusing drunk) and other pastiches of ‘newspaper funnies'. gives a truer insight into what Ware's all about: parodying while paying homage to old-school cartooning.
Beyond the strips themselves. this large format book is loaded with mock adverts. editorials. letters and projects for the reader to complete (such as building a Whalebone Pistol that Shoots Phonographic Needle Darts). It‘s a beautifully designed book. but be wary (as it were): the ridiculously detailed designs and the tiny. dense and dim-witted text are part of Ware's ulterior motive: to turn the joke upon the reader. The wag. (Miles Fielder)
VISUAL NOVEL AUDREY NIFFENEGGER The Three lncestuous Sisters (Jonathan Cape) eeee
On the back of her
debut novel The Time Traveller's Wife achieving bestseller status. author Audrey Niffenegger has had this limited edition of ten. 13 years in the (hand)making art book- cum-graphic novel reissued in a much larger print run. Niffenegger calls The Three incestuous Sisters a ‘visual novel' (in order to distinguish it from cartooning). and that's a fairly accurate description. given it's a series of large format illustrations. with brief accompanying lines of text. that tells the Simple. fable-like story of a trio of women who live by the sea and compete for the love of a lighthouse- keeper's son.
The illustrations are aquatints. an antique (and presumably time- consuming) process involving the use of zinc plates. etching and nitric acid that produces images reminiscent of ancient Japanese art in their two dimensions and of Gustav Klimt in their metallic sheen. The narrative is necessarily slight. but as an object d'art Niffenegger's book is beautiful to behold. (Miles Fielder)
CRIME THRILLER JOHN WAGNER AND VINCE LOCKE
A History of Violence (Vertigo/Titan) see
A HISTORY F
Illlll'i
Tom McKenna has the perfect life in smalltown US. He owns a nice little diner and has a loving family. but then one day he stops a couple of psychopaths from robbing his cafe and becomes a local vigilante cause celebre. The attention brings
unwelcome visits from some old friends. Re-released to coincide with Cronenberg's film version. this is one of the very rare occasions when the movie adaptation way exceeds and surpasses its comic book source. Originally released in 1997, A History of Wolence is veteran Scottish/ American writer Wagner's (Stronium Dog. many Judge Dredd stories) only foray (to date) into the graphic novel form and unfortunately it now looks ternny dated and compromised. On the big screen Cronenberg has ironed out most of these problems by basically refusing to Spell out things in the way Wagner does here. The main problems really lie in the narrative structure and his total inability to make the reader root for the main protagonist. On top of this. Locke‘s scratchy. nasty. badly rendered drawings (reminiscent of Eddie Campbell's work at its very worst) seem wholly unsuited to the material. A disappointment. (Paul Dale)
COl IECTION VARIOUS
Meme (Fantagraphics) see
This is touted as 3 Raw for a new generation. A couple of the contributions actually fall into the whiney navel- gazing trap so typical of the indie comic scene. but the majority have not only fresh things to say. but genuinely innovative ways in which to say them.
From the Daniel Clowes-influenced Paul Hornschemeier. to Jonathan Bennett. whose ‘Dance with the Ventures' shows a masterful control of visual narrative. this is a collection that promises great things to come. (Dave Martin)