Books

Events

Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to jules.graham@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.

Thursday 16

Glasgow

Charan Gill Royal (‘oncci't Hall. 3 Sauchichall Strcct. 355 8000. 1 3pm. £5 (£4 in athancci. :\ I‘ttgx to l'lL‘ltL‘\ talc from thc ‘curr} king' as he discusses his pun- tastic autobiography. likku Inn/t (H .llt’ .Vini'.

Tramway Publications Launch Event 'l‘ramtia}. 35 Albcrt l)ri\ c. 0845 330 350l. Spin. l'i'cc. A combinctl launch cycnt for tour tic“ art titlcxz ll'liiil .lliiki’x ion and l Different. Bung/m and Rimer Ili’iiiji' (innit/rm and Ki'I'I/i (.Ul't'llll't \\ ith UL and tll'lllkS. too.

Edinburgh

John Comino-James Stills. 33 ('ockburn Strch (133 (i300. (ipm. £3 rctlccmablc against purchasc. SlltlL‘S and a talk from ('oinino-Jamcs about thc intiinatc. tight-knit L‘tttllltlllltll} ol‘ ('a_\o “new in llayana. (’uba rcycalctl in his next photograph} publication. .vt l't'll' .Sll't't'lx. xl l'i'tt' l’t'up/r’.

Glasgow

Alan Rough Bortlcrx Books. l-‘ort Rctail Park. 390 l’royan \Valk. 773 3‘)l0. S ()pm. Free. 'l‘hc formcr Scottish goalkccpcr antl currcnl Rcal Ratlio prcxcntcr sign\ his atitobiograph} 'I‘lii' Rniig/i (Hill The Smooth: 'l‘lii’ :l/(m Rune/i Story.

Saturday 18

Q o.) (O O E

Going Beyond Haiku: Exploring Other Japanese Verse Forms Boi'tlcrx Books. ()8 Buchanan Strcct. 333 7700. Noon (ipm. £35. Alistair l’alcnon. thc poct and crcati\ c \xriting tutor. lL‘iltlS a \\UI‘l\'\lt(tp in this fascinating and lcxxcr lllltlL‘l'\ltK)tl branch ol~ poclt‘}.

Monday 20

Glasgow

Paul Ferris and Reg McKay Royal ('oncctt Hall. 3 Saucliicliall Strcct. 355 8000. I 3pm. £5 (£4 in atltancci. The pair tll\c‘tl\\ llIL‘It‘ third book togcthct‘. ill/dilly ll ‘Iitkm ()m’ to Know ()ni’. in \\lticl1 lltt‘) tch\ c into thc criminal lllltlL‘HHH'ltlS ot' (ilasgoii. London. l.i\crpool antl l‘L‘}Ulltl.

Wednesday 22 Edinburgh

* Responses to Rilke: Don Paterson and Jo Shapcott Scottish l’oclt') library. 5 (’ricliton's ('lmc. ('anongatc. 55.“ NW». 7.30pm. £5 (£3i. 'l'ito contcmporar} \\ ritcrx discuss thc appeal of Raincr .\laria Rilkc and thc influcncc oi lllx poctt‘} on llIL‘ll’ \\ riting.

Glasgow

Matthew Hollis 'l‘lic l’octr} ('Iub ((ilasgtm Sclttitil til :\t'll. lb? RL‘lll-I'L‘“ Strcct, 0|505 (il 3080. 7pm. l-‘rcc. 'l’hc St .\ltingo\ Mirrorball \'(iicc\ \cricx continucx \xith poctr} from tlic l‘abcr ctlitor'x lil'sl lull-lcngtli collcction. (ir'uiini/ llillt’l'. Fiction Book Group \Vatci'xtonc'x (l‘ormcrl) ()ttakar’xi. Buchanan (iallcricx. 5.55 I500. (ipm. l'rcc. l)i\ctl\\ [atlic Smith‘s ()Il lil’tllllV \\ ith otlicr litcrar) tans.

Edinburgh

:l: The Bridge Readings: Ian Rankin Augustinc‘s. 4l (icorgc l\' Britlgc. (i33 3345. 7pm. l‘rcc. 'l'hc local bo_\ hcro and author ol' the ltlit\\I\L‘l_\ popular lnxpcctor Rcbux nm cls takcx lllc \tagc litit‘ thc Iinal t‘\ L‘lll in [his \Cl'lL‘S ol- l'L‘ilkllllfJS.

lain Stewart Stills. 33 (‘ockburn Strccl. (i33 (i300. (ipm. l-‘rcc. 'l‘hc lllllllllltlll\l

32 THE LIST ti} 9/. MIL. :

lillltlSL'ilpL' photograph-erjotirnc} cd from thc tar south to tltc cxti'cmc north-“est for his next book of‘ \ltitps. Lani/7x Ifml ( 'ii/n' ll‘ruI/I.

Glasgow

* Look Who’s Talking: Johnson Beharry 'l'hcatrc Royal. 3S3 llopc Strcct. ()S7t) ()(il) (i647. lpm. £1S.‘)‘)\\ith book. .\'ick ('ook \\ ill be in L‘tHHL‘l‘SiIllUlI \\ ith l’rhatc Jttllthttn (iitlcon Bcharry \'(' about his atitobiograph} Burr/km! .S‘ulili'i'r. Nikos Papastergiadis (‘(‘.-\. 350 Saucliichall Stt‘cct. 553 4900. 4 5pm. l‘rcc. 'l‘lic launch Ul.Spa/[(1].'l(’.\'l/l(’/I'(‘\.‘ :ll'l I’ltii‘i' (llltl Illt’ Iz'i‘i'iji'i/in'. l’apaxtcrgiatlis' most i'cccnt titlc on thc subjcct ol' contcinporar} art. prccctlctl b} a talk at 3pm. Booking C\\L‘ttllttl.

Edinburgh

Pomegranate Writing Group Scottish l’octr} library. 5 (‘richton'x (‘lo\c. (’anongatc. 557 3376. (rpm. £5 (£3). Readings from lili/abcth Burns. .‘\1 Jo} ('Iirixtic. Jcnnic llouxc. Paula .lL‘lIltlllg'x. Mar} .\lc(’ann. :\licc .\Iitclicll and .\laurccn Sangxtcr. itx ucll as lItllle‘ from Shccna Rtllk‘t‘lxttll. Booking L‘\\L‘llllttl. l’ricc lllL‘llltlL‘\ glihs oi \\ inc.

Glasgow

Harry Morris liot'tlct's Bookx. l'ittl'l Rctail Park. 300 l’rman Walk. 7'73 3‘)l0. l 3pm. l-‘rcc. 'l‘hc c\-coppcr turnctl author \litt“ \ tlic \oltct‘ shit? (it local law cnt'orcciticnt

\\ ith thc lillc‘xl in lII\ \cricx ol' lllllllttl'ttlh ot‘l‘crings. Iiii'n lllt’ lira (Il'l' It‘llt’.

Edinburgh

Vicki Gausden \Vcc Rctl Bar. litlinburgh

('ollcgc ol'.-\rt. l.auri\ton l’lacc. 33‘) I443. l0pin. l'i'cc. 'l’hc litlinburgh ('ollcgc ol‘

.-\rt \llltlL‘lIl launchcx [Mr H Kt’ll.'. hcr

illuxtratctl gtiiilc to thc Scots langtiagc.

Edinburgh

Shore Poets Mai Thai. 'l'lic Tun. Jackson‘s lintr}. lll llol}rootl Road. 3 l 5 3797. 7.45pm. £3 (U t. This lllttllllhs Shorc l’octx arc .\latthc\\ llollix. Jim (‘ \Vllxttll illltl.'\l1lll Ilill. “lillt‘ thc music comcx from Sarah Noi'thcott and Matt Smith. Scc \\\\\\.\lltII‘L‘PtIL‘l\.Ul'g.llk for

Tuesday 28

Glasgow

Leslie Grantham \\‘;iici\ttiiic\ (l-ormcrl} ()ttakar‘xi. Buchanan (iallcrics. 555 lSlX). lpttt. l'AI‘L‘L‘. l'illltl (itll ll. thc taintctl \(tttp star's rcal lil'c can li\c tip to thc tlrania ol' l)irt_\ l)cn. (Ix (irantham pl'ttlllttlL‘S his autobiography. Lift and (NIH 'Iinim.

Wednesday 29

Glasgow

Creative Writing in Gaelic (‘(‘.’\. 350 Saucliichall Strcct. 353 4900. 7.30pm. l‘rcc. .'\n informal l'ortiiightl) \cxxion “llll Martin \laclntyt‘c. (iaclic \trilcr in rcxitlcncc :tl (ilttsgtm lilliu‘t'xil}. litt' ati_\onc iiixpirctl b_\ a (iaclic muxc.

Edinburgh

The Poets of Aquarius: Eddie Lindena and Marius Kociejowski Scottixh l’octi‘} library. 5 ('richton's (low. (‘anongatc. 557 237a. 7.30pm. £3 (£3: l’.v\S nicmbcrxz lrcci. 'l‘lic lotiiitlci‘ ol' litcrar) maga/inc Lit/Hull!“ antl onc of its contributors pl'csctll \ttlttc of thcir (mn poctr).

Leslie Grantham littl'tlt'h Hunks, l'iot'l Kinnairtl Rctail l’ark. (i5? 404l. (i 7pm. l‘rcc. SL‘L‘ 'l'llL' 33.

Thursday 30

Glasgow

Harry Morris \Vatcrxtonc'x (liormcrl) ()ttak;it'\i. Buchanan (iallcricx. 353 I500. \oon lpm. l-‘rcc. Scc Sat 35.

Comics

SUPEHHEHO GAIL SIMONE, DALE

EAGLESHAM & VAL SEMEIKS Villains United

DO 00

Viiigiins itth

Seemingly an excuse to reel out every other car boot sale bad guy that the archives of DC forgot. A bunch of vaguely uninspiring villains are banded together as the Secret Six by a mysterious power to challenge Lex Luthor's Society. an army of sui)er~criminals he's assembling in the btiiid up to Infinite Crisis. The Six perform one futile mission after another. until the vaguely interesting “surprises at the end exhort you to buy the next part. There's no sense of scale or excitement that might lead you to believe this is anything other than a cash-in.

(David Pollock)

SUPLRHEHO

GREG RUCKA, MARL VERHEIDEN GAIL SiMoriE 8. VARIOUS Superman: Sacrifice DO .0.

Yet another chapter in DC's gargantuan Infinite Crisis. this one at least lends a little character work to the usual monolithic superhero dust~ups that usually infest such crossovers. We start off with Superman undergoing a crisis of confidence.

and. having seen various nasty things happen to his nearest and dearest. giVing old bad guys like Brainiac and Darkseid a proper beating. It turns out he's been brainwashed though. and the real object of his crippling violence was Batman. Cue Wonder Woman to the rescue. But is her solution any better than the out she's battling? The quality of the book does rise and fall and a few good old- fashiontxl cliffhangers build a reasonable amount of tension. One to please the fanboys. certainly. (David Pollock)

SUPFBHEBO GEOFFJOHNS, AMANDA CONNER JIMMY PALMIof'rI & VARIOUS

Power Girl (DO 000

Power Girl lies at the crux of the events and concepts that Infinite Crisis deals With. The (:lizir;i(:t()r lizis; l)(}(}tt retconned more than most. her origins obscured \Vllltltt various parallel universes. This compilation looks back through the years. grabbing various creators versions and laying them SIUO by side. It's an interesting (if non-essential) lead into Infinite CriSis. which in many ways is as concerned with the nature of writing. the creators' influence on established charactms and the solidin of (superihuman consciousness as the grandiose sci-ti tale that lies at its heart. (Henry Northmorel

SUPEBHEHO GEOFF JOHNS & PHIL JIMENEZ

Infinite Crisis (DCl 0...

Finally we get to the meat in the seemingly endless build up to DC's

earth shattering Infinite Crisis mega crossover. Comic fans will know that every now and then (usually once a summer) some huge calamity will threaten the universe our beloved caped crusaders inhabit. causing the entire superhero community band together to fight the coming apocalypse. Back in 198:”). Cris‘is on /nfinite Earths started the trend and this is a direct sequel. The purpose of the original was to consolidate all of DC's characters into one comprehensive and coherent whole. as various writers through the years had been writing their own versions of the likes of Superman and Batman with no thought to overall continuity. All this was explained away With the sci-ti staple of parallel worlds that all came crashing together to create one glorious whole. the DC universe as we know it today. First a word of i.variiiiig: this is total fanboy fodder. great for the die-hards but near impenetrable to the casual reader. You need at least some grounding in the DC universe's grander concepts and the build up (particularly the events in Superman: Sacrifice and The OMAC Pro/ecti. Basically the plot boils down to a few lines: the universe is in crisis and the long presumed dead heroes of Earth 2 return to right the world. It's a truly epic. cosmic adventure and its ramifications will echo across the entire DC cannon (and lead directly into :32 and One Year Later. the next round of this monumental proiectl. If you're already hooked in. this is an unmissable comic event. (Henry Northmorel

A~uo¢ o~~|.~.a~h‘