Books
Events
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to suzanne.black@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Suzanne Black.
Glasgow
David Robertson Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700.
6.30 7.30pm. Free. David Robertson talks about his nevv book. The Hawkins Letters. a series of letters written to Richard Davvkins. author of The (2an Delusion. challenging his secular perspective.
Martina Cole WH Smith. 53 55 Argyle Street. 20-1 0636. 12.30 1.30pm. Free. Writer of gritty thrillers. Martina ('ole. signs her new title. ('lusr'. Treasure of the Month: The William Smeal Collection Mitchell Library. 201 North Street. 287 2999. t'ntil 31 May. Mon- 'l‘hu 9am 8pm; Fri Sat 9am~r5pm. Free. An exhibition of books and pamphlets on the anti-slavery movement. including papers of the Glasgow limancipation Society 1 1833-76).
Edinburgh
Seventh Annual Festival of Scottish Writing Various libraries. 242 8104. Fruit 25 May. Times vary. Free. A celebration of creative writing covering poetry. fiction. local history. events for children. workshops and music. There's just time to catch the last few events before the festival ends. See vvvvvvcdinburgh.gov.uk/festivalofscottish vvriting for more details.
Happy Birthday Mifly! National Library of Scotland. (ieorge 1\' Bridge. 226 4531. Fruit 3 Jun. Mon Sat
l()am 5pm: Sun 2 4pm. Free. A selection of art vvork and interactive material by Dick Bruna in celebration of his rather popular bunny.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis ltalian (‘ultural Institute. 82 .\'icolson Street. 668 2232. 6pm. Free. Jamie McKendrick. along with Professor Joseph Farrell. presents his new translation of the (iiorgio Bassani novel. Rankin & Rebus: Partners in Crime Writer's' Miiseum. Lady Stair's ('lose. l.a\vnmarket. 529 4901. t'rrtil 29 Sep. Mon Sat l()am 5pm. Free. A special exhibition marking the 20th anniversary of the publication of Kime and (Towns. lan Rankin's first Inspector Rebus mystery.
Glasgow
=t< Conversation Pieces: Martina Cole Royal (‘oncert Hall. 2 Sauchiehall Street. 353 8000. lpm. £5 (£4 in advance). A conversation vvith thriller vvriter (‘ole 15 years after her record- breaking debut. Dangerous [Alt/)1 Option of lunch (‘lub' for pre-shovv chat at
l 1.30am.
Edinburgh
Guy Grieve Waterstone's. 9X 99 Ocean 'l‘eririinal. Ocean Drive. l.eith. 554 7732. 6.30pm. Free (ticketed). The chap vs ho spent a year alone in the Alaskan vvilderness talks about his book. ('ul/ of the Wild.
The Guid Crack Club Waverley Bar. 1 St Mary's Street. 556 9579. 7.30pm. 1.3 (by donation). lidinburgh’s popular storytelling club turns its hand to tales of vvar and peace with Michael Williams.
Edinburgh
Book Group Waterstone‘s. ('amerort loll Shopping (.‘cntre. 6 Lady Road. 666 1866. 5 6pm. Free. A regular book group meeting on the last Sunday of every month. To join in with the discussion of
26 THE LIST 2!? May '/ .Jun 9007
Stef Peniiey’s 771v 7i’ltr/t'l'ltt’yy rtflliilt'r’s. please contact Stephen at the branch for more information.
Shore Poets Mai Thai. The 'l‘un. Jackson's lintry. l l 1 llolyrood Road. 313 2797. 7.45pm. £2 (£1). The delightful Shore Poets return for their monthly gathering with a visit from Kate (‘lanehyu Rob A Mackenzie and Andrevv Philip. Musical entertainment comes from .\'or1humbrian singer-songyvi'iter Richard l)avvson.
Monday 28
Glasgow
Creative Writing Class Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700.
6 8pm. £30 for six sessions. Alistair Patterson hosts a writing \vorkshop every Monday entitled ‘I)iscover and develop the writer \vithin.‘ For further info please call 07969 823712 or entail
prisrn.atic(rt virginnet.
Edinburgh
Live Literature: Maggie O’Farrell North lidinburgh Arts Centre. 15a Pennyvvell('otir1. 315 2151. 7.30pm. £5 (£2.50 £3.50). Spend an evening in the company of the lidinburgh-based author and discover more about her successful novels. the latest being The Hurts/ring :li‘! (iii/zis’mc Immrm.
Edinburgh
Maggie O’Farrell Workshop North lidinburgh .-\rts (‘entre. 15a Penny vs ell ('oui't. 3l5 2151. l()am 1pm. £12
(£5 ES). .-\ hands-on creative writing vvorkshop examining vvay s to build fictional characters led by the successful lidinbur'gh-txrsed author.
Glasgow
Bryan Talbot Water'stone‘s. 17-1 Argyle Street. 248 481-1. 1 2pm. Free. The comic book \yriter pops in to sign his nevv graphic novel. :1/1r‘r' in Sunder/uni]. vvhich unites history. myth. story telling. l.evvis ('arroll and the north east of lingland.
Edinburgh
Bryan Talbot Forbidden Planet. 39 41 South Bridge. 558 8226. 5 6pm. Free. See Stiii 3.
Monday 4
Edinburgh
SPL Monthly Reading Group Scottish Poetry Library. 5 ('r'ichton's (’lose. ('anongate. 557 2876. 6 8pm. Free (£1 for tea and biscuits). .\ poetry reading group open to all. For more details please contact l.i|ias Fraser at the library or via lfraser'(n spl.org.uk.
Glasgow
>i< William Mcllvanney Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 6.30 7.30pm. Free. The creator of the Jack l.aidla\v detective stories hits back with lli'i'ki'ml. vvhich tails a bunch of academics and undergraduates as they retire to a remote bar'onial pile.
Edinburgh
Christopher Phillips’ Socrates Cafe: An Informal Discussion on Love \Vord l’ovver‘ Bookshop. 43 “est .\'icolson Street. 662 9] 12. 7pm. Free. (‘hristopher Phillips. author of Stir-rules in Love: I’lri/riw/i/rv rm- (1 l’ussimiuli' IIi’lll'I. \vaxes lyrical.
Beatnix Poetry Nite The Jan Bar. 1 ('haiiibers Street. 220 4290. 8 10pm. H 19.3). Open mic poetry and music hosted by Anita (ioyait featuring Rosemary l)unn. Rodney Relaxed arid X-Men. Please call 07962 912590 for more info.
Comics
SLAPSTICK SKETCHES EWIS
TRONDHEIM
Mister i l'NBMl oooo
Legendary French cartoonist Lewrs Trondheim has been in self-imposed retirement for some years now claiming he didn't want to make a job of his passion. He does however sporadically indulge us with one off. large format hardback books like this.
Mister l
It is slight la mere 32 pages). the humour is black and the art is as base as it comes. starring a little man shaped like a sausage with stick arnis who goes through a series of adventures in (30 tiny panels on one page. mostly concerned wrth him trying to get food with the added lWiSl that
he always ends up dead.
But it's not as bleak as it sounds. The art is DrlllléilVC. the text non- existent. but the overall effect lS still incredibly expressive. Trondheim says so much with so little: happy. sad. hungry or confused are expressed vra the bend of a single black line. iMark Robertson)
FANTASY HORROR SIMON SPURRIER AND FRAZER IRVING Gutsville No.1
(Image) oooo
Created by two of British comics' brightest new talents. Gutsvr/le No. l is a steampunk fantasy yarn that has absolutely no truck with even the furthest reaches of possibility. Yet it's all the better for that. as Simon Spurrier has an imagination that seems to function best amidst the outer limits. Marrying violence and comedy wrth a sense of characterisatioii that goes beyond most of the ciphers who populate modern comics. there is an
unlikely sense of possibility about this tale of repressed (111 every sense) Victorians who have formed a community within the belly of the biblical whale which swallowed their ancestors' America—bound ship. Irving deserves egual credit too. his murky and intensely detailed art demonstrating how the best comics can be as alluring as any other Visual medium.
(David Pollock)
FANTASY HOWARD CHAKYN AND MIKE MIGNOLA Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Dark Horse) ooooo
Given that this is by far the best work Mike Mignola did before creating Hellboy. it‘s a wonder it's taken Dark Horse this long 117 years) to collect his marvellous adaptations. scripted by Howard Chaykin. of Frit/ Leiber's terrific sword and sorcery tales. There are seven of them here. starting Wlllt ‘lll Met in Lankhmar". which introduces Leiber's ancient stone city rife with crime and run by a guild of thieves in cohorts with a wicked wi/ard. But while there's melees and magic aplenty. what differentiates Leiber's creations from. say. those of Robert E Howard is the streak of urbane wit running through the stories and
arr GRAY MOUSER
the fact that they're crafted more like hardboiled crime fiction than hack'n'slash pulp. Between them. Mignola and Chakyn do a grand l()l). respectively. of visualising Leiber's noirish world and coniplementing it with his cracking dialogue. to Wit: 'lt's (:iVilisation that has inured us »~ Lankhmar that has taught us to love the stench of degeneracy.‘ (Miles Fielder)
FANTASY JEFF LEMIRE
Essex County Vol 1: Tales from the Farm iTop Shelf) oooo
Superman and flying saucers feature figuratively in Canadian cartoonist Jeff Lemire's lovely loyal-key coming- of~age graphic novel. Set in a fictionalised version of the Ontario agricultural community in which the author grew up there bearing a distinct r(-)semblance to Smallville). the Man of Steel and the extraterrestrial invaders appear as figments of the imagination of ten- year-old orphan Lester. who's staying on his uncle's farm followrng the death of his mother. Between the care fostered by his bachelor uncle and the compairionship offered by a local hulking but mentally impaired ex hockey player. Lester emerges from the protectwe shell of his childhood fantasies. Lemire's (llSllllCll‘JC artwork. loose but bold lines and great sv-rathes of black and white space. illustrate in a higth evocative manner the alternater languid. bleak and energetic rural life as the story progresses through the four seasons of the year, It's simple. poignant and nostalgic. We eagerly look tons/aid to the second of a promised three volumes. llVlllOS Fielder)