www.list.co.uk/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.
Edinburgh
FREE Personal Poetry Shopper St Andrew Square. 557 2876.
12.30 1.30pm. Scottish Poetry Library staff take on the role of matchmaker to find you the perfect poem. Please note: if the weather is bad proceedings will move into 'I'iles Bar.
Saturday 6
Glas ow
FRE Seeds of Thought (‘(‘A. 350 Sauchiehall Street. 352 4900. 7.30pm. 'l‘icketed. Live urban poetry and acoustic music.
Glas ow
FRE Words Exhibition Mitchell library. 201 North Street. 287 2999. l'ntil Sat 13. Tue 'l‘hu 9am 8pm: Fri & Sat 9am 5pm. An interactive exhibition with free writing workshops. readings. discussions and an art installation. Phone 014l 287 2999 to book workshop places. See preview. page 31 DiScOmBoBuLaTe (‘( ‘A. 350 Sauchiehall Street. 352 4900. 8pm. £4 (£2 1. A laid-back performance night
w here literature and comedy collide. as established and emergent writers try out new material.
Edinburgh FREE Jim Shaughnessy Beyond \Vords Bookshop. 42 44 (‘ockburn Street. 226 6636. 6pm. Shaughnessy talks about his lifetime's work photographing .\'orth American railroads. FREE Scots: The Mither Tongue National library of Scotland. (ieorge 1V Bridge. 623 4675. 7pm. Writer and broadcaster Billy Kay and traditional singer Rod Paterson celebrate over 500 years of history. literature. humour. story and song in the Scots language. Christopher Brookmyre The Liquid Room. 9c Victoria Street. 225 256-1. 7.30 8.30pm. £6. The prolific Scottish crime writer does it again with A Snowball in Hell. With rntrsic by Billy liranks. Tickets available from \\'titc't‘sttitic"s. West lind. 0131 226 2666.
Wednesday 1 0
Glasgow Janice Galloway Mitchell Theatre. 6 (iranyille Street. 287 2999. 7 8pm. £5. The celebrated Scottish w ritcr talks about her memoir. This is .\'at .‘l/Htltl Me. See feature. page 16.
Glas ow FRE Alan Riach Mitchell Library. 201 North Street. 287 2999. 6.30pm. As part of Words 2008. the academic chairs a panel discussion follow ed by readings from Let's Pretend. a collection of new writing from the (ilasgow Creative Writing Ml.itt programme.
FREE Christopher Brookmyre
Borders Books. l'iot‘l Retail Park. 390 Proyan Walk. 773 2910. 6.30pm. 'l‘icketed. More from the Paisley buddie. FREE The Wave Singer Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 7pm. (ireg Michaelson and the band Hercules Mandarin will be instore fora joint ey ent to promote their (‘1) and book.
Edinburgh
FREE Millie Gray Waler'stonc's. 98/9 ()cean 'l‘erminal. ()cean Drive. l.eith. 554 7732. 6 7pm. In a ('lass alt/reir ()wn is the debut novel from the l.eith storyteller.
FREE Rodge Glass Blackwells. 53—59 South Bridge. 622 8222. 6.30—8pm. 'l‘icketed. The Glasgow-based author of llapefar New-barns analyses icons of football and fiction.
FREE Striking Pages: The Hlstory of Gaelic in Print National Library of Scotland. (icorgc 1V Bridge. 623 4675. 7pm. Mark Wringe traces live centuries of (iaelic in print.
Edinbur h
FREE Lynne Richards Waterstone‘s. 98/9 ()cean 'l‘erminal. ()cean Drive. Leith. 55-1 7732. noon-2pm. The local author introduces her new children‘s book. Pink.
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Glasgow
Bill Drummond Waterstone‘s. 153—157 Sauchiehall Street. 332 9105. 6.30—8pm. £2 (redeemable against purchase). The million quid-squandering musician talks about his new book I 7 and the state of popular music.
David Sedaris Waterstone‘s. 174 Argyle Street. 248 4814. 7.30—8.45pm. 5.6. He once suggested that we dress all our family in denim and corduroy and will hopefully be as witty in this event to promote his latest collection of essays. When You are Iingttlferl in Flames.
Tuesday 1 6
Edinburgh
Bill Drummond Waterstone's. 128 Princes Street. 226 2666. 6—7.30pm. £2 (redeemable against purchase). See Mon 15.
Wednesday 1 7
Glas ow
FRE Jack Blade Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 7.30pm. Jack Blade. author and (‘osta Book Awards 2008 nominee. talks about his debut novel. Revaluttanaries.
Edinburgh
FREE Favourite Scottish Books National Library of Scotland. George W Bridge. 623 4675. 7pm. Share your favourite Scottish poems. stories. and books at this informal evening event.
Thursday 18
Glas ow FRE Martin Clunes Borders Books. 98 Buchanan Street. 222 7700. 12.30pm. No longer behaving badly. (‘lunes drops by to sign copies of Dog '5 Life. Conversation Pieces: lan Hamilton QC Royal (‘oncert Hall. 2 Sauchiehall Street. 353 8000. lprn. £5 (£4 in advance). ()ne of the student scarnps who stole the Stone of Destiny from beneath the (‘oronation (‘hair in I950. [an llatnilton talks about his book on the subject and the forthcoming Hollywood film.
David Simon (ilasgow Film
Theatre. 12 Rose Street. 332 8128. 8.15» 10.15pm. £6 (£4.50). The creator of ardently-loved. gritty cop show The Wire is in town for a talk about his creation. and to launch his true crime book Hmnleirle.‘ A Year on the K tiling Streets. An extra bonus is some of The Wire on screen. See preview. page 33.
Edinburgh
FREE Mike Nicholson Blackwells. 53 59 South Bridge. 622 8222. 6.30-8an 'l‘icketed. New novel from the winner of the Kelpies Prize 2005 for new Scottish writing for children. (irimm is set in the fictional town of Aberfintry.
Check out the
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Comics
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JOHN WAGNER, ALAN GRANT & VARIOUS
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 10
(Rebellion) oooo'
Judge Dredd is surely the greatest British comic character. He's graced the pages of 2000AD since in 1977. and in 2008 his maxim ‘I Am the Law” still rings true. The ultimate judge, jury and executioner. It's a distopian future where the radioactive “cursed earth' has lead to humanity sheltering in confined ultra-advanced strongholds across the globe. Mega City One is the biggest of these space-age cohabitations. sheltering several hundred million citizens, and in Judge Dredd's eyes everyone of them is a potential perp.
Realistically Judge Dredd is a fascist. stamping on freedom to enforce a police state. John Wagner and Alan Grant provided Dredd stories for every weekly issue of 200040 for years on end and this gloriously-presented compendium reaches back to 1986-1987, with art from some of the greats including Steve Dillon. lain Gibson. Cam Kennedy and Kevin O'Neil. It's something of a mixed bag that doesn't cover any of the major milestones in Dredd's world (Apocalypse War, The Judge Chi/d, Necropo/i's). but even when not embarking on these epics, Dredd is still a razor sharp satire on modern life. There are a couple of clunkers and sometimes the comedy is overplayed. but as a body of work. volume 10 of the Complete Case Files is amusing, action packed and scarily prophetic.
(Henry Northmore)
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JOHN WAGNER & PETER DOHERTY Judge Death: Young Death Boyhood of a Super-fiend
(Rebellion) «ems
Every hero needs an arch-nemesis. For Dredd that nemesis is Judge Death. In many ways he’s taken Dredd's morality to the ultimate extreme with the idea that all crime is caused by the living, so life itself should be a crime. Unfortunately there has been a tendency to write ‘comedy' Judge Death stories, and while Judge Dredd as a concept is an OTT black comedy. you need the villains to retain some genuine menace - and this falls uncomfortany into comedy territory. Detailing his origin story, it robs him of any horror, reducing this enigmatic villain to a one gag joke. (Henry Northmore)
SCI-Fl ALAN GRANT G ARTHUR RANSON
Judge Anderson: Shamballa (Rebellion) coo " =
v s .‘ o it _
One of the distinct classes amongst the Judges is the ‘PSI Division' a group who use their psychic abilities (mind reading. precognition. telekinesis. etc) to uphold Mega City One's draconian laws. and blonde bombshell Judge Anderson is the most gifted of all. Collected in this volume are several stories with religious themes, from Tibet to battling Satan. They tackle deeper issues
than your average Dredd story, but aren't completely satisfying. (Henry Northmore)
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HENRY FLINT A VARIOUS
Judge Dredd: The Henry Flint Collection (Rebellion) ooor- r:
More Mega City mayhem, this time showcasing the art of Henry Flint. Written by John Wagner and Robbie Morrison. some are great. some average and one is a waste of space. but they all help flesh out Dredd's world. But this is mainly about the art. Flint's work is detailed and visually appealing, owing a debt to Simon Bisley (especially his work on Lobo). A fun collection from one of the UK's rising comic stars. (Henry Northmore)
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JOHN WAGNER l VARIOUS
Judge Dredd Magazine No.275
(Rebellion) oooo.
The other outlet for Dredd's continuing adventures in near-future totalitarianism alongside 2000AD is the Megazine, relaunched this issue. including a free mini- graphic novel collecting Dredd stories illustrated by Jock.
Regular writer John Wagner is an unsung hero of comicdom. and his take on the character is mature and definitive. Includes the debut of Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo's new ‘Tank Girl' series, her first UK strip in many years. (David Pollock)
4-1886920081’NILIST35