www.list.co.uk/books
Edinburgh FREE Book Group Waterstone’s, 13–14 Princes Street, 556 3034. 6.30pm. Stieg Larsson’s thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the book for discussion this month.
Wednesday 10
Glasgow FREE Roads to Recovery 3pm. A panel of speakers support the launch of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s Stories of Recovery. Aye Write! FREE Mairi Nic a Ghobhainn and Friends 6pm. Mary Smith talks about her songs, with performances by a Gaelic musician. Aye Write! Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett 6pm. £7 (£6). Wilkinson and Pickett debate equality and the problems that occur in unequal societies. Aye Write! Sir John Lister-Kaye 6pm. £7 (£6). Lister-Kaye discusses the potential of nature. Aye Write! FREE Alison Lang and Mairi E NicLeoid 7.30pm. Readings from their current works. Aye Write! Edwyn Collins and Grace Maxwell 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Collins and partner Maxwell discuss the former Orange Juice frontman’s recovery from a brain haemorrhage in 2005. Aye Write! Louise Welsh 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Welsh talks about her new book, Naming the Bones. See feature, page 26. Aye Write! Sarah Bakewell and Robert Rowland Smith 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Bakewell and Rowland Smith discuss how to live your life. Aye Write! FREE Don’t Eat the Mic Tchai Ovna, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. An evening of poetry performance. Edinburgh Storytelling Café Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7pm. £4. Storytelling, music and song in a café atmosphere.
Thursday 11
Glasgow AL Kennedy 6pm. £7 (£6). Kennedy talks about her latest short story collection What Becomes. Aye Write! FREE Poet’s Corner open mic 6pm. St Mungo’s Mirrorball hosts the popular open mic event. Aye Write! Sandi Toksvig 6pm. £7 (£6). Toksvig talks about her new book, The Chain of Curiosity. Aye Write! The Granta Biography Panel: Janice Galloway, Rupert Thomson, William Feinnes, Stuart Kelly 7.30pm. £7 (£6). A discussion of the ethics of writing biographies chaired by Stuart Kelly. Aye Write! Michael Mansfield 7.30pm. £7 (£6). The QC holds a special lecture about his book, Memoirs of a Radical Laywer. Aye Write! Tom Leonard 7.30pm. £7 (£6). The poet Leonard reads from and talks about his new collection, Outside the Narrative. Aye Write! FREE University of Glasgow Creative Writing Showcase 7.30pm. Eight writers of prose and poetry from Glasgow University read from their work. Aye Write! FREE Literally Quizzical Mitchell Library, 201 North Street, 0844 847 1863. 8pm. Free quiz. Aye Write! Edinburgh Nothing But the Poem Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. 6–7.30pm. £5 (£3). Gentle reading group facilitated by Ryan Van Winkle. FREE Shona MacLean Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Historical goings on in A Game of Sorrows by Shona MacLean.
Friday 12
Glasgow FREE Celebrate Community Writing 12.30pm. Showcasing writing from adults taking part in learning courses across Glasgow. Aye Write! Played in Glasgow Book Launch 6pm. £7 (£6). Ged O’Brien talks about his sporting heritage book, Played in Glasgow. Aye Write! Tariq Ali 6pm. £7 (£6). Recent work on the crisis in Islamic Civilisation and its solutions. Aye Write! Vitali Vitaliev 6pm. £7 (£6). Vitaliev talks about the power of literature and how it has affected his life. Aye Write! Dan Rhodes and Alan Bissett 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Rhodes and Bissett read from their new works. See First Word, page 2. Aye Write! Denise Mina and Bryan Talbot 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Discussion of graphic novels with Stuart Kelly. Aye Write! The Future of the Left 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Tariq Ali, Tristram Hunt and Iain Macwhirter debate the future of the left in Scotland and Britain. Aye Write! New Irish Poetry 7.30pm. £7 (£6). Pat Boran, Miriam Gamble and Leanne O’Sullivan showcase their work in an evening of reading and music. Aye Write! FREE Reading Allowed Tchai Ovna, 42 Otago Lane, 357 4524. 8pm. Monthly event of storytelling and poetry reading.
Saturday 13 Glasgow Alan Clements and Chris Mullin 11am. £7 (£6). Discussion of political fiction. Aye Write! Roland Chambers and Rachel Polonsky 11am. £7 (£6). Chambers and Polonsky discuss the life of Arthur Ransome under communism. Aye Write! FREE Glasgow Remembered: Food and Nostalgia 11.30am. Family fun and a Q&A session with authors. Aye Write! Allan Guthrie and Denise Mina 12.30pm. £7 (£6). Mina discusses her new novel Still Midnight with Allan Guthrie. Aye Write! Chris Mullin MP: Diaries 12.30pm. £7 (£6). The MP talks about his biography, A View from the Foothills. Aye Write! Oliver Bullough 12.30pm. £7 (£6). Bullough talks about his latest work, Let Our Fame Be Great. Aye Write! Elaine C Smith and Helena Kennedy 2pm. £7 (£6). Smith discusses her memoir, Nothing Like a Dame, with Helena Kennedy. Aye Write! FREE Susie Orbach 2pm. Susie Orbach discusses her latest book, Bodies. Aye Write! Tristram Hunt 2pm. £7 (£6). Hunt tells the story of Friedrich Engels. Aye Write! Don Paterson and Robin Robertson 3.30pm. £7 (£6). 2009’s leading British poets read from their latest works. Aye Write! FREE John Carey 3.30pm. Michael Schmidt interviews Carey about his work on William Golding’s biography. Aye Write! FREE Paul Davies 3.30pm. Discussing extraterrestrial intelligence. Aye Write! David Aaronovitch 5pm. £7 (£6). Discu his new book Voodoo Histories and the nature of conspiracy patterns. Aye Write! FREE Martin Stannard 5pm. Will Maley talks to stannard about the life and work of Muriel Spark. Aye Write! What Book Changed Your Life? 5pm. £7 (£6). Allan Bissett, Ewan Morrison and Sara Sheridan reveal the books that changed their lives. Aye Write! FREE University of Glasgow Creative Writing Showcase and Award of Sceptre Prize 6.30pm. Includes reading from PhD feature writers. Aye Write! Germaine Greer 7pm. £7 (£6). Greer hosts a special one-woman show, Forty Years of Feminism and Fun, to mark the 40th anniversary of her seminal book, The Female Eunuch. Aye Write!
Tall Tales Oscar 7pm. £7 (£6). Annual tradition where storytellers compete for the Tall Tales Trophy. Aye Write! Edinburgh New Irish Poetry Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. 2pm. £5 (£3). See Fri 12. Tall Tales Oscar Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43–45 High Street, 556 9579. 7pm. £8 (£6). See Sun 14.
Monday 15
Glasgow FREE Third Moon on the Left The Hidden Lane Café Gallery, 1103 Argyle Street, 7pm. Regular poetry night open to poets, songwriters, singers and musicians. Edinburgh FREE Blackwell Book Group Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8206. 6pm. This month it’s The Children’s Book by AS Byatt. To register email events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk
Tuesday 16
Glasgow FREE Spring to Poetry Brel, 39–43 Ashton Lane, 342 4966. 6.30pm. conFAB & Alliance Francaise de Glasgow present ‘Le Printemps des Poètes’ with spoken word artist Jack Sims and a French guest. Edinburgh FREE A Celebration of Poetry from Scotland and the Middle East Word Power Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, 662 9112. 6.30pm. Yousef Al- Khatib, Iyad Hayatleh, Jila Peacock and Tessa Ransford read their work in an event chaired by Robert Alan Jamieson. Part of the Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace 2010.
Events Books
FREE Tartan Pimps Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. Mitch Miller, Johnny Rodger and Owen Dudley Edwards introduce their new book about Scottish political identity. Wednesday 17
Edinburgh FREE Ken MacLeod Blackwell, 53–59 South Bridge, 622 8222. 6.30pm. MacLeod launches his latest novel, The Restoration Game, followed by a discussion of science fiction with Charlie Stross and critic Andrew J Wilson.
✽✽ Richard Holloway Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close,
Canongate, 557 2876. 7.30pm. £5 (£3; PAS members free). The Poetry Association of Scotland presents the Hugh MacDiarmid Lecture given by the writer and former Bishop of Edinburgh.
St Andrews ✽✽ StAnza: Scotland’s International Poetry Festival Various venues, times vary. Prices vary. See preview, page 32.
Thursday 18
Glasgow FREE Celebrating 40 Years of Francophonie Alliance Française de Glasgow, 3 Park Circus, 331 4080. 6.30pm. An anniversary talk from Henriette Walter and a discussion with Professor John Campbell, University of Glasgow, about the relationship between French and English. Booking essential.
St Andrews ✽✽ StAnza: Scotland’s International Poetry Festival Various venues, times vary. Prices vary. See Wed 17.
Workk Inn Progress
AA free,, professional,,
anonymous,, criticall readingg servicee forr Scotland’ss writers
Wee read:: fiction,, non-fiction,, poetry,, screenn && radioo plays,, dramaa
andd writingg forr children.. Wee seendd youu aa report. Fulll details::
e-mail:: workinprogress@hi-arts.co.uk www.hi-arts.co.uk/writing/work_in_progress.htmm
4–18 Mar 2010 THE LIST 35