festivals

  • If you’re looking for some early-morning literature in central Edinburgh this August, The Early Word at Captains Bar would be a fine place to head for. It’s a 9:30 am single-author reading with a question and answer session. Tickets are £5.50 (£4.50 concs), with a cake and a coffee thrown into the price. I’m reading

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  • I’ve been trying for ages to write something that uses various Scots words and phrases for, or connected with, rain. It only occurred to me recently that vispo/concrete poetry might be a productive approach for this project, which I’m calling “In Wir Element”. This is the first of what I hope will be several pieces

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  • Note: this piece plays with the Scots word for/spelling of “roof”.

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  • I’ve been thinking about the idea of home over the past several days, in preparation for my workshop and reading at Greenbelt at the end of August. So far, the only creative response it’s produced — well, the only one I think worth sharing, anyway — is a handful of Scots pwoemrds or vispo pieces,

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  • The times and venues of my appearances at this year’s Greenbelt festival have just been confirmed. First up is a poetry workshop at 2 pm on Saturday 27 August in Crest. The workshop is entitled “Lines Home” and will probe the idea of home, tying into this year’s Greenbelt theme. That’s followed on Sunday 28

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  • Yesterday I received the e-mail below from Colin Herd. It looks like a really interesting opportunity for writers of any kind in or near Edinburgh at the appropriate time to interact with and respond to new visual art: As part of Edinburgh Annuale 2011, the festival of independent art practice, I’m editing and publishing a

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  • Reel Meaning

    It really is time I blogged about the Reel Festivals reading at the Scottish Poetry Library on Friday 20 May. But how to sum it up? As I said on Twitter, http://twitter.com/#!/ambulancebox/status/71809397503967232 and I can think of no more apposite description. Among all the anxiety about why poetry is marginalised in our culture, against all

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  • Don’t let that post title worry you: I’m not revealing a previously undisclosed predeliction for the gee-gees. Au contraire, I’m just excited to be appearing at this year’s Greenbelt festival, which is based at Cheltenham racecourse. For those of you unfamiliar with Greenbelt, it describes itself as a festival “where faith, arts and justice collide”,

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  • The full programme for this year’s StAnza is now available – has been for a few weeks, in fact – and it looks really interesting. It’s not packed with really big names and looks all the more stimulating for that.  I’m particularly pleased to see a strong showing of translated poets – and not all

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  • Hidden Poets

    Here’s the full poetry and fiction line-up for this weekend’s Hidden Door. I think you’ll agree it’s a cracker: SATURDAY 23RD 15.00-15.45 Kona Macphee Ron Butlin David Coates 17.00-17.45 JL Williams Colin Will Kevin Williamson 19.00-19.45 Jane Flett Ericka Duffy Eleanor Rees Andrew Philip SUNDAY 24TH 15.00-15.45 Anita Govan James Picardo Kirsty Logan 17.00-17.45 Jane

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  • It’s been a day of Impossible Journeys*. I’m sitting here basking in some of Paul Thomson‘s music to accompany Claire Askew‘s poem for the project, and I’ve also been absolutely loving Alastair Cook‘s film for my poem. All of which simply stokes my already considerable excitement about the fact it’s all going to come together

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  • Hidden Door 2 approaches fast! I’m particularly excited about this one, as I’ve been putting together a fantastic — if I do say so myself — poetry and art project along with Dave Martin and Jane McKie. It’s called Impossible Journeys, it will thread through the venue and it involves 10 poets, including some leading

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  • Eleanor Rees was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside in 1978. Her pamphlet collection Feeding Fire received an Eric Gregory Award in 2002 and her first full length collection Andraste’s Hair (Salt, 2007) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards. Salt published her second collection, Eliza and

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