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Very pleased to be heading to Berlin with some very talented Scottish poets for VERSschmuggel, as part of the Literatur Werkstatt, Berlin. With Anna Crowe Scotland/UK – Odile Kennel Germany; Peter Mackay Scotland/UK – Dagmara Kraus Poland/Germany; Ryan Van Winkle USA –Björn Kuhligk Germany. Moderation: Aurélie Maurin editor, translator, Berlin.

The poesiefestival berlin invited some of Scotland’s most outstanding poets to meet up with German-speaking colleagues for the VERSschmuggel translation workshop.

The poets work in pairs on the translation, supported by intermediaries and interlinear translations. Through this process, an intensive smuggling of cultural connotations, poetic traditions, and compositional processes develops. The results of the workshops will be presented on two evenings. They also appear as a bilingual anthology with a CD in Scotland (with Freight Books) and in Germany (with the publishing house Das Wunderhorn). Part two of VERSschmuggel takes place on Wed 11.6.

Kindly supported by: British Council, Creative Scotland.

Please join us for the Edinburgh launch of A Bird is Not a Stone, a groundbreaking anthology of Palestinian poetry translated into the languages of Scotland. 

The collection features by 25 contemporary Palestinian poets and as many Scots writers, including the makar Liz Lochhead, Costa Award winner Kathleen Jamie and Guardian Fiction Prize winner Alasdair Gray.

The evening will include readings of poems from the collection in both the original and translations by Liz Lochhead, Abla Oudeh, Liz Niven, Harry Giles, Rachel McCrum and Ryan Van Winkle.

More information on the book can be found here.

What: Edinburgh Launch of A Bird is not a Stone

Where: Looking Glass Books, 3 Porters Walk, Edinburgh

When: Tuesday 3 June, 6pm

How Much: FREE

I’ll be appearing via technology at the show ‘Elemental’ at the Melbourne Planetarium this July! The show is an exploration of the cosmos via the words and sounds of some really awesome artists. Via the Facebook event:

With Sean M Whelan, Emilie Zoey Baker, Ryan Van Winkle, Andrew Watson,Claire Fischer, Nat Bates, Ai Yamamoto, Chris Nelms, Alex Scott, Daniel Gorman and an introductory talk by Dr Alan Duffy.

Two shows on Thursday July 10 at 7pm and 9pm and Friday July 11 at 7pm and 9pm.

Since the dawn of time, poets have gazed up at the stars and pondered who we are and what it all means. Elemental is a unique performance that explores the universe through the eyes of artists. Taking place inside a planetarium, this show combines live music, poetry, surround sound and video, and the voice of UK scientist John Gribbin to explore the universe and ascribe meaning to our celestial experience.

Elemental is an immersive experience for the mind and body. Lie back in the comfort of a lounger as you lift off into space for your very own guided tour of the galaxy. This visual voyage through the heavens explores four different theories about how the universe began, taking you on a poetic journey through the Big Bang, the theory of everything, M theory and dark matter, accompanied by a soundtrack of live musicians and poetry readings. Experimental musicians, poets and video artists make a spellbinding and unique exploration of quantum physics and cosmology, with a poetic twist. In 2009 this show was a sell out at MIAF and is now with added exciting new works. In Bendigo, there will be two shows on Friday July 18 at 6pm and 8pm at The Discovery Science and Technology Centre, Bendigo with the awesome Klare Lanson and Neil Boyack. Tickets can be purchased through The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas website: http://wheelercentre.com/events/event/elemental1/ Presented by the Wheeler Centre and Scienceworks. With support from Arts Victoria.

Recently I had the privilege of taking a trip to Iraq with some really talented artists as part of the Reel Arts: Niniti Literature Festival. If you were curious about how one might document such a trip photographically, look no further than the Reel Festivals Blog.

Recently I had the privilege of taking a trip to Iraq with a group of seriously talented artists as part of the Reel Arts: Niniti Literature Festival. The second of my journal entries is posted at the Reel Festivals blog.

Recently I joined a group of poets on a trip to Iraq for the Reel Arts: Niniti Literature Festival. We saw some amazing things. The first of two journal entries from me is available on the Reel Festivals Blog.

Very chuffed to be joining Lake Montgomery and a host of talented artists for Rally and Broad’s Ampersand Edition. There’ll be collaborations with singer-songwriters and poets, plus we’ll be back in the hallowed vaults of the Bongo Club, part of the Bongo Lives! celebrations. It’s this Friday 2 May, it’s five bucks, it’s tremendous art. Come join us!

A special edition Rally & Broad cabaret to celebrate Bongo Lives!

Mash-ups and collaborations from:

Ruth Mills & Gerry Campbell!

Award-winning dancer and choreographer Ruth Mills (Whatever Gets You Through The Night) teams up with Gerry Campbell (formerly Belle & Sebastian, BabyGod)

Ryan Van Winkle & Lake Montgomery!

Critically-acclaimed poet, Van Winkle teams up with the captivatingly soulful Lake Montgomery!

Snake-faced Jake & Lach!

Acoustic-punk meets Anti-Folk! Snake-faced Jake of Black Diamond Express teams up with the founder of Anti-Folk, Lach in what promises to be a strange and wonderful collaboration!

Rally & Broad is a highly acclaimed, much-vaunted lyrical cabaret, rapidly gaining notice for fun, engaging, interactive and inspiring literary-themed cabarets. R&B has run since October 2012 and has featured over 60 writers and poets, alongisde award winning musicians, theatre-makers and dance acts. Hosted by poets Jenny Lindsay & Rachel McCrum.

What: Rally & Broad Ampersand

Where: Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate, Edinburgh EH1 1JX

When: Friday 2 May, Doors 7pm

How Much: £5 (£4 advance)

Really delighted that ‘Tides Connect Everywhere‘, the latest audiovisual collaborative piece between myself and Dan Gorman, will be hosted in the Melbourne Planetarium this month, as part of the exhibition Elemental.

Tides Connect Everywhere is a site specific audiovisual installation commissioned by the Melbourne Planetarium, Australia in January 2014 on occasion of the exhibition ELEMENTAL, science in the dark. The video will be screened in April 2014 in the dome of the planetarium.

Tides Connect Everywhere is to be considered the second chapter of a collaboration with poet Ryan van Winkle and experimental sound researcher- collector and activist Dan Gorman which started In early 2012 with the realization of the music video No Ideas but in things and released on Invisible Agent. Tides Connect Everywhere represents a reflection on the hypothetical presence of a single, all-encompassing, coherent theoretical framework of physics that fully explains and links together all physical aspects of the uni- verse. For this commission I worked with an arch structure of continuously growing geometrical elements taken from my euromeptiness archive of symbols. Very Important is the timing within the transition choices that are meant to be resemble human breathing, therefor not necessarily synched with the track changes.

Really excited to be heading back to Erbil in Iraq for Erbil’s 3rd International Literature Festival. I’ll be doing some readings and workshops, alongside some fantastic Iraqi writers and some familiar faces to Scottish readers, including Kei Millar, Vicki Feaver, Julia Copus, Kapka Kassabova, Nia Davies and SJ Fowler. It’s running from 22-24 April, if you’re in Kurdistan, do drop by.

Now in its third year, the former Erbil International Literature Festival has been renamed NINITI – which is a Sumerian epithet for a goddess meaning ‘lady of life’ – to reflect this year’s focus on women writers. Held at the atmospheric Chwar Chra Hotel, a short walk from Erbil’s 6000 year old Citadel, an exciting line up of international and local writers will come together to give readings and discuss politics and literature. 

Writers participating include Kapka Kassabova, Julia Copus, Ghareeb Iskander, Choman Hardi and Rachel Holmes in an exciting programme of events celebrating women’s writing in the region and beyond. Writing Workshops will also be held during the main festival in partnership with Salahaddin University in Kurdish, Arabic and English for students interested in storytelling or poetry. 

If you missed fantastic performances at this week’s Hidden Door Festival, here is video evidence of my involvement. The entire Camarade event is available on SJ Fowler’s YouTube channel. Check it out.