Blog

I’ll be chairing two events and reading at two more this year at the EIBF. Great to be back in sunny Charlotte Square!

SYRIA SPEAKS: AN EVENING OF RESISTANCE & CELEBRATION

Tue 12 Aug 9:00pm – 11:00pm — The Guardian Spiegeltent

Reel Festivals presents Syria Speaks, a celebration of contemporary Syrian writing and music. With readings from Samar Yazbek’s Pinter Prize-winning war diaries and Malu Halasa’s sly (but not shy) Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie, this event highlights the humour, resilience and strength of Syrian art, even in these most challenging times. Through the poetry of Golan Haji, the adventures of novelist Robin Yassin-Kassab, and the storytelling and songs of the irrepressible Raast Collective, Syria Speaks will make you laugh, cry and maybe even dance.

GRAY: THE COLOUR OF SCOTLAND (Chair)

Wed 13 Aug 1:30pm – 2:30pm — Baillie Gifford Main Theatre

Of Me and Others is as close to Alasdair Gray’s autobiography as we are likely to get. Described by its editor Alistair Braidwood as ‘ribald, humorous, angry and incisive’, this new tome by one of Scotland’s literary superstars describes his meetings with authors such as Anthony Burgess, and explains how he went about writing his masterpiece Lanark and recent Faust adaptation, Fleck.

A STAR IS FINALLY BORN (Chair)

Sat 16 Aug 9:30pm – 10:30pm — Baillie Gifford Main Theatre

Faber and Faber is world famous for publishing the giants of poetry. Now, with My Prefect Cousin, Faber offers us the poems of cult poet Paul Hamilton. His cousin, the renowned comedy actor Kevin Eldon, has pieced together Hamilton’s story, the man once described by the Poetic Literary Review as ‘a diabolical libertarian’. Join Eldon as he charts the rollercoaster ride of a life dedicated to verse.

RALLY AND BROAD

Mon 25 Aug 9pm – 11pm — Guardian Spiegeltent

The Edinburgh Cabaret of Words, Music & Lyrical Delights comes to the Book Festival! Details to follow…

I’ll be doing a ten-minute guest spot with Ross McCleary, Andrew Blair and the aptly-named Knife Whimsy on Sunday 10 August! Comedy and poetry, huzzah!

Our audio-visual extravaganza ViewMaster is now open for business. We’re running shows every fifteen minutes from 2-3.45pm and 6-7.45, on 1-5, 7-12, 14-19, 21-24 August. Do join us in the cool marble corridors of Summerhall.

A personal slideshow for your eyes and ears only. Poet Ryan Van Winkle and musician Dan Gorman lead you on a playful, sometimes surreal, journey to a distant land and bring you back in under 15 minutes. Ryan Van Winkle is Poet in Residence at Edinburgh City Libraries. In 2012 his show Red, Like Our Room Used to Feel was one of the top ten best-rated shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Dan Gorman is a musician who has done field recordings in Afghanistan, Syria and an abandoned military base in Germany. Part of the Made in Scotland showcase.

Really excited to launch the Viewmaster pamphlet with the lovely people at Stewed Rhubarb Press. The launch is happening this Tuesday 29 July in Looking Glass Books (3 Porter’s Walk, EH3 9GG) at 6.30pm. The show is free, the pamphlet is £3 (you can buy physical or e-book copies here), and it would be awesome to see you there.

Stewed Rhubarb is unhealthy ecstatic to announce its publication of two new pamphlets: Jo Clifford’s “The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven” and Ryan Van Winkle’s “ViewMaster”.

We’ll be celebrating with a launch party at Looking Glass Books. It’s FREE ENTRY, with a WINE RECEPTION and READINGS by the two authors.

The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven – Jo Clifford

A candlelit, peaceful, meditative end to a hard day on the Fringe. The archbishop of Glasgow called this vision of a transgender Jesus ‘an affront to the Christian faith’. He never saw it. Listen to those who did: ‘Queen Jesus reminds us of the purity of sex and pleasure, the importance of empathy. We hold hands, and remember what it means not to be alone’. Jo Clifford’s revolutionary and spiritual work reaches the Fringe for the first time since its explosive and controversial 2009 opening. It promises to be very special.

ViewMaster – Ryan Van Winkle & Dan Gorman

A personal slideshow for your eyes and ears only. Poet Ryan Van Winkle and musician Dan Gorman lead you on a playful, sometimes surreal, journey to a distant land and bring you back in under 15 minutes. Ryan Van Winkle is Poet in Residence at Edinburgh City Libraries. In 2012 his show Red, Like Our Room Used to Feel was one of the top ten best-rated shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. Dan Gorman is a musician who has done field recordings in Afghanistan, Syria and an abandoned military base in Germany. Part of the Made in Scotland showcase.

Fuelled by ginger wine & late nights, Stewed Rhubarb Press specialises in publishing pamphlets & poetry by the best spoken word artists out there.

Event URL: http://stewedrhubarb.org/post/91489572391/stewedrhubarbpresentsryanvanwinkeandjoclifford

This August Reel Festivals will return to the Unbound Series at the EIBF with our show Syria Speaks, a combination of song, dance and word from Syrian artists. In an interview with The Skinny we talk about finding the story beyond the headlines.

Guest interviewer Billy Liar talks with Deke from Gaelic punk band Oi Polloi. They discuss his decision to start singing in Gaelic – which involved having to learn it first – and some of the problems celebrating a minority language can sometimes unravel. Introduced by Ryan Van Winkle and produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions. We acknowledge the financial assistance of Creative Scotland. Culture Laser is moving over to SoundCloud – find us there.

Excellent news! The pictures, words and music extravaganza ViewMaster will be showing in the magnificent Summerhall SIXTEEN TIMES per day, from 2-3.45pm and 6-7.45pm, every day from Friday 1 August – Sunday 24 August. Do come along.

Ryan Van Winkle (poet) & Dan Gorman (sound artist) lead you on a playful, sometimes surreal, journey to a distant land in under 15 minutes. In a set designed by artist Faith Eliott, Dan & Ryan bring you on a unique visual-sonic-poetic journey to one of four destinations: Mecca, the River Nile, Holland or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. ViewMaster is more than just a performance; it is an immersive experience for an audience of one which starts in a child-like den and whisks you away to another world.

ViewMaster is a personal & poetic slideshow for your eyes and ears only. An imaginative leap to another country and a step back to the wonder of childhood.

Delighted to be contributing to a Celebration of 30 Years of the Scottish Poetry Library at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. Join us at the RBS Garden Theatre at 8.30pm on Sunday 17 August, it’ll be lovely.

Since 1984 the Scottish Poetry Library has celebrated poetry in all its forms. The last 30 years have seen a wonderful array of prize-winners, the birth of the Makar and poet laureate. To mark the 30th anniversay, Join founder Tessa Ransford along with poet Jen Hadfield and other friends, who read a selection of their own poems and favourites from the last three decades. Chaired by Robyn Marsack.

David Greig discusses his role curating the National Theatre of Scotland’s Great Yes, No, Don’t Know Five Minute Theatre Show which takes place from 5pm on Monday 23rd until 5pm on Tuesday 24th June at Five Minute Theatre and in venues across Scotland. “Theatre demands you have dialogue… that you have the other point of view contained in the work.” Among the many topics he discusses is how the growth of theatre grew in tandem with performance in Ancient Greek – and how the value in seeing the other person’s point of view that is intrinsic to democracy is shared by theatre. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle and produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions. With financial assistance from Creative Scotland.

We talk with two poet editors on this episode: Michael Schmidt, founder, editor and director of Carcanet Books and editor of the PN Review, and Peter Rose, editor of the Australian Book Review. Both read us a selection of their poems and discuss their approach to editing and to writing. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle and produced by Colin Fraser of Culture Laser Productions.