SPRING PROGRAMME February – May 2013
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NATURE BY LEAVES WE LIVE This year at the Scottish Poetry Library we are celebrating nature in all its forms. Our motto, a quotation from the ecologist Patrick Geddes, is ‘by leaves we live’, and thus we strive to be attentive to each leaf, each poem, each person who steps into the library over those words carved in stone, surrounded by oak leaves.
Come hither for pleasure who list – Here are oak boughs for a shade: These leaves they will hide from the mist Ere the sun his broad disk has displayed. Here is peace if thy bosom be troubled, Here is rest – if thou’rt weary, sit down – Here pleasure you’ll find it is doubled, For content is life’s only crown. from ‘Come Hither’ by John Clare
Jennifer Williams, SPL Programme Manager
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EVENTS The Nature of Rejection with Tracey S. Rosenberg Workshop Sat 16 Feb 1 pm - 3.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends Can rejection ever be a good thing – that horrible, unpleasant experience that goes hand-in-glove with being creative? Do you have a pile of great poems that someone hasn’t wanted to publish? Bring them along to discuss what (postValentine’s Day) we can learn from the experience of being rejected, how to make the best of it and how we can support one another as a community of writers. Part therapy, part rant, part writing workshop. Developed in conjunction with Inky Fingers www.inkyfingersedinburgh. wordpress.com.
PAS & SPL present: Henry Marsh Poetry & Music Wed 20 Feb 6.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends, free for PAS members Poet Henry Marsh, whose most recent collections include The Guidman's Daughter and The Hammer and the Fire, reads a selection of poems from his work on John Knox and Mary, Queen of Scots. Between the poems, Ian Laing will play Scottish fiddle tunes to provide a musical commentary on the themes.
Scottish Writers Centre ‘In Process’ in partnership with SPL – Donny O’Rourke Masterclass Thu 21 Feb 6.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends, £3 for SWC members Poet, songwriter, filmmaker, critic, editor, teacher and translator, Donny O'Rourke shares insights from his creative process and the elements of the writing craft that work for him.
Two Places as One: Kathleen Jamie & Jen Hadfield Inspace/ Mareel Poetry Exchange Simultaneous Broadcast Reading Fri 1 Mar 6 pm for 6.30 pm Inspace – Edinburgh & Mareel – Shetland Booking via Inspace in Edinburgh (www.twoplacesasone.eventbrite.com) & Mareel in Shetland (www.mareel.org/whats-on). A live broadcast between two of Scotland’s most technologically agile arts venues. Hear readings by two poets who engage with nature in their work: Jen Hadfield reads in Shetland and is broadcast to Edinburgh, while Kathleen Jamie reads in Edinburgh and is broadcast to Shetland. We’ll also discuss whether technology and nature can support one another, how contemporary poetry responds to modern landscapes and link up with live feeds from Scotland’s wilderness.
I come with big white flowers snow white hair wearing galoshes hot smiles raring to kiss everything Larry Butler
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Your Indifferent Nature: Catherine Street
Mark Tredinnick & Emily Ballou
Poetry & Film & Exhibition
Poetry
Thu 14 Mar 6.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends
Thu 4 Apr 6.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends
For this event visual artist Catherine Street presents films and accompanying texts that evoke a disturbing and precarious universe that is by turns intensely visceral and desolate. Two film works, Continuum (2012) and Pendulum (2008) derive their compelling visual and sonic characteristics from the artist’s own body. Catherine will screen these films, and read two texts of the same title that were developed concurrently. The films and writings suggest a sensual, experiential and bodily encounter, not only with the physical world itself but also with its description through mathematics and language.
Two acclaimed Australian poets, Emily Ballou and Mark Tredinnick, read from their work. Emily Ballou is an award-winning novelist, scriptwriter and poet now living in Glasgow. Mark Tredinnick, winner of the Montreal (2011) and Cardiff (2012) Poetry Prizes, is the author of Fire Diary, The Blue Plateau and ten other books.
Reel Festivals: Poems for & from Iraq Poetry & Exhibition Sat 23 Mar 4 pm - 6 pm SPL £3 This very special event features Iraqi poetry from Ghareeb Iskander, Sabreen Khadhim, Zahir Mousa, Awezan Nouri with new translations from John Glenday, Jen Hadfield, William Letford and Krystelle Bamford. Reel Festivals will also present short readings for Iraq from poets from around Scotland including Vicki Feaver, Anna Crowe, Colin Herd, Nick-e Melville, Miriam Gamble, Peter Mackay and a new Filmpoem from Alastair Cook. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear Iraqi poets, to engage, ask questions and enjoy the riches harvested from translation.
The Poem & the Place: Mark Tredinnick Workshop Sat 6 Apr 1 pm - 3 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends, limited numbers Every poem is a place – its lines a topography, its sounds an ecology of longing, suggestion, memory, reflection, thought. But a poem can also be an act of participation in a place, in the more than merely human world. In this workshop, Mark Tredinnick – whose poetry, Sinead Morissey has said, makes landscapes ‘flame and sing’ – will explore the connections between poetry and place, and the ecological work poetry can perform. Poems will be written during the workshop. Please also bring at least one with you.
…I saw a woman hold The tattered edge of the world In her hand…
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Tishani Doshi
'He Relished it Much': Tishani Doshi & Priscila Uppal Ken Cockburn and Alec Finlay Poetry Poetry & Discussion
Thu 11 Apr 6.30 pm SPL Free Poets Ken Cockburn and Alec Finlay are setting out in the footsteps of Boswell and Johnson, who in 1773 toured the Scottish highlands and islands. Over the summer they’ll visit libraries for events including poetry readings, filmscreenings, whisky-tastings, workshops and walks. Join them for this first step, as they consider Edinburgh, nature, poetry and the journey ahead.
SPL at Aye Write! Festival 13 & 14 Apr See www.ayewrite.com for details The SPL will be appearing at Aye Write! this year with two events: My Life in Poetry with thought-provoking author John Gray and an introduction to the 2012 edition of the SPL’s Best Scottish Poems anthology, presented by one of this year’s guest editors Zoë Strachan and SPL Director Robyn Marsack.
Wed 24 Apr 6.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends Two award-winning poets from distant lands, Priscila Uppal (Canada) and Tishani Doshi (India), read from their most recent collections published by Bloodaxe in the UK. What Bloodaxe says: “Readers experiencing Uppal for the first time will enter a turbulent but vital landscape, discovering a poet dedicated to uncovering the motivations behind our cruelties and our compassions and determined to explore the absurdity of the world.”
“As much about loss as they are about reclamation, Doshi’s poems guide us through an ‘underworld of longing and deliverance’, making the exhilarating claim that through the act of vanishing, we may be shaped into existence again.”
Rockets for Edwin Morgan Poetry & Science Fiction Thu 25 Apr 6.30 pm SPL £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends Russell Jones, editor of Where Rockets Burn Through: Contemporary Science Fiction Poems from the UK, and his merry band of sci-fi poets read their work from this genre-busting anthology. This event will also include a short movie by Dan Warren based on Edwin Morgan's sci-fi poem, ‘In Sobieski's Shield’.
May you find your spraints of claw and coiled damp tail and splintered bone and brochs of snail and seeds of fruits all fortune-cookied. Jen Hadfield
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Spring Blossoms: A Haiku Garden Walk with Ken Cockburn
WAVE HANDS LIKE CLOUDS Tai-chi Poetry & Meditation with Larry Butler
In partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Workshop
Poetry Walk
Sat 1 Jun 10 am for 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Scottish Storytelling Centre (meet in café) £7/£5 concessions & SPL Friends, limited numbers
11 & 12 May 2 pm Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Meet at John Hope Gateway Reception, Arboretum Place, near EH3 5NZ £6, limited numbers Ken Cockburn guides us through the RBGE’s spring offerings, reading his own poems and a selection of Japanese haiku that celebrate the power of looking closely at the world, and discovering moments of revelatory beauty in nature. Please come dressed for a walk and the weather.
My Life in Poetry (& Perfume) with Alex Musgrave aka The Silver Fox In partnership with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Clouds like thoughts come and go. Inspired by the surrounding mountains, gardens and sky, the movement sessions will be based on Tai Chi and Chi Kung and walking meditation with intervals for creative writing inspired by our bodies moving through time and space. Suitable for beginners. Please bring a picnic lunch on the day. Please note that this is an outdoor workshop, and in the event of inclement weather, it will be postponed to the following Saturday, 8 June. If this happens, we will be in touch to confirm. Please wear comfortable, loose clothing and be prepared to spend the day outdoors.
Poetry & Conversation & Music Thu 30 May 6 pm for 6.30 pm Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Palm House, enter at North Gate, Inverleith Place, near EH3 5QD £10/£8 concessions, SPL Friends & RBGE Members Alex Musgrave, writer, perfume expert and blogger under the name The Silver Fox at A Scent of Elegance, www.ascentofelegance. blogspot.co.uk, discusses his life in poetry and scent with Programme Manager Jennifer Williams in this very special venue. There will be a chance to smell the perfumes selected by Alex – one for each poem – as well as a display of plants in perfumery curated by RGBE Head of Exhibitions and Events, Ian Edwards. Sip a glass of sparkling wine and enjoy live music by James Iremonger and Atzi.
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thistledown a whistle tune carries from the next croft Ken Cockburn
Midnight is a parliament of frogs. Mark Treddinick
Talks, Groups and Workshops NBTP and NBTP On Tour
SPL Poetry Workshop
Reading Session
Workshop
Thu 6 pm - 7.30 pm & Sat 11 am - 12.30 pm £5/£3 concessions & SPL Friends
19 Mar, 30 Apr, 28 May 6 pm - 8 pm SPL £5/£3 concessions & SPL Friends
Sharon Olds 31 Jan Looking Glass Books & 2 Feb SPL
Jennifer Williams, poet and SPL Programme Manager, facilitates this writing workshop suitable for writers at any stage in their career. We’ll read, write and discuss poems at each session.
Simon Armitage 28 Feb Lovecrumbs & 2 Mar SPL Jo Shapcott 21 Mar SPL & 23 Mar SPL Alice Oswald 18 Apr Golden Hare & 20 Apr SPL Mary Oliver 23 May The Edinburgh Bookshop & 25 May SPL Nothing but the Poem poetry reading sessions with our Reader Development Officer, Lilias Fraser. Saturday mornings at the SPL and Thursday evenings on tour – join us as we explore some of Edinburgh’s most gorgeous boutique bookshops and cafés. No previous knowledge or experience necessary! For more details and directions to each location, please see www.scottishpoetrylibrary. eventbrite.co.uk.
Julie Johnstone: Librarian Talks
Getting Into Poetry II Course Tue Feb 5, 12, 19, 26 6 pm - 7.30 pm SPL 4 sessions, £50 / £40 concessions, SPL Friends & Scottish Storytelling Centre members Finally, the second part to our ‘Getting Into Poetry’ course for absolute beginners. GIP II is the chance to spend more time surveying what you might like to read if only you knew about it: contemporary Scottish writers, international poetry in English and in translation, poems that live most fully in performance – and not forgetting some of those often overlooked categories like children’s books, sensuous poetry and light verse. Led by Lilias Fraser, Reader Development Officer.
Seminar Nature: 7 Feb 3 pm - 4.30 pm Love: 14 Feb 3 pm - 4.30 pm SPL £5/£3 concessions & SPL Friends Join our Librarian Julie Johnstone as she talks about a themed selection of items from our special collections. Places are limited to 8 per session so please book early.
Whit dae birds write on the dusk? Kathleen Jamie
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Sometimes he tried skipping across the stones just to see what would happen. OLD TOLBOOTH WYND
Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate Edinburgh, EH8 8DT. People’s Story
Canongate Kirk
ROYAL MILE
CANONGATE
Museum Of Edinburgh
CRICHTON’S CLOSE
ST MARYS STREET
to Castle
NEW STREET
JEFFYREY STREET
Emily Ballou
to Holyrood
Scottish Poetry Library Hemma
Scottish Parliament
HOLYROOD ROAD
NoTES For more details on events, directions to the library and other information, please see our website: www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk, or call us on 0131 557 2876. Friends of the SPL receive the concession rate for events and workshops. Please go to www.scottishpoetrylibrary.eventbrite.co.uk for event booking (required).
Thank you to our Patrons – The Binks Trust, Dr David Summers Charitable Trust and Ian Wall – and Friends, Partners and Sponsors for their generous support. To support the SPL by being a Patron, Companion or Friend, please see www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/about/ become-our-friend.
Available in large print. www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
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