The Blue and Salt of the Lies We Believe
All Weekend, Friday 22nd Nov, Saturday 23rd Nov, Sunday 24th Nov
10:00 am - 9:30 pm
OPENING AT 5pm on 22nd November, this photography exhibition responds to the words and poems of Hannah Lavery, Shasta Hanif Ali, Jeda Pearl, Alycia Pirmohamed and Niall Moorjani. Through conversations with the writers and explorations of the places and experiences held within their work, Kat Gollock aims to curate a visual response to the poetry and ideas that make up the Disrupting the Narrative project.
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Machine Whispers
All Weekend, Friday 22nd Nov, Saturday 23rd Nov, Sunday 24th Nov
10:00 am - 9:30 pm
Can we trust machines with poetry? Will an ‘artificially intelligent’ translator mangle carefully crafted verse, or make it more beautiful? And will a human still recognise a poem when it’s passed through multiple translation tools? Machine Whispers is an interactive installation designed to provoke debate around translation and the role of the human translator in the age of AI.
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Supported by Design Informatics and Edinburgh Futures InstituteResting as Artists
11:15 am - 12:30 pm
As an artist it’s easy to feel like you’re always busy – making art, working other jobs, writing funding applications… It’s hard to find space for something we all need – rest. Our panel of artists will share their methods for recognising when it’s time to rest, how they carve out time for it, and how it’s benefited their practice.
Get TicketsHow to Run A Creative Workshop
1:15 pm - 2:30 pm
Have you ever wanted to expand your professional portfolio? Poet and Creative Projects Manager at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, JL Williams, has led poetry workshops in many different settings. Jennifer is here to share her experience and help you to think creatively, and practically, about designing your own successful sessions.
Get TicketsTaking the Next Step
2:45 pm - 4:00 pm
Taking the step from aspiring poet to professional poet may seem daunting but this Development Day session is here to demystify the process. Join a panel of industry professionals and practitioners as they discuss routes to publishing, establishing your reputation, and the process of pitching for commissions and festival appearances.
Get TicketsSCOREScotland Disrupts the Narrative – with Tinderbox Collective and Bee
5:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Disrupting the Narrative explores Edinburgh’s heritage from the perspective of its colonial past. In partnership with the Tinderbox Collective and Bee Asha, SCOREScotland’s young people have created a vibrant spoken word and music performance that considers what it’s like to grow up as a young person of colour in Edinburgh today.
Get TicketsDisrupting the Narrative
8:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Disrupting the Narrative is a theatrical performance from Hannah Lavery, Jeda Pearl, Shasta Ali, Niall Moorjani, and Alycia Pirmohamed. Freshly set to music by Niroshini Thambar, the poets’ work decolonises Edinburgh’s historic collections and key heritage sites. Together, they illuminate how colonial history has shaped the city, its institutions, and its people.
BSL interpreted.
Get TicketsThere is a Tide: Writing the Ocean Wild, with Paperboats
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
This immersive writing experience from Paperboats is part performance, part writing opportunity. Join us and learn how literature can be used as an inspirational force for change by engaging with success stories of sea rewilding, as well as sights and sounds of the ocean. With a reading by Roshni Gallagher.
Get TicketsBehind Disrupting the Narrative
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Curator of Discomfort at the Hunterian Museum Zandra Yeaman, founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association Lisa Williams, and poet and anti-racist campaigner Shasta Ali, join the former Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery to discuss Disrupting the Narrative and the decolonisation of Edinburgh’s past. Part of the Edinburgh 900 Anniversary programme.
Get Tickets20 Ways to Be a Better Poet
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
A fast-paced online workshop with legendary writer, poet and performer Roger Robinson, filled with tips, quotes and prompts to level up your poetry practice. For poets who want to refresh their poetry on the page and explore how we combine inspiration, commitment and productivity to balance earning a living and being an artist.
Get TicketsA Life of Poetry: Alexander McCall Smith
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Alexander McCall Smith is perhaps best known for novels such as The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. But did you know that he’s also a poet? In this unmissable intimate event, Smith will share his fascination with the sounds of language, poetry, and music before showcasing his work set to music in beautiful short films.
BSL interpreted.
Get TicketsDouble Bill: Len Pennie and Lorde Fuhl
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Join poets Len Pennie and Lorde Fuhl as they perform some of their most recent and exciting works. Not only will you enjoy some of the freshest poetry coming from Scotland and Ireland, but Len and Lorde will also be in conversation, discussing how social media has impacted their careers.
Get TicketsOpen Book: No Such Thing As Lost
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Sit back, relax and enjoy as members of Open Book’s community of writers share their latest pamphlet, No Such Thing as Lost. These collaborative poems will take you on a tour of Scotland – from Shetland to Stranraer, Portree to Perth and many other places in between – touching on protest, postcards, heritage and hope.
Get TicketsTakeover: Glasgow Women’s Library
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Glasgow Women’s Library hosts this performance Takeover event with some of the writers shortlisted from Bold Types, their nurturing, encouraging and warm creative writing competition. Four writers will take to the stage based on shortlisting by this year’s incredible judges Karen Campbell and Titi Farukuoye, and Wendy Kirk.
Get TicketsBlack History and Poetry Walk
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Lisa Williams, poet, author, and founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association, will lead this Black History Walk and share some specially written poetry as we explore the histories of The Royal Mile’s surrounding areas. These little-known stories of Edinburgh’s many visitors and residents of African, African American and Caribbean heritage may surprise some; what tales lie beneath the sunny Mile?
Get TicketsDrag Poetry with Digital Diasporic Souls
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Accent Society presents three immigrant poets and artists from China, Columbia and Cuba in their speculative drag personas and digital projections of self. With river-dark eyes, daisy-woven wigs, and hearts of broken beads, they are coded with whispers of fear and anger. Join us for a ghostly nocturne and a fictional panel where ancestors in displaced genders speak of their fantasia of being a good alien through chanting and performance lectures. Performers include Vic Fu, Jiaoyang Li and Metal.
Get TicketsOn Fatherhood, with Raymond Antrobus and Niall Campbell
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Becoming a father is no easy process: the sleepless nights and burden of new responsibilities can weigh heavily. But amidst the challenges, there’s an untold joy that comes with meeting your child and discovering a new kind of love that can reshape your world. Join poets Raymond Antrobus and Niall Campbell as they reflect on own fatherhood journeys.
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BSL interpretedBreaking Ground Ireland
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Breaking Ground Ireland is a landmark project showcasing over 90 writers and illustrators from ethnic minority backgrounds, including Irish Traveller writers, from the island of Ireland. Featured poets Christie Kandiwa, Neo Gilson, and Lorde Fuhl will be chaired by Speaking Volumes’ Sharmilla Beezmohun in this fascinating event showcasing some of Ireland’s best contemporary talents.
Get TicketsAI and the (Un)translatability of Poetry
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
At this event Pip Thornton and Evan Morgan, the minds behind Machine Whispers, and poet and translator Rachel Rankin will come together to discuss and debate AI’s role in translation. Are machines capable of translating human communication, let alone poetry? How has this new technology challenged and changed the field of translation?
Supported by Design Informatics and Edinburgh Futures Institute
Get TicketsKathleen Jamie’s The Keelie Hawk
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Keelie Hawk is the new landmark collection from celebrated poet and non-fiction writer Kathleen Jamie. A resonant collection written in Scots, with accompanying English translation, it promises to be a significant moment for both Scottish literature and language. She is joined on stage by Alistair Heather.
Get TicketsHannah Lavery and Michael Pedersen – Makar-athon
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Join renowned poet and playwright, Hannah Lavery, as she hands over the baton of Edinburgh Makar to the ever-effervescent Michael Pedersen. Hannah and Michael will discuss their own work including Hannah’s recently published, Unwritten Woman, as well as what holding the position of Makar means to them and how the city influences their work.
Get TicketsBetween Two Forms
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
From Sylvia Plath to Ocean Vuong, there is a long tradition of poets writing not just poetry, but novels and short stories too. But what does poetry offer that’s different from fiction, and vice versa? Writers Salena Godden, Andrés N. Ordorica, and Alan Spence explore the blurring, or otherwise, of the boundaries between prose and poetry
Get TicketsLoud Poets Slam Series: Edinburgh Heat
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The prestigious Loud Poets Slam Series returns for its third year! Watch Edinburgh’s top poets compete in the first of 10 heats across the UK, for the biggest prize in UK slam poetry. Featuring current Edinburgh Champion Heather Rose as sacrificial poet, this is a thumping celebration of some of the best spoken word from Scotland today.
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Cocktail Hour with RJ Hunter
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Tonight, poetry and cocktails combine to create the greatest mix of all! Mixologist Jamie Shields from Ruma will take you through a dizzying array of luscious cocktails, sharing each drink’s story and history. Our poet for the evening, RJ Hunter, will be your poetic aperitif, with a poem to accompany each drink.
Get TicketsPoetry Jam with Leyla Josephine
6:30 pm - 7:45 pm
Long time collaborators and friends, fiddler Laura Wilkie, harpist Gillian Fleetwood, and poet Leyla Josephine, join forces for the Push the Boat Out Poetry Jam. Come hear them improvise together and, if you’re feeling courageous, there will be chances to read your writing alongside two of Scotland’s leading musicians.
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Push the Boat Out Presents: Iona Fyfe and Friends
8:00 pm - 10:15 pm
Doors open at 7:30pm
Push the Boat Out’s Saturday gig is back! Fresh from a triumphant US tour, Iona Fyfe, the award-winning folk singer and Scots Language activist, headlines an unforgettable night of poetry-fused song and sounds. Iona will be joined by Emma Capponi and Fionnbarr Byrne, who bring a captivating blend of folk and ethereal sounds, and Iona Lee and DJ Nikki Kent layering poetic vocals over electrifying beats.
Get TicketsWaves, Wildlife, and the Art of Watching
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Join Elspeth Wilson for a poetry walk around Portobello Beach where we will use our senses to take inspiration from the sand and the sea. We will practise listening and noticing, and think about how the environment we are in can be a collaborator in our writing.
Get TicketsDouble Bill: Sasha Dugdale and Oksana Maksymchuk
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
In Sasha Dugdale’s The Strongbox, recent history and Greek mythology meet to uncover stories found in conflict and warzones. Oksana Maksymchuk’s Still City begins as a poetic journal kept from her hometime in Ukraine. Together, Oksana and Sasha explore how poetry can bear witness to unimaginable experiences.
Get TicketsThe Craft: with Caroline Bird
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Caroline Bird is one of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary poets. At this workshop, her knowledge and love of poetry will help participants gain a deeper understanding of the craft. Whether you’ve just started writing poetry or have written for a long time, this workshop will give you new tools and insights.
Get TicketsBringing the Self to Poetry Performance
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Slim Shaka, Kenyan poet, storyteller, artivist and Poetry Slam Africa Champion, will lead you in a workshop to give you the confidence to tell your own story through poetry performance. This journey from page poetry to the stage moves beyond translating words into action, and into harnessing the energy of human nature and storytelling to empower you to embody your story through bold performance.
Get TicketsTakeover: St Mungo’s Mirrorball
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
St Mungo’s Mirrorball is Scotland’s leading community of poetry writers, listeners, and readers. At this takeover event, their lightning dance of poetry reaches new heights with performers Christie Williamson, Vicki Husband, Eloise Birthwhistle, Gillian Dawson and Lynnda Wardle, hosted by Scottish poetry legend, Jim Carruth.
Get TicketsDouble Bill: Activism, Poetry and James Baldwin
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Kadija Sesay and Neo Gilson come together to share their poetry and discuss how they have used the artform as a tool of activism. Neo’s work has appeared as part of Window to my World: Poetry, Resistance and Justice, while Kadija has just edited the new literary anthology, Encounters with James Baldwin.
Get TicketsA Lighthouse Poetry Zine Workshop
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
You have a single poem you’re ready to put into the world, or maybe just the seed of a poetic idea – words ready for the page, but not yet a collection yet, or even a pamphlet. You need a zine! Join writer/poet/facilitator JJ Fadaka for some gentle, cathartic creativity, where we’ll show you how to cut and prep a tiny booklet and unleash your poetry within!
Get TicketsBirds / Humans / Machines / Dolphins
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
A performance which fuses poetry, music, and the acoustic recordings of dolphins and birds, Birds / Humans / Machines / Dolphins gives voice to the non-human in surprising and original ways. Poet Genevieve Carver, in collaboration with composer Lucie Treacher, will perform works from her pamphlet, Birds / Humans / Machines / Dolphins, and the EP, Hydrophonica. Sponsored by Book Week Scotland.
Get TicketsBlack History and Poetry Walk
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Lisa Williams, poet, author, and founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association, will lead this Black History Walk and share some specially written poetry as we explore the histories of The Royal Mile’s surrounding areas. These little-known stories of Edinburgh’s many visitors and residents of African, African American and Caribbean heritage may surprise some; what tales lie beneath the sunny Mile?
Get TicketsImtiaz Dharker: Shadow Reader
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Imtiaz Dharker has long been an internationally acclaimed poet. Her 2023 collection, Shadow Reader, is a radiant criss-cross of encounters, messages and Punjabi proverbs, shot through with the dark thread of unwelcome prophecy.
Hosted by Harriet MacMillan, Imtiaz will speak about the collection and show projections of the illustrations within.
Get TicketsTranslation as a Political Act
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
How can language both bridge and reinforce cultural divides, shaping our understanding of the world and our place within it? This panel, sponsored by the Edwin Morgan Trust, with Oksana Maksymchuk, Martin MacIntyre and Hasib Hourani, hosted by Taylor Strickland, will address the political implications of translation, including issues of representation, accessibility, and cultural identity.
Get TicketsIn Conversation: Naomi Shihab Nye
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
At this special event, poet Naomi Shihab Nye speaks with Marjorie Lotfi about her poetry, inspirations, and how her work engages with her American-Palestinian identity and culture. With her versatility and decades-spanning career, Nye’s work is impossible to summarise, so tune in to this online conversation to hear Nye herself say more.
Get TicketsCreativity in the Cards: Inspired by Tarot
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
In this workshop, you’ll learn to read tarot cards as a source of inspiration, delving into their rich symbolism and history. Through guided exercises, you’ll craft poems that resonate with the deep insights revealed by the tarot, weaving together intuition and imagination. Hosted by poet and performer Francesca Beard.
Get Tickets(Poetry) Page to Stage – Adapting for Theatre
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Join leading poets and playwrights, Imogen Stirling, Hannah Lavery and Harry Josephine Giles in a lively discussion about what can be found – and lost – in the adaptation of poetry for theatre and hear about their own experiences of working across disciplines. Chaired by Stephanie Katie Hunter.
Get TicketsBearing Witness
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Bearing Witness asks the question: how do poets and artists continue to create art while witnessing devastation? This event brings together artists who have fostered community spaces in Scotland and beyond, and whose activism is deeply intertwined with their creative practices. With performances and discussions by Marjorie Lotfi, Nat Raha, and Anahit Behrooz, chaired and curated by Alycia Pirmohamed.
Get TicketsTitans of Poetry: Caroline Bird and Ella Frears
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Caroline Bird’s Ambush at Still Lake shows us the ambush of real life that occurs in the stillness after the happy ending. Ella Frears’ Goodlord: An Email is a genre-defying book that takes the form of an email to an estate agent. Together, they discuss the themes of their books. Sponsored by the Forward Prizes for Poetry. BSL interpreted
Get TicketsTakeover: GUBSMACKED
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Hellraising poets Leyla Josephine and Colin Bramwell present GUBSMACKED, a brand-spanking new live event showcasing the best of writing in all its magical forms. Audiences will be treated to performances from both up-and-coming talent and luminaries from the worlds of page, stage and song.
Get TicketsFluid Words: The Poetry of Water
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
In this Zoom masterclass, poet and critic Michael Hofmann will dissect and explore the nuances of selected poems, inviting participants to engage in deep analysis and lively discussion. This interactive session will offer fresh perspectives on our theme “Living Water,” enriching your appreciation of poetry through collaborative interpretation. In partnership with the Goethe-Institut.
Get TicketsSongwriters Circle
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
*We’re sorry, this event has been cancelled*
Join this Songwriters Circle as a panel of musicians discuss the backstory to their songs. Multi-award winning hip-hop and improvised rap comedian MC Hammersmith, spoken word poet and rapper/musician ACE V!S!ON, and poet and singer-songwriter Christie Kandiwa will share their insights and inspirations. Chaired by Arusa Qureshi.
Get TicketsRock the Boat
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Prepare to be moved! Join us for Rock the Boat, Push the Boat Out’s longstanding monthly poetry open mic. Register online to perform your work or come by to just listen. You especially won’t want to miss the rapid-fire feature poets who will close out the evening!
Get TicketsAir An Aon Ràmh
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Translation: On The Same Oar. Hosted by award-winning poet and singer, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, this event brings together some of the best contemporary and traditional Gaelic poetry and music. Join poet Babs Nicgriogair, singer-songwriter Rachel Walker, and enjoy new collaborative work from poet Robbie Anndra MacLeòid and polymath and soundsmith Kapil Seshasayee. Sponsored by Comhairle nan Leabhraichean (Gaelic Books Council).
Get TicketsAnd All Great Art Is True: A Celebration of Benjamin
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Benjamin Zephaniah is one of the greatest poets, activists, and musicians in living memory, so in celebration of his life, art, and activism, and in collaboration with Qian Zephaniah and Kadija Sesay, we welcome Raymond Antrobus, Salena Godden and Dean Atta to share what they most loved about Benjamin and how his life touched theirs.
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BSL interpreted.Living Water- New Poetic Performances
7:30 pm - 8:45 pm
Join us for a special evening as we present premiere three new poetry-led performance commissions in association with National Theatre of Scotland. Join David McNeish and Ruxy Cantir, Tim Tim Cheng and Alexandra Shrinivas, and Raymond Wilson and Ross Somerville, as they present inventive cross-disciplinary work from clowning to electronica on the theme of Living Water. BSL interpreted.
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