Words that Burn: Human Rights and Poetry Workshop – Morning
10:30 am - 11:45 am
Join Push the Boat Out and Amnesty International UK for a special workshop aimed at poet educators. You’ll learn about Human Rights Education and how you can embed it into your facilitation practice. Together we’ll explore how creativity can be a tool for activism and a powerful form of protest.
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Start It Yourself
10:30 am - 11:30 am
As an emerging writer, starting your own project – whether it’s an open mic night or magazine or something else altogether – is a great way to grow your skills and your network. Join our panel to hear how they built their own projects from the ground up, and the skills they learned along the way.
Get TicketsHow to Succeed as a Creative Freelancer
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Making it as a writer involves a whole host of skills: promoting your own work, juggling different jobs or chasing up invoices. Writers are rarely just writers – they’re creative freelancers wearing multiple hats. Our panel will be discussing how you can navigate the gig economy, while still making time for the important thing: writing.
Get TicketsWords that Burn: Human Rights and Poetry Workshop – Afternoon
1:30 pm - 2:45 pm
Join Push the Boat Out and Amnesty International UK for a special workshop aimed at poet educators. You’ll learn about Human Rights Education and how you can embed it into your facilitation practice. Together we’ll explore how creativity can be a tool for activism and a powerful form of protest.
Get TicketsHosting Like a Pro
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
A good compere can make or break an event. How do you get an audience energised without stealing the limelight? Join Loud Poets Katie Ailes and Kevin Mclean for a workshop on the tricks of the trade when it comes to hosting a successful event.
Get TicketsTranslating into Different Places, with Lorna Goodison
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Lorna Goodison’s latest publication is an astonishing new translation of The Inferno by Dante, drawing on the entire continuum of Jamaican speech. Join the former Poet Laureate of Jamaica for this online workshop on translating existing stories into different places and Englishes. We’ll explore the possibilities this opens up and find innovative solutions to the challenges posed.
Get TicketsBeyond the Margins
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Join us to celebrate the launch of this brand-new poetry zine, and take home your own copy. Created by the people supported by the Simon Community Scotland through Streetreads, a library and community for people experiencing homelessness in Edinburgh, the zine explores their hopes and stories. With performances from group members, alongside facilitators Julie McNeill and Kevin Gilday. Refreshments provided.
In partnership with the Simon Community Scotland and supported by One City Trust. With thanks to Typewronger Books.
Get TicketsYoung Verses with SCOREScotland
5:00 pm - 5:45 pm
Join the young people from Wester Hailes High School as they share poetry, spoken word, music and stories created with Bee Asha and Lauren Bianchi (PTBO) and Davie Luhanga (SCOREScotland). Expect flights of fantasy and tales of belonging, connection and identity.
In partnership with SCOREScotland and supported by the Ponton Trust and the Nancie Massey Charitable Trust.
Get TicketsWrestling with Life: Nina Mingya Powles and Anthony V. Capildeo
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
In their recent collections, Nina Mingya Powles and Anthony V. Capildeo wrestle with life in our restless times. In the Hollow of the Wave by Nina examines orientalism, art and artmaking in a time of ecological crisis. In Polkadot Wounds, Anthony counterpoints untimely deaths with breakthroughs of joy, in queer and far-flung communities.
Get TicketsWords and Wine with Leena Norms
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Get into the festival mood with a tasting menu of poetry and wine! Joe Trotter from wine merchants Great Grog will take you through a tempting array of delectable wines, sharing each drink’s story and history while you sip. A poetic pairing will be provided by poet, vlogger and presenter Leena Norms. BSL interpreted.
Get TicketsWhat Now?
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
A vibrant Friday night of theatre, spoken word and music brought to you by What Now? and Push the Boat Out.
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Join playwrights Hannah Lavery, Zinnie Harris and William Letford for a series of newly commissioned theatre shorts offering an urgent response to the geopolitical cultural moment we’re living through. With spoken word from Anthony Anaxagorou and music by Carla J. Easton.Ian Hamilton Finlay – The Arcadian Dream Garden
All Weekend, Friday 21st Nov, Saturday 22nd Nov, Sunday 23rd Nov
11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Join us at a special exhibition to celebrate the centenary of Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), one of Scotland’s most distinctive and internationally recognised artists and poets. Known for his poetic, philosophical and often playful approach to art, Finlay is best known for his remarkable garden, Little Sparta. This exhibition allows us to celebrate that work beyond the boundaries of the garden.
Supported by the Estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay.
Tinderbox Collective: Playing Poetry
All Weekend, Friday 21st Nov, Saturday 22nd Nov, Sunday 23rd Nov
11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Come and try this playable game installation influenced by the poetry of Edwin Morgan and other technology-inspired poets. Created by young game designers from Tinderbox Games Club over two months, the work touches on themes of technology and poetry in various forms, and features art, audio, custom controllers, set, and story designed collaboratively by the group. The young people will also be demonstrating their game on Sunday’s Gaming the System panel.
Temporary Autonomous Poetry Zone – A Flotsam Flourish
All Weekend, Friday 21st Nov, Saturday 22nd Nov, Sunday 23rd Nov
11:00 am - 8:00 pm
More Fun With Games invite you to join us for a game of playful, palimpsest, poetic perambulations. A self-guided and paced immersive experience via our mobile web app for you to discover detritus and hidden gems. Unmoor yourself and drift on the currents of our Dérive, wander and wonder. Perhaps you might discover some prizes at the end of our treasure trail?
