Poetical Pub Quiz
6:15 pm - 7:45 pm
Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. But do you know who actually said that? If you do, you might just be in luck.
Join Ross McCleary and Beth Cochrane, aka Slamothy Jones, for a highly competitive and stylishly aggressive poetry pub quiz that will stretch the definitions of Poetic General Knowledge and Pub Quizzery alike.
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Publisher Surgeries
12:45 pm - 1:45 pm
Sign up for a ten-minute 1:1 with some of the fantastic publishers attending our symposium day, including publishers and editors from Carcanet, Birlinn, Pamenar Press, Art Riot Press, Tapsalteerie and Stewed Rhubarb. Don’t miss this chance to get some individualised advice and guidance on the submission and publication process.
Sail the Storyteller Sea
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Join the former Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, for a fun, energetic and inspiring event packed with poetry! Joseph will be sharing his most recent poetry book for kids, Rapunzel is a Lettuce. These are poems to fire the imagination and take you and your wee ones exploring.
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Perfect for children aged 7-11Words and Wine
5:45 pm - 6:55 pm
Celebrate the start of the weekend by raising a glass with us! Joe Trotter from Edinburgh’s independent wine merchants Great Grog will take you through a tempting array of wines, sharing each drink’s story and history. Drinks will be poetically paired with performances by acclaimed spoken word poet Kate Ireland.
Get TicketsHiphop night with Culture Clan
9:00 pm - 10:30 pm
A celebration of true Scottish rap music, bringing together artists from across the country. Featuring headline act Red King, alongside Kouk and A420, expect live performances, an open cypher and a night showcasing the diversity, character and creativity of Scottish rap.
Get TicketsStates of Emergency: Writing the Plague
11:45 am - 12:40 pm
Join Polly Atkin and Niall O’Gallagher to discuss two collections which explore solitude and connection in a time of plague. Niall will be sharing translations from his upcoming Gaelic novella-in-verse Litreachan Plàighe (Plague Letters), while Polly will read from Emergency Dream, a collection which insistently centres disabled joy and disabled rage.
Get TicketsTakeover: Art Riot
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm
Join Art Riot Press, the small press with a big attitude, bringing you the very best new voices from Scotland and beyond! Enjoy performances by Julie Laing, Aditya Narayan, and EmmaClaire Brightlyn alongside some cheeky poetic audience participation shenanigans, hosted by Versaye duo, Lorna Callery-Sithole and Wendy Miller.
Get TicketsPoetry as Witness, Poetry as Protest
4:15 pm - 5:10 pm
Hannah Lavery and Don Mee Choi are united by their embrace of work both playful and political. Don Mee Choi’s Freely Frayed grapples with the politics of distance and language in its exploration of anti-colonial logic and identity. Hannah Lavery’s Everything Everyday is a formally innovative poetic journal, where personal confession and public ritual converge.
Get TicketsPoetry Jam with Anoraq
6:15 pm - 7:15 pm
Expect the unexpected – as long as the unexpected includes poetry, music and plenty of improvisation. This year, our perennially popular poetry jam joins forces with spoken word band Anoraq. Come along with a poem you’ve always wanted to read with a backing band, or simply to listen and settle in for a night of musical fun.
Get TicketsNovels in Verse
12:00 pm - 12:55 pm
Knockan, the new novel-in-verse by Glasgow Makar Jim Carruth, follows an estranged mother and daughter over a single week, while Grace Yee’s award-winning debut Chinese Fish is a decades-long multigenerational saga. In this double bill, Jim and Grace will read from their novels-in-verse and discuss the challenges and joys of this versatile form.
Chaired through the ConVERSE Emerging Chairs Programme with the University of Edinburgh
Get TicketsTakeover: We Are Here Scotland
2:00 pm - 2:55 pm
We Are Here Scotland works in solidarity with Black and Global Majority communities to help create spaces and opportunities across Scotland’s creative industries. In this takeover, hosted by Arusa Qureshi, emerging poets Pepita Mwanga, Chisom Okoronkwo, and ACE V!S!ON take to the stage for a showcase of soul-stirring poetry and music.
Get TicketsSea Shanties for Sirens and Landlubbers
4:00 pm - 4:55 pm
Whether you’re an experienced siren or you swear up and down you can’t carry a tune, don’t miss this lively session run by Edinburgh Shanty Co! No experience is necessary – come along to learn and sing some sea shanties, both traditional and original.
Get TicketsBàird Bhaile: Gaelic Poetry and Song Night
6:00 pm - 7:50 pm
Join us for an evening of Gaelic poetry, music and song, brought together by Jeni Flannigan (Bothan Dhùn Èideann/Lusan Buì) and hosted by Màiri Britton. Immerse yourself in Gaelic’s living traditions, with performances from Ceitidh Chaimbeul, babs nicgriogair and Màrtainn Mac an t-Saoir, alongside fiddle player Rona Wilkie and other voices from the wider Gaelic-speaking community.
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