Words that Burn: Schools Showcase – Thu 20 Nov
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Words that Burn is Amnesty International UK’s flagship creative education programme, it aims to empower young people to explore and take action for human rights through poetry.
Hosted by Imogen Stirling, pupils from Leith Academy, Portobello High School and Boroughmuir High School will be sharing their poetry inspired by the project as they stand up for human rights.
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Wrestling 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 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.Holding On and Letting Go: Isabelle Baafi & Jessica Traynor
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Join Isabelle Baafi and Jessica Traynor for poetry which explores relationships, grief and self-determination.
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Framed by the story of escape from a toxic marriage, Isabelle’s Chaotic Good asks how we are made, how we get lost and how we find new selves, while Jessica’s New Arcana explores grief, bad boyfriends and the power of female friendship through readings of the Tarot and Tim Burton movies.Top Doll
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Karen McCarthy Woolf’s novel-in-verse Top Doll is an innovative and exciting tale told from the perspective of a collection of antique dolls…
In this scratch performance of Top Doll, we’re delighted to present a brand new collaboration between Karen and the multi-instrumentalist and performer Kerensa, whose work moves between a number of genres, including opera-inspired pop.
Get TicketsQueer Tales: Works in Progress
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Join us for a scratch night of brand new material and works-in-progress with two of Scotland’s standout spoken word poets! RJ Hunter’s and Gray Crosbie’s hilarious yet heartbreaking long-form shows in progress will be followed up by an electrifying performance by Harry Josephine Giles with the Edinburgh Trans Choir.
Get TicketsIn Conversation with Len Pennie
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Join Len Pennie, in conversation with Emma Collins, for a mixture of readings from and discussion about her incisive and fiercely honest new collection, poyums annaw. These poems are a call to arms, confronting ideas of patriarchy, gender-based violence and societal injustice with equal parts tenderness, quick-wit and righteous fury.
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BSL interpreted.The Clearing
7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Join this year’s four Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Poets for a premiere of new collaborations co-conceived with musician, Kathryn Williams.
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These poems amplify whispered stories and recover myths from each corner of the British Isles. They tune into unheard frequencies of language as they find new ways to navigate elegy, absence and joy.The Mythic and the Familiar: Fiona Benson and Pascale Petit
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Start your Sunday right with what promises to be a haunting double bill, as two poets at the top of their game read from and discuss their unsettling and intriguing latest collections. In Midden Witch, Fiona Benson lets the women accused of witchcraft speak back to us. Pascale Petit’s Beast, meanwhile, is populated by mythic and familial beasts, roaming wildernesses near and far.
Get TicketsRe-imagining the Hero’s Journey: Luke Kennard and Nick Makoha
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Come and listen as Luke Kennard and Nick Makoha read from and discuss their latest collections, The Book of Jonah and The New Carthaginians, discussing the stories we think we already know, and the unexpected places they might lead us.
Get TicketsThe Pleasures and Power of Reading, with Peter Mackay
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
What happens when we read? What is it that we get from losing ourselves in a book? Does reading actually improve our wellbeing?
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Join Makar Peter Mackay in conversation with Philippa Cochrane and Dr Sarah McGeown for this special Book Week Scotland event, as he explores the impact that being a reader has had on his life.
BSL interpreted.Anthropocene – New Poetic Performances
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
We’re delighted to premiere three new poetry-led performance commissions in association with the National Theatre of Scotland! Investigating the theme of ‘Anthropocene: the Human-Altered World’, Iona Lee and Nikki Kent, Garry Mackenzie and Sam Firth, and Taylor Dyson and Craig Aitchison explore poetry in conversation with different artistic disciplines.
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BSL interpreted.Light it Up: Tinderbox Orchestra
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Join us for a glorious festival finale! Bringing together rappers, poets and singers with soaring strings, heavy brass, woodwind, and thundering bass and drums, Tinderbox Orchestra are teaming up with some of Scotland’s most exciting spoken word artists to combine original music and spoken word performances transforming preconceptions of what an orchestra can be.
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