August is nearly upon us and amid the general chaos of marvellous things happening all at once in Edinburgh, you'd be forgiven for wanting to stop between events for a cold pint. Fortunately, the Bow Bar is offering a total of 75 ales from over 50 breweries (not to mention the 25 bottled varieties, including Green's gluten free!) from Wednesday 28th July through to Sunday 8th August, as part of its annual Beer Festival.
The third West Port Book Festival is finished and after a cup of tea, a mild amount of clearing up and a greasy spoon, we’ve almost put West Port back to ‘normal’.
The West Port Book Festival launches into its third year with the help of a great team and the goodwill of the local community. Tickets are released at 5pm the day before an event, and of course on the day. First come, first served.
Advance tickets have closed, however there are plenty of on the day tickets left for all events excluding bookbinding! Tickets can be picked up at Edinburgh Books or the Coffee Mill (if there is an event on at Edinburgh Books or on Sunday when EB is closed).
We are pleased to announce our mystery guest is Scottish comic book artist Frank Quitely. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, WE3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The Authority. Former editor of 2000 AD, author and screenwriter David Bishop, will chair.
After a fantastic Collective Nouns Illustration Exhibition we're delighted to announce our winner – Jez Burrows with 'a hush of librarians'. For all you people who couldn't make it to the Owl and Lion Gallery in person, we've uploaded the images here for you to browse – and a link to the Owl & Gallery shop as well, just in case you're tempted!
A few months ago we invited enterprising, exceptional artists to illustrate new collective nouns that have been collected by All-Sorts.org, a linguistic experiment that is taking the web by storm. We're now delighted to announce the 15 fantastic artists who will feature in the exhibition, which will launch on 15 June at the Owl and Lion Gallery and be open to the public from 16 June.
The collection of essays edited by Roger Rees on Ted Hughes and the Classics published last year demonstrated that the Classics continued to be a useful pool of source material and inspiration for literature throughout the 20th century. However, we should not forget that stories from Greek and Latin literature have been retold for centuries in a variety of different forms.
Saturday afternoon witnessed what is hopefully to become a staple of preparation for the West Port Book Festival – a fundraising cake sale held in the West Port and beyond. The afternoon was a sweet success full of cake and camaraderie.
As a not-for-profit company the support we receive from individuals and businesses is invaluable, particularly in these rather lean times. This support can take the form of cash, gold bullion (we wish) or 'in kind' gifts like tweed ties and wine (oh yes). So, we would like to introduce you to three companies who are supporting us this year. A rousing cheer please for Allander, Henderson Wines and Walker Slater whose sponsorship of our book festival shows their good taste as well as a certain magnanimity.
