Podcasts

Kei Miller

Kei Miller reads from his astonishing new collection of poems A Light Song of Light, and from his latest novel, The Last Warner Woman. Kei is a Jamaican poet and novelist who combines a velveteen voice with a playful imagination. His first collection was There is an Anger that Moves and he is editor of New Caribbean Poetry (both Carcanet, 2007).

Ewan Morrison

Ewan Morrison reads a brilliant short story from his new project, Tales from the Mall, which was part of our Saturday evening event in Edinburgh Books. Ewan worked as a film director before making his authorial début with the short story collection, The Last Book You Read and Other Stories, in 2005. His first novel, Swung, was published in 2007. Other novels are Distance (2008) and Ménage (2009).

Chloe Morrish & Jim Carruth

We were delighted to host two outstanding poets in the cosy confines of Peter Bell’s splendid book shop. Farmer poet Jim Carruth grew up on his family’s farm near Kilbarchan. His poems have been widely published and anthologised and his debut collection, Bovine Pastoral, was runner-up in the Callum Macdonald Memorial award. Chloe Morrish was one of the first mentees of Clydebuilt 1. Her pamphlet, Three Little Ninjas, is published by Dreadful Night Press in Glasgow.

Mystery Guest Frank Quitely

We were very chuffed to announce our mystery guest was the fantastic 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. In this event in the book lined surrounds of Edinburgh Books, Frank chats with former editor of 2000 AD, author and screenwriter David Bishop.

Scottland: The Man Who Invented a Nation

No-one has been as famous as Sir Walter Scott and become as forgotten. He was so popular that, if you could read in the early 19th Century, you had read Scott. And yet nowadays nobody seems to read him. Literary editor and author Stuart Kelly investigates this literary riddle in his magnificent new book Scott-land. By parts witty, touching and effortlessly learned, Stuart Kelly will have you rushing out the door to brush up your Ivanhoe, revisit the classic Old Mortality or feel the impulse to run up the Scott Monument.

Collective Nouns

Author and literary editor Stuart Kelly is a closet fan of collective nouns, those brilliant and brain-bending terms that allow us to junk a dullard ‘group’ or ‘flock’ for many more interesting and apt alternatives. Author of upcoming Scott-land and veteran of West Port 09 with his wonderful Book of Lost Books, Stuart’s event appeals to those who appreciate the linguistic greatness of a murder of crows.

Living Legend Jim Haynes

Jim Haynes is a living legend. Flâneur, writer, publisher, founder of the Traverse Theatre, Fringe guru, former book shop owner and host to many hundreds of thousands over the years he’s spent welcoming strangers to his Parisian atelier for Sunday dinner, his is a life more spectacular than most. Join him for an hour of scintillating conversation, chaired by Edinburgh flâneur Ryan Van Winkle.

The Book of Lost Books

In The Book of Lost Books, Stuart Kelly reaches into the recesses of history to trace books, great or perhaps otherwise, that have been lost, stolen, incinerated, abandoned or mutilated through the ages. In a sparkling event, he reads extracts which deal his own fascination with lost books, Agathon, the Greek tragic poet whose works are all lost, the lost adventures of Sir Richard Burton, and many intriguing literary titbits.

The Incidental music in the podcasts is "Trouble Scene" from MWD.