15 August - Saturday

  • Edinburgh Books 1pm Angus Peter Campbell: Kafka and Gaelic

    Film actor, kitchen porter, forester, lobster fisherman, broadcaster and writer: Angus Peter Campbell has just published his fourth Gaelic novel, Tilleadh Dhachaigh (Homecoming), influenced by Milan Kundera and Franz Kafka. He’ll be reading in Gaelic and English as well as discussing how international writers, particularly Kafka, have inspired his work. Angus Peter enjoys robust discussion and is disappointed that Gaelic-speaking MPs grunt at the trough along with the other Orwellian piglets.

  • Armchair Books 2pm Mingling Magicians

    Éireann Leverett, Paul Besly and perhaps some other mystery magicians will be mingling with bookshop punters, glints in their eyes, a pack of cards in their hands. Don’t miss out! Make your way to Andrew Pringle’s bookshop and wait for a soft voice to whisper, ‘pick a card’.

  • Under the Stairs 3pm Jack Underwood and Alan Bissett

    Alan Bissett is a novelist, performer and playwright and 2009 sees a veritable tsunami of cultural activity from this Glasgow-based writer. His latest novel, Death of a Ladies’ Man, was published in July, whilst his plays, The Ching Room, The Library, and his ‘one-woman show’ (performed by himself), Times When I Bite, all take to the stage this year.

    Jack Underwood is a librettist, musician, tutor of English Literature at Goldsmiths, London, and co-editor of Stop Sharpening Your Knives, a series of poetry anthologies. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and was named a Faber New Poet in 2009. A pamphlet of his poems will be published by Faber & Faber in October. He lives in Hackney.

  • Tea Tree Tea Café 4pm Mingling Magicians

    Éireann Leverett, Paul Besly and perhaps some other mystery magicians will be mingling with bookshop punters, glints in their eyes, a pack of cards in their hands. Don’t miss out! Make your way to Tea Tree Tea café and wait for a soft voice to whisper, ‘pick a card’.

  • Owl & Lion Gallery 5pm Innes Keighren: Journeys Through Print

    Innes Keighren will be speaking about the extraordinary travels of Maria Graham, an artist, novelist and historian whose lone travels in Brazil and Chile in the 1820s revealed a post-revolutionary Latin America to the British reading public.

    Innes, a Research Associate at the University of Edinburgh, will also be revealing how he followed the extraordinary story of Maria, by dipping into her journals and letters, all part of the NLS’s extensive John Murray archive. He’s also handy with a projector, so expect some exciting visuals.

  • Peter Bell Books 6pm Stuart Kelly and 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. Great conflagrations such as the infamous burning of the great library of Alexandria are covered in heart-rending detail, but Stuart also dips into dustier corners, devoting chapters to aspiring writers called Widsith the Wide-travelled and Ahmad ad-Daqiqi. Erudite, intriguing and sometimes rather sad, come and find out what might have been.

  • Owl & Lion Gallery 7pm Bookbinding Workshop

    Professional bookbinder and co-founder of the Owl & Lion Gallery, Isabelle Ting, will be teaching a lucky few to make their own beautiful book using various binding techniques. The theme will be magic, so be prepared for strange goings-on. Please bring lots of interesting papers to use as book covers.

  • Edinburgh Books 8pm The Irish Catullus

    If you think that Roman poets are last millennia’s news, think again. Political fun-poking, racy references and a dubious sense of humour: Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 bc – ca. 54 bc) has it all. This event will be chaired by Irish writer, Ronan Sheehan, general editor of The Irish Catullus: Translating the Latin poet into Irish and English, in the tradition of The Irish Aeneid.

    Backed by The European Centre For Latin in Dublin, The Irish Catullus is an innovative work-in-progress that draws on the skills of some seventy- five writers, from promising students to leading writers in their field. Translations are in Irish, English, Ulster-Scots and Scots-Gaelic; some are loose interpretations, others more linguistically exact.

    Classics lecturer Lucy Grig, some of the project’s translators, and a few mystery guests will be reading. Come and join the fun.

    This event is supported by Culture Ireland.

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