SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH AT PLACEBO SPACE. 9pm.

THIS EVENT IS PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN.

Edinburgh’s Lit&Music Cabaret Comes to Toronto

Poets read. Musicians play. The audience is incited to revolution—or a stiff drink.

DAMIAN ROGERS: Electrifying. Damian’s poetry is rock’n’roll. Sample: “I say let’s keep wasting our lives and burn/our trash as we go.”

RYAN VAN WINKLE: Award-winning, Edinburgh-dwelling bearded poet. He’ll make you swoon. Sample: “We were fucking/our way up the tower and God saw us coming.”

MATTHEW J. TRAFFORD: Crafter of surreal short stories featuring Jesus clones & mermaids. Sample: “I was born library, where my parents read from opening until closing every day, where they met, where I assume they first coupled.”

TRAPLINESA: banjo. Some poems. Do we need to say more?Sample: “I got so fat they called a crane. Everyone was nice about it, but I was too fat to care.”

NEIL QUIN: The guitarist from Zeus will blow you away with his shiny solo act.

PHANTOM SHORES: Ottawa-based folk rockers with lush harmonies and blazing lyrics. Violin, sex & rock’n’roll.

CHLOE CHARLES: This hypnotizing songstress will leave you spellbound – just try to resist.

PLUS SPECIAL MUSICAL GUEST.
THIS EVENT IS PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN.

AT PLACEBO SPACE. 1409 Bloor Street West, Apt A

Sydney, Australia

Tuesday, 6 September — Word in Hand, The Friend in Hand Hotel — 8pm, $5 – 10

This is Sydney’s premier regular and enduring poetry / spoken word event. Featuring Ryan and two USA based poets: Shane Koyczan and Jive Poetic, moderated by Miles Merrill.

Melbourne, Australia

Saturday, 3 September — Poetry @ The Dan, The Dan O’Connell Hotel, 14.00 – 17.00

The Dan is Melbourne’s longest running weekly poetry venue. From January 1st 1994 the Dan has featured some of the best National and International poets.

Wednesday, 31 August — City of Literature Connect, The Wheeler Centre — 19.00 – 20.00

The Melbourne Poets Union and Australian Poetry presents a Melbourne / Edinburgh collaboration, a Cities of Literature soiree. Two international poets based in Edinbugh: American-born Ryan Van Winkle and Australian-American Emily Ballou read from their work.

 

Tuesday, 30 August — Edinburgh Unbound, Melbourne Writers Festival, The Toff in Town – 20.00 – 22.30, $25.00

Unbound Edinburgh is many things. Part reading, part gig, part party. Join the irrepressible Ryan van Winkle as he hosts a killer evening of rakish words, independent films and eclectic music all in a beautiful space. We’ll be celebrating the flourishing partnership between MWF and the Edinburgh Book Festival in our sister UNESCO City of Literature. In the capable hands of Ryan, poet, reader in residence at the Scottish Poetry Library and host of The Golden Hour at Edinburgh’s iconic Forest Café, we’ll meet experimental writer Ewan Morrison, one of Scotland’s most innovative young novelists, and Emily Ballou, the brilliant young Australian poet, novelist and screenwriter (The Slap) now resident in Scotland, and one of Melbourne’s superstars, Christos Tsiolkas, (The Slap). Featuring music from Andy Hazel and closing with Rapskallion’s unique blend of vaudevillian, cabaret, and junkyard gypsy blues.

I’m super happy that my final Edinburgh performance before I head to Australia and then back home to America will be with our friends at W.P.M.

Kirstin Innes, Kirsty Logan and Helen Sedgwick will be hosting an evening of special treats where all performers get ten minutes to impress the audience.  Expect the unexpected and some familiar faces at WPM including The Zorras, novelist, playwright and dazzling performer, Alan Bissett and American author Adam Levin and another American — me!

The Forest, FREE – 1pm – 3am

Here it is — the last ever Golden Hour at the Forest Cafe at 3 Bristo Place. After this marathon event, we’re going to all rest up and think about new ways to do what we love — mixing poetry, stories, cartoons, music, drunkeness and dancing. In the meantime — you’ll have this massive event to remember us by — featuring our true loves: Tom Pow, Jonny Berliner, William Letford, Emily Ballou, Robin Grey,Anna Crowe, Ericka Duffy, Kirstin Innes, John Glenday, The Little Big Band, Alan Bissett, The Ghost of Joseph Seal, Jed Milroy & Hailey Beavis, Paper Cinema, Jason Morton, Jane Flett, Toby Mottershead, Jen and the Gents and Dolphin Boy + much more including films by Roxana Pope and some special Reel Festivals gubbins. You will want to buy a hamburger.

11am-7pm at The Forest Fringe, FREE

I’ll be speaking at ‘flash-conference’ featuring topics such as public perception of art, theatre, performance and the audience. I’ll be discussing ‘How can we stop making capitalism?’ with other interesting people. For more details, visit the Edgelands website. It should be interactive and exciting!  This day is not about railing against authority or the great institutions of the arts. It is a day for everybody to gather at the edges of those big institutions and organisations, on equal terms. To ask daring questions and suggest implausible answers. To share a spirit of generosity and a galvanising sense of hope; that despite or perhaps because of the political, financial and environmental circumstances in which we find ourselves, the arts can and will play a part in imagining and realising a better possible future.

Artists. Audiences. How can we do this better? 

Why have we failed to convince people the arts are important? Are the arts still important?

So now we have the full four, what’s next? Well, the very exciting opportunity to grab a ticket, along with our first list of confirmed speakers/artists/participants! Currently confirmed are:

• Chris Goode
• Tim Etchells
• Chris Thorpe
• Kieran Hurley
• Laura McDermott
• Harun Morrison
• Rohan Gunatillake
• Annette Mees
• Ryan Van Winkle
• Third Angel
• John McGrath
• Emma Adams
• Matthew Somerville
• Rachel Coldicutt
• Emily Sexton (Next Wave)
• Tom Armitage
• Gob Squad
• Fuel

And you can now grab a ticket from the first batch over at edgelands.eventbrite.com. There will also be another batch released along with the final list of speakers/artists/participants next month.

As ever, do share/talk about the event on Twitter using the hashtag #edgelands, and finally, do go and check out all of the wonderful partners who will be supporting the event.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival

Charlotte Square, 8.30-9.30pm, £7/5

It is a real honor to have been invited to read as part of this year’s main programme at the Edinburgh Book Festival. What is even more amazing is that I’ll be reading with our old friend (and nominee for the prestigious Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection) Rachel Boast and Will Eaves the Arts Editor of the Times Literary Supplement. So, thanks to the Book Festival for inviting me to be on such a strong bill and let’s all hope I don’t embarrass myself. I’ll be reading from ‘Tomorrow, We Will Live Here‘ which you can buy from Salt. Just click on that cover.

The Forest 6-9pm, FREE

The Naughty Boys make improvised electro po-noize.  Poems vs computers vs drums vs salvaged keyboards and whatever else we can find. You will come.

The Naughty Boys are:  * DanSeizure on keys and computer loop. * Stevie Paterson on keys and percussion noises. * Ryan Van Winkle —Spoken Words.

Also appearing: Alison Smith, Colin Herd, Fiona Soe Paing, Mark Mace Smith, Nuala Watt, Rachel McCrum, ShellSuit Massacre & Sophie Mayer

And here’s a little poster gallery for you. What’s your favourite?

shhhhhhh… 

This should be a pretty amazing August. Between parties at Forest and the general buzz of the Edinburgh International Book Festival I’ll be doing a few readings and performances as well as hosting two Golden Hours. There will probably be more but — in the meantime — here’s the dates for your diaries:

Sunday, 7 August — The Naughty Boys at Faceplant, The Forest, 6-9pm, FREE

The Naughty Boys make improvised electro po-noize.  Poems vs computers vs drums vs salvaged keyboards and whatever else we can find. You will come.

The Naughty Boys are:  * DanSeizure on keys and computer loop. * Stevie Paterson on keys and percussion noises. * Ryan Van Winkle —Spoken Words.

Also appearing: Alison Smith, Colin Herd, Fiona Soe Paing, Mark Mace Smith, Nuala Watt, Rachel McCrum, ShellSuit Massacre & Sophie Mayer

Thursday, 18 August — The Golden Hour at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, The Spiegeltent, Charlotte Square, 9-11pm, FREE

Live and Kicking in the Spiegeltent! With Kelly Link, William Letford, Joe Dunthorme, Billy Liar, Mikel Krumins and Earl Grey and the Loose Leaves!!!

Saturday, 20 August — The Edinburgh International Book Festival with Rachael Boast & Will Eaves, Charlotte Square, 8.30-9.30pm, £7/5

Considering all the things they’ve done, it is perhaps surprising that these three talented poets are only now publishing their debut collections. Will Eaves is an established author and Arts Editor of The Times Literary Supplement; Ryan Van Winkle is host of the much-loved Edinburgh literary evening The Golden Hour; and Rachael Boast has a PhD in Creative Writing from St Andrews University. Join them to hear how their experiences translate into fresh, exuberant, thought-provoking new verse.

Sunday, 21 August — Edgelands — a conference from the borders of performance, 11am-7pm at The Forest Fringe, FREE

Wednesday , 24 August — The Golden Hour , The Forest, FREE – 1pm – 3am

Here it is — the last ever Golden Hour at the Forest Cafe at 3 Bristo Place. After this marathon event, we’re going to all rest up and think about new ways to do what we love — mixing poetry, stories, cartoons, music, drunkeness and dancing. In the meantime — you’ll have this massive event to remember us by — featuring: Tom Pow, Jonny Berliner, William Letford, Emily Ballou, Robin Grey, Anna Crowe, Ericka Duffy, Kirstin Innes, John Glenday, The Little Big Band, Alan Bissett, The Ghost of Joseph Seal, Jed Milroy & Hailey Beavis, Paper Cinema, Jason Morton, Jane Flett, Toby Mottershead, Jen and the Gents and Dolphin Boy + much more including films by Roxana Pope and some special Reel Festivals gubbins. You will want to buy a hamburger.

Friday, 26 August — Words Per Minute at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, The Spiegeltent, Charlotte Square, 9-11pm, FREE

Join your hosts, Kirstin Innes, Kirsty Logan and Helen Sedgwick for an evening of special treats where all performers get ten minutes to impress the audience – no matter how famous they are. Expect the unexpected and some familiar faces at WPM at Unbound including, novelist, playwright and dazzling performer, Alan Bissett and American author Adam Levin and other American — me.