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

I have two new poems in the latest issue of Gutter — The Magazine for new Scottish writing. I’m very pleased to have these published as they are the first new poems to see the world since the publication of Tomorrow, We Will Live Here — they sound a little different and I’m quite shy about them. So, support Gutter and check let me know what you think about ‘Gerontocracy’ and ‘A Raincoat, A Spell of Rain Ago’. Also, in this issue, you’ll find new work from a lot of talented friends — some of whom are:  Anneliese Mackintosh, Michael Cannon, Tracey Emerson, Kirsty Logan, Brian Johnstone, Sally Evans, Rodge Glass, Ewan Morrison, Iyad Hayatleh and Tessa Ransford, Jim Carruth, Sandra Alland, Kevin McNeil, and Colin Will. It is good to be in good company. You can get a copy of the magazine here.

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.

I was happy to be invited by Conor Mahood to take part in his one thousand stories project. I’m pretty sure I ruined the whole thing as my other friends who have done it are far more interesting and articulate than I. So, if you don’t want to listen to me, you can hear Deborah Pearson, Holly Conrad or Morgan McBride all of whom know how to actually speak.

Here’s what Conor says about the porject:

A Thousand Stories is a podcast project where I will interview people using the same rough pool of questions each time and see what emerges.

Though it’s from a pool of questions, I may ask someone all or only a couple of these in the actual interview.

The goal is one thousand people.

And here is my contribution to the project — The Lucky Episode 13

For the long-delayed 13th episode I interviewed Ryan Van Winkle, reader in residence at the Scottish Poetry Library and poet, author of the collection Tomorrow, We Will Live Here. Ryan also hosts a poetry podcast for the Scottish Poetry Library, find out more about it here.

Listen Now

Subscribe With Feedburner

The GOLDEN HOUR
23rd March, 8pm

FREE, BYOB

This month with:

Robin J. Thompson — Leave Your humanity at the door. Robin launches “Leave Your humanity at the door.”

Jen and the Gents —- Poppy loveliness which warms all the cold bits.
Panda Su — raw emotional honesty and blunt lyricism framed with an impressive array of strange and wonderful instruments.
The Chans — unstoppable, upbeat Scottish Soul Music! Boom!

Gutter, features new Scottish writing and has been an exciting magazine to read since its very first issue. Not only have they published my work but this issue features some of my great and excellent friends. In here you’ll find new work from  Kirstin Innes, Jason Donald, Rodge Glass, Anneliese Mackintosh, Dilys Rose, Colin Will, Jim Carruth, Brian Johnstone, Andy Jackson, Jane Flett, Brian Johnstone, Cynthia Rogerson, Andrew Philip, Nick Holdstock, Nalini Paul, Doug Johnstone, Pippa Goldschmidt, Ross McGregor, Alexander Hutchison, & Donald S Murray.

If you like new writing from Scotland  – you’ll love this issue!

There’s also a super lovely review of Kei Miller’s recent novel and book of poetry both of which I also recommend. If anyone out there is looking for a great book of poems which isn’t mine — go get Kei’s ‘A Light Song of Light.’

Also, while I encourage you to buy this action-packed issue of Gutter (lord knows, we have to support these things) here is a condensed excerpt:

The debut collection by the Scottish Poetry Library’s American-born Reader in Residence is nothing short of excellent. There is a small-town, downtrodden, careworn feel but as Van Winkle bumps the reader along the back roads of country America – and Scotland – his urgent narrative voices rapidly dispel any air of despondency. These are compelling, self-assured, driven poems that shine a longing, elegaic laserbeam at their subjects.

Like a Bill Callaghan lyric, the poems tackle the grave stuff of human existence – love, loss, lust, religion, dislocation (spiritual and topographical), guilt – with a tenderly sardonic, noir-ish humour. Subjects from road kill, a fat boy, through a pastor’s son, deceitful lovers on September 11^th, to the rain-soaked wishes of a condemned man are each addresssed by narrators who are edgy, uncomfortable and acutely aware of their failings.

It is hard to determine exactly how Van Winkle’s poems do their work, but they burrow into the reader’s skin like a mite to leave a persistent itch in the memory. The language is clean: WC Williams’ ‘plain American that cats and dogs can read’, but with syntax that is at times polysyndetic and mesmerising: as if a character out of Faulker, Twain or Cormac McCarthy character has stepped off the page to charm, disarm and then shock the reader …. This is a rich, incandescent book to keep at your bedside for dark winter nights.

You can buy ‘Tomorrow, We Will Live Here’ from Salt Publishing.

And get your copy of Gutter from their website.

You’ll find more reviews on my ‘reviews page‘.

Friends in America — my pal, Withered Hand, will be playing a handful of dates in the US to launch his spectacular début, ‘Good News’. The album is out from Absolutely Kosher Records — the same people who bring you The Mountain Goats. I’ve been lucky enough to tour around a bit with Withered Hand and have seen him play dozens of times and it always as revelatory as it is celebratory. You can check out the record on bandcamp if you don’t believe me but, trust me, if you like good lyrics and and anti-folky music you’ll massively enjoy his gig. Withered Hand is a writer of catchy, sometimes dirty, always thoughtful songs that speak directly to you. Go. Enjoy. Let me know what you think.

But don’t take my word for it:

* Mojo Magazine gave his record four stars.

* His fans include Jarvis Cocker, Frightened Rabbit, and McSweeny’s Magazine.

* The Herald writes: ‘Willson is a one-man Fleet Foxes with a voice that, one moment, sounds on the brink of collapse; the next, is filled with humour, emotion and self-knowledge. It is quite some time since a debut release has placed 10 such perfect songs back to back.”

You can find him in New York, Austin, San Francisco and LA.

USA solo dates

12 March LITTLEFIELD w/The Morgues, Brooklyn, NYC

14 March CAKESHOP NYC w/Simon Says No, Kid Canaveral, Rachel Sermani

14 March ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL NYC w/King Creosote

16 March SXSW, IODA SXSW OPENING DAY BASH @ EMO’S ANNEX 12pm

16 March SXSW – Official SXSW Showcase @ Maggie Mae’s 8pm

17 March SXSW – End of an Ear Records, 1pm, Instore, Austin Texas

17 March SXSW, Waterloo Cycles, 3pm, Austin, Texas

20 March HEMLOCK TAVERN, San Francisco

22 March HOTEL CAFE w/King Creosote, Los Angeles

<

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-bJSOrFFY4

Withered Hand -- Religious Songs

I’m super pleased to be reading at this fine event as part of ‘Let’s Get Lyrical‘ a celebration of music and lyrics. I’ll be sharing a stage with the amazing performers below and event doing a little poem / song thing with Burnt Island’s Rodge Glass! It will be awesome.

A Lyrical Death Match: Cargo vs Chemikal

Title: A Lyrical Death Match: Cargo vs Chemikal
Location: The Caves, Edinburgh

Description: Two of Scotland’s hottest cultural nests – Cargo publishing and music label Chemikal Underground – come head to head armed with prose, poetry and song. Authors Alan Bissett, Rodge Glass and Doug Johnstone, poet Ryan Van Winkle and emerging talent Kirstin Innes get up on stage to face former-The Delgados and revered singer songwriter Emma Pollock, and the multi-talented Lord Cutglass and his band. Stand-up comedian AL Kennedy referees the evening. Expect great music, and great writing at a great venue. Sponsored by City of Edinburgh Libraries.

Start Time: 18:00
Date: 2011-02-27

Price: £13 / £9

Booking: Tickets available on door.

Email: events@cityofliterature.com

There are scores of great events and opportunity for YOU to contribute your story about Lyrics. To find out more visit the ‘Let’s Get Lyrical‘ website!

So, it was a pleasure and an honor to sit down and chat with him for the Let’s Get Lyrical festival. Withered Hand is Dan Wilson and you might be able to tell from the podcast that we’re friends, have travelled around Scotland and Europe together as part of The Forest’s Golden Hour. During that time Dan was working on his brilliant first album ‘Good News’ and I became pretty intimate with his songs. This is no surprise — many people feel like they can snuggle up inside Withered Hand’s melody and lyrics. They are by turns honest, sarcastic, poppy, whimsical, sexual, and uplifting. If you don’t own a copy of Good News, you should go buy it now and support Dan’s amazing work. There’s an old Tori Amos advert from when they were advertising ‘Little Earthquakes’ on TV. The tag-line was, ‘When Tori Amos sings, something inside you listens.’ It’s a pretty cheesy line but I think it is super appropriate line for Withered Hand. Listen now:

We speak with the amazing Dan Willson aka Withered Hand about song lyrics, poetry, songwriting and how his writing is informed by his own life. Including numerous tracks by one of music’s brightest new talents. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle of the Scottish Poetry Library. Produced by Colin Fraser for Lets Get Lyrical, http://www.letsgetlyrical.com and Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature.