I'm a street light shining
I'm a street light shining
November festival highlights, plus community events and open calls for writers & writing
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The nights are drawing in, summer is still a warm memory. But Edinburgh isn’t letting go of the festival spirit just yet.
October saw the return of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival at the Scottish Storytelling Centre and The Banshee Labyrinth hosted the Edinburgh Horror Festival at the weekend.
This month, we welcome the Radical Book Fair and Push to Boat Out back to our fair city.
Both programmes boast a range of panels, discussions, showcases, cabarets, writing workshops, music, poetry, performances and so much more. I’ve popped some of my event highlights below, but you should 100% check out each festival to learn, to enjoy, and to feel connected to our creative community.
There’s also a range of community events below to see you through the first week of November!
A brief note on the autumn budget and the arts
This last week has been a strange one in the arts with the anticipation of and subsequent announcement of the autumn budget from Westminster. Many people have been worried about funding and helping the ‘creative economy’ thrive.
I have some thoughts, but I’m going to save them for next week when I have a bit more brain space to articulate what I want to say.
On the surface and from the coverage I’ve seen there are some positives, like an increase in support for local authorities. But the Campaign for the Arts response notes that while the budget offers some good first steps, there are still real-terms cuts for the arts and creative industries, and new pressures for creative workers and businesses to endure despite the repeated push for additional funding across the sector.
You can check out this analysis of the budget from Campaign for the Arts who have a lot of insight into what the announcement means for us going into the new year.
Community events
Mental Health Workers for Palestine in Scotland
If you work in mental health in Scotland and have been wondering how you can do more for Palestine within your organisation or the sector, join the first online meeting of Mental Health Workers for Palestine in Scotland on Thursday, November 7 at 7.30 pm. This is a group for people working in mental health who are tired of the silence maintained and imposed by organisations and individuals in the field. The group will create goals and actions together, in line with what their Palestinian colleagues are doing. Its purpose is to break the silence, the censorship, and the “neutrality”, create awareness and seek accountability. This new group will work within the UK Palestine Mental Health Network.
For more information contact Tere at terebertucci@gmail.com
Entangled Singing with Rhubaba Choir
As part of Edinburgh Future’s Institute’s Autumn 2024 Events Season, Learning Curves, Rhubaba is hosting Entangled Singing on Tuesday, November 5. The Rhubaba Choir is providing the opportunity for individuals to sing together in a welcoming, eclectic group and share singing experiences. For this workshop, they’re not looking for professional standard singing and welcome anyone who wants to lend their voice, regardless of prior musical experience.
The 3-hour workshop will generate material which will be collectively sung by the workshop participants at follow-up event Entanglements: Studies in Flowing, Following, Falling on Thursday, November 7 at 6 pm. Attendance for both events is required.
Book a free ticket here
Tapsalteerie Poetry Night: Rachel Plummer & Mae Diansangu
Head to Lighthouse Books on Wednesday, November 6 to celebrate the publication of two new Tapsalteerie poetry books; Mae Diansangu's 'Bloodsongs' and Rachel Plummer's 'Once I Carried Three Crows'.
Mae's 'Bloodsongs' shifts between English and North-east Scots in an ode to matters of the blood: queer carnality; black rage; the crude power of myth; how history is felt in the body. Rachel's vivid and surreal 'Once I Carried Three Crows' presents contemporary myths born from experiences such as the process of ageing, disability, intergenerational relationships, body image and sexuality.
Learn more and book tickets here
Polly Atkin - The Company of Owls
Join writer Polly Atkin for the launch of her new book The Company of Owls on Wednesday, November 6. The Company of Owls is a nocturnal love song to the owls that surround Polly’s Lake District home. It is a stunning meditation on learning to listen in a world full of noise. Polly will be in conversation with her literary agent, Caro Clarke of Portobello Literary. This event will also be livestreamed for those who want to join from home.
Book your tickets here
Join writer Sacha Coward on Thursday, November 7 at Lighthouse Books for the launch of Queer as Folklore, a celebration of queer history. QAF is an exhilarating journey across centuries and continents revealing the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic, and fantasy. Each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new.
Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows, found kinship in the in-between, and created safe spaces in underworlds; but these forgotten narratives tell stories of remarkable resilience that deserve to be heard. Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha takes readers on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies, and the graves of the ‘queerly departed’ along the way.
Book to Queer as Folklore tickets here
The puzzle of free will: problems in life & a problem in theory
In this event on Thursday, November 7, Professor Pamela Hieronymi will pull apart two aspects of the free will debate by separating “problems in life,” such as obstacles and constraints on thoughts and actions, from a “problem in theory” that arises when trying to understand how agency itself operates. In this lecture, Professor Hieronymi will propose we expand our too-narrow ideas about control. Hieronymi argues that we control our decisions in a very different way: we control our answers to questions not the problems themselves.
Get tickets on Eventbrite
Entanglements: Studies in Flowing, Following, Falling
Another event from the Edinburgh Futures Institute’s Learning Curves series, Entanglements takes a creative approach to learning and teaching, exploring the educational potential of collaborative art making. Join a variety of creatives on Thursday, November 7 to explore the entanglement of the human and aquatic worlds. The work will move between freshwater and the deep ocean as you learn through performance, video, music, poetry and song. The artists will help you understand how falling, flowing and following offer different models for an entangled education.
Tickets for Entanglements are available here
School of Care & Liberation: Mushrooms for Healing Trauma
Join facilitator Susie Langsdale on Thursday, November 7 from 6.30-8.30 pm for an online workshop on mushrooms and healing trauma as part of SLEEC’s new project School of Care & Liberation (SOCL). SOCL is a space to heal and liberate through learning and knowledge sharing for all seeking to find better ways for liberatory recovery and collective care.
Susy is a mushroom lover who enjoys foraging for mushrooms, growing mushrooms, and exploring what mushrooms can teach us. They work as a grower and as a community eco-therapist in London. The workshop will be a conversation about mushrooms, exploring how they work, how they affect our bodies and minds, and what they can teach us. You’ll be invited to respond creatively, thinking about how mushrooms might support you. Please note this is a space for women, femmes, and non-binary survivors of sexual assault who are 18 and older.
Reserve a free spot here
The Story Sessions: Nourishment
Join the Soapbox for Creatives team on November 8 from 6 pm at Tribe Porty for an evening of storytelling. The Soapbox community is gathering to be inspired and connect while listening to and telling their own stories.
As well as listening to nourishing stories, this time audience members can also enjoy canapés from Còmhla, a luxury dining experience founded by friends Helena and Joanna in Edinburgh. Brought together over a passion for wild natural Scottish ingredients, Còmhla’s philosophy is to celebrate the seasonal. With a deep-felt desire to sustain both the environment and community, all that Còmhla does is driven by creativity, consideration, and social consciousness.
Tickets for this event are pay-what-you-can and are available here and keep up to date with The Story Sessions on Substack
Join hosts Duster Dupont and Viloma the Polar Princess for an evening of poetry from some of the best our scene has to offer! This Friday, November 8, Duster and Viloma are featuring Beth MacDonald, Pepita Mwanga, Christie Gourlay, Mike Yuill, Arlo Bayne, India de Bono, and Alex Rigg with a special screening by Constantine the Artist.
The latest installment of Poets of the Night is in the drawing room on the third floor of St. Margaret’s House on London Road, Edinburgh. Doors open at 5.30 pm with a start time of 6 pm.
Tickets are free and can be booked by emailing poetsofthenightevents@gmail.com
Creative Journaling for LGBTQIA+
Join Alba Writing Club for some guided self-reflection with host Lily M Frenette’s journaling prompts on Sunday, November 10. In a supportive group setting, Lily will help you to process life events, imagine potential futures, and remember moments of magic. No writing experience is required and you can drop-in for one of the fortnightly sessions.
You can book tickets on Eventbrite
The Humor Mill is hosting its open comedy writing group, The Material Mill, on Monday, November 11. The group is open to all, whether you’re a seasoned pro or at the start of your comedy journey. The writing group will not only allow you to write new jokes, get feedback and refine your material, but it’ll also help you to build your network and make new friends.
Grab a ticket on Eventbrite
Join Blue Diode Press for the launch of Olga Stehlíková and Christopher Crawford’s poetry books at Typewronger Books on Monday, November 11. Olga and Christopher will be joined by poets Alycia Pirmohamed and James Appleby for an evening of poetry celebrating the publication of their collections Though the Sky is Embroidered by a Zigzagging Bat and Divorcee Disco Music.
Find out more on the Typewronger events page
Caro Clarke - Submitting to a Literary Agent
Join literary agent and founder of local literary agency Portobello Literary, Caro Clarke on Monday, November 11 for a break down of the ins and outs of the publishing industry to help you prepare to submit your work to agents. Tickets include a complimentary notebook and pencil to take notes, and tea, coffee, and biscuits will be provided on the night.
Find out more and get tickets here
Edinburgh’s Radical Book Fair 2024
This month Edinburgh’s Radical Book Fair returns on November 21 at Assembly Roxy until November 24. The Lighthouse Books team has curated and created a fantastic line-up of talks, panels, discussions, workshops, cabarets, and events exploring the theme of From Where We Stand.
Highlights from the programme include:
- Care Made Visible with Marianne Brooker, Richa Okhandiar-MacDougall, and Emily Kenway on November 21. An essential conversation about one of the most fundamental building blocks of society, and one which is more often than not, pushed into the private world: the act of caring
- Beyond the Bubble: On Reshaping the Arts with Orian Brook, Gabrielle de la Puente and Alycia Pirmohamed on November 22. Come consider the questions: what does sustainability in the arts really mean for those who practice it and for the world the art is part of? What the responsibility of artists is, in the face of human rights abuses, and what compromises we are willing to make?
- Words to Resist With: A Radical Writing Cabaret with Salena Godden, lisa minerva luxx and Hasib Hourani on November 22. A cabaret of voices that disrupt, illuminate, connect us to what truly matters and hammer through veneers and narrative dictated by the status quo
- Radical Writing Workshop: Embracing the Subjective in Arts Writing with Jess Brough on November 23. In this 1-hour writing workshop, participants will learn how to embrace their subjective perspective and centre their own experiences when writing about the arts, demonstrating that there is value in responding to a creative work by revealing they have a personal stake
- More Than A Roof Over Our Heads: Housing for All with Holly Pester, Nick Bano, Living rent and Jj Fadaka on November 23. Through polemic, a novel, and local organising, our panelists explore the nature of today’s housing crisis, bringing a damning picture to light
- No More False Solutions: The Struggle for Real Climate Justice with Hamza Hamouchene, Alex Lee and Zeynep Oguz on November 23. Time and again we hear of major investments being made into ‘solutions’ to the climate crisis, but these often come at the highest price and more often than not, they replicate the same power structures and exploitation which made the fossil fuel industry profitable in the first place. This panel aims to dismantle the lies behind such interventions, and explore what real climate justice means locally and globally
- Know Your Rights Training with Scottish Activist Legal Protection (SCALP) on November 24. The Know Your Rights training aims to facilitate learning around a variety of useful things related to your rights. This is a compressed version of SCALP’s training for people participating in actions or protests in Scotland
- Our Entangled Safeties: Resisting State Violence with Leah Cowan, Gracie Mae Bradley, and Nish Doshi on November 24. Leah Cowan and Gracie Mae Bradley share insights into what resistance against state violence looks like at this point in time
Get more information on Facebook and book tickets with Lighthouse Books
Also later this month, Push the Boat Out returns to venues across Edinburgh from November 22. This year’s programme features writers, poets, spoken word artists, and creative practitioners from across the UK, with panels and discussions, workshops and showcases, takeovers, collaborations and slams, there’s something for everyone at Push the Boat Out. Tickets are available now with some offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, while others have set pricing. Festival passes are also available. You can read more about ticketing here.
Highlights from the programme include:
- Resting as Artists with Elspeth Wilson, Jeda Pearl, and Alan Spence on November 22. The trio will be discussing how to recognise when you need rest, making time for rest, and how resting can benefit your practice
- Taking the Next Step with Theresa Muñoz, Len Pennie, and Edward Crossan on November 22. This panel of industry professionals and practitioners will discuss routes to publishing, establishing your reputation, and the process of pitching for commissions and festival appearances
- Disrupting the Narrative on November 22, a theatrical performance of poetry from Edinburgh’s out-going Makar, Hannah Lavery, and Jeda Pearl, Shasta Ali, Niall Moorjani, and Alycia Pirmohamed, set to music by composer, Niroshini Thambar. This work decolonises Edinburgh’s historic collections and key heritage sites and illuminate how colonial history has shaped the city, its institutions, and its people
- No Such Thing As Lost on November 23. Join members of Open Book’s community of writers as they share their latest pamphlet, No Such Thing as Lost. These new collaborative poems will take you on a tour of Scotland: from Shetland to Stranraer, Portree to Perth, and many other places in between
- Drag Poetry with Digital Diasporic Souls on November 23. Join the Accent Society for a ghostly nocturne and a fictional panel where ancestors in displaced genders speak of their fantasia of being a good alien through chanting and performance lectures
- Loud Poets Slam Series: Edinburgh Heat on November 23. Watch Edinburgh’s top poets compete in the first of 10 heats taking place across Scotland and England for the biggest prize in UK slam poetry. Featuring current Edinburgh Champion Heather Rose as sacrificial poet, this slam heat is set to be a thumping celebration of some of the best spoken word coming out of Scotland today
- A Lighthouse Poetry Zine Workshop on November 24. Join writer, poet, and facilitator JJ Fadaka for some gentle, cathartic creativity. You’ll learn how to cut and prep a tiny booklet and unleash your poetry within – whether it is polished, charmingly chaotic, understated or bursting at the seams, your zine will be your own to take with you or pass along
- Creativity in the Cards: Inspired by Tarot on November 24. Unlock the mysteries of your subconscious and ignite your creativity with your tarot deck. You’ll learn to read tarot cards, and delve into their rich symbolism to uncover hidden emotions and the untold stories within
- Songwriters Circle with ACE V!S!ON, MC Hammersmith, Christie Kandiwa, and Arusa Qureshi on November 24. At this Songwriters Circle, the panel of musicians discuss the backstory to their songs and share their insights and inspirations
Browse the programme here and get a festival pass here
Open calls for writers & writing
Beyond the Veil Press: Disability Pride Anthology
Closing this month is the Beyond the Veil Press’s Disability Pride Anthology. Guest editors Caiti and Zoe are looking for submissions that explore the intersection of disability with race, gender identity, and sexuality. The collection will amplify the voices of disabled writers, and provide a platform for your lived experiences to be seen, heard, and understood. The deadline for submissions is November 15.
Check out the guidelines here
berlin lit is open to poetry submissions of up to 5 previously unpublished poems in English. They currently do not accept translations. The berlin lit team recommends reading their previous issues to understand what kind of work they are looking for. Their eighth issue included work from Daisy Lafarge, Jessica Traynor, Cleo Henry, and Victoria Spires. The deadline for submissions is November 20.
Read the guidelines and find out how to submit here
The Unicorns powered by Somewhere: for us
Nominations for Somewhere: for us’s awards for grassroots LGBTQ+ organisations and individuals in Scotland, The Unicorns are open now! The Unicorns were founded to sprinkle S:FU’s rainbow awesomeness across every corner of Scotland in an authentic, community-focused way. They’re determined to celebrate people and organisations who have made a real difference to other people’s lives, or achieved great things. They want to hear about people making Scotland, and our local communities, a brighter place to live, work, and thrive, by doing amazing things, being unapologetically themselves or just being a good egg. Your nomations should mean something special to YOU!
Categories include Arts, Culture, Heritage, Enterprise, Charity, Pride of the Year, Unicorn of the Year, and someone will be joining S:FU’s inaugural Hall of Fame. The winners will be revealed in the Winter 2024 issue of the magazine. The deadline for nominations is November 20.
There are so many examples of Unicorns in Edinburgh and across Scotland to share, but here are my frontrunners and the ones that have impacted me personally:
- Culture: Ross Wilcock, host of the Curler’s Cosy Corner and The Poetry Experiment Open Mics in Glasgow, Ross is creating safe spaces for queer people to share their creativity. He is a welcoming and kind host, and I have found him to be an incredible supporter of this newsletter and my tentative return to poetry events
- Arts: Jj Fadaka, writer, poet, creative facilitator, and event chair Jj creates spaces for queer people of colour to come together and share their stories and radically reimagine care and community through creativity, transformative justice, decolonisation, and abolition. Jj is not only a fantastic teacher, but she is also a kind and insightful peer who I have learned a great deal from about community building, care, creativity, accountability, and making change in a hostile environment
- Enterprise: Lighthouse Books, Edinburgh’s radical bookshop gives a platform to queer voices amongst their work to amplify the voices of a plethora of other marginalised communities. The bookshop has given me access to texts that help me feel more secure and safe in my bi+ identity and opened up my understanding of queerness and how I fit into the community
- Charity: LGBT Health and Wellbeing, for the LGBTQ+ community in Scotland. They have a fantastic events and wellbeing programme that supports all communities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Being welcomed into this community has been affirming for me as a bi+ person and it’s one of the few places where I have felt immediately accepted and seen
- Heritage: The Pride Bridge, the campaign to save and restore the Pride Bridge in Leith is not only inspiring, but also incredibly mindful and collaborative. It has been a pleasure to engage people in this writing community with the campaign and to help them understand the campaign as more than a symbolic space
Fill out the nomination form here
Moniack Mhor and The Bridge Awards are open to applications for the Emerging Writer Award this month. The Emerging Writer Award is open to unpublished prose writers of fiction living in the UK with a collection of short stories or a novel in development. Poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, and works of non-fiction are all ineligible. This award provides focused development support for emerging fiction writers with a tailor-made package of tuition, retreat time, and mentoring time. To apply send a cover letter outlining your work in progress and how this award will benefit your work, and a 2000-word sample of work. The deadline for submissions is November 31.
Get more information and read the guidelines here
Thanks for reading!
I’ve been in Nottingham over the weekend watching Mark perform at the latest Bad Betty Live (which also accounts for the lack of brain space and response to the autumn budget).
Mark performed alongside Bad Betty Press founder and poet Amy Acre, Hongwei Bao, musician Catmilk, The Repeat Beat Poet, and Caleb Femi who spoke to Jj Fadaka for a wonderful interview about his sophomore poetry collection The Wickedest in September’s issue of The Skinny.
I’ve been lucky enough to join Mark for his last couple of gigs, including a very quick jaunt to Newcastle for Terror in the Tunnel with Lewis Brown and the Spooky Poet Club. The only gig I’ve ever been to that required a hard hat, Lewis and Mark created a wonderful atmosphere in Newcastle’s Victoria Tunnel sharing their spookiest poems with us in this former mining tunnel and bomb shelter.
I love listening to poetry and spoken word as much as I love doing it, and it’s been great to see snapshots of two other creative scenes in the UK. Going to other events and getting some breathing space from the Edinburgh scene has been a big part of my mental health recovery this year. We have a wonderful range of spaces available to us, many of which I love dearly, but there’s something comforting about anonymity or relative obscurity when I don’t feel like my best self.
Luckily there are lots of places and events I haven’t been to (here, there, and elsewhere), and even more where I can just go to listen and feel inspired. As I start to feel stronger, I’m looking forward to going to more stuff and finding that spark for performing again soon.
This journey isn’t linear, but at least there are new and familiar stories to show me the way for now.
Sending you all love and solidarity,
Naomi x
P.s. If you’d like to feel inspired, why not become a paying subscriber? In a bid to refocus and regroup, I’ve revamped prompts for paying subscribers which started again yesterday!
P.p.s. Tiny Taco turned one last Friday! Here she is snoot-deep in her new snuffle mat. I don’t know how we got here, but I am so grateful for this little fuzz-ball.
