Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events.

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Books, talks and poetry events. Glasgow has everything on offer for lovers of literature, including major book festivals, book launches, poetry slams and spoken word open mics.

Plenty to choose from with events showcasing new talent as well as acclaimed writers and poets.

Events and New Books To Watch Out For

At Home Artist’s Talk: GOMA

GoMA at 25: Andy Goldsworthy in conversation with Martin Craig 31 MARCH, 2021 6 P.M. – 7 P.M. ONLINE REGISTER AT EVENTBRITE GoMA invites you to join artist Andy Goldsworthy in conversation with GoMA Curator, Martin Craig, as they discuss Goldsworthy’s original commission for GoMA, his works in the collection, and his practice today. Andy […]

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Balloch Open Mic: Multi-talented Moira McPartlin

(photograph: George Lammie) A friend recently passed on a book ‘The Incomers’ by Moira McPartlin. I had read it a couple of years ago but am now re-reading it. It reminded me of the time I first met Moira which I reveal below. She was due to headline an Open Mic event but… Hopefully she’ll […]

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Poetry – Rizwan Akhtar – jeton d’amour

jeton d’amour for Rebecca I am not after your extraordinary limbs and the way you cover paths beating my chase watered eyes and bruised hands were used to stop me from wasting words on your face out there in the bazaar I could have picked a bracelet an ivory ring glossy set of bangles you […]

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Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events

Creative Conversations: Shola Von Reinhold

Monday 15 March 2021 1 p.m Creative Conversations Lunchtime Series hosted by Creative Writing College of Arts On Zoom Free Event – Book at Eventbrite You will be sent the link to attend the meeting. Shola von Reinhold is a Scottish socialite and writer. Shola has been published in the Cambridge Literary Review, The Stockholm Review, […]

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St Patrick’s Day Special: The Great Irish Songbook

Wednesday 17 March, 2021 7.30pm GMT From Celtic Connections 2020 Rounder Records recording artists Dervish present The Great Irish Songbook from 2020’s Celtic Connections, online internationally on St Patrick’s Day 2021. Buy tickets

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New Writers Showcase 2020 Scottish Book Trust

Wednesday 31 March 2021, 11.30am–3pm Discover some of Scotland’s best new writing on digital showcase Hear our Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awardees read their work On Twitter Premiere Use #WriterShowcase Judges Spotlighting some of the finest new writing talent emerging in the Scottish scene, the 2020 awards judges included Abir Mukherjee, Raman Mundair, Michael Pedersen, […]

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Creative Conversations: Kirstin Innes

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Monday 08 March 2021 1 – 2 p.m. Creative Conversations Lunchtime Series hosted by Creative Writing College of Arts, University of Glasgow  Kirstin Innes, Writer and Journalist in conversation with Zoe Strachan. Free on Zoom (When you register you will be sent link to attend the event online.) Kirstin Innes is an award-winning writer and […]

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Wild Women International Womens Day 2021

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Magi Gibson and Gerda Stevenson in Virtual Conversation Join poet Magi Gibson and fellow poet, playwright and actress Gerda Stevenson for this special ‘Wild Women’ event to mark International Women’s Day 2021 Inspired by IWD’s 2021 theme, #ChoosetoChallenge, Magi and Gerda will be reading from a selection of their works, as well as discussing what inspires […]

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International Women’s Day – Virtual Book Club

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8 March, 2021 6 p.m. We are glad to invite you to our first virtual book club for International Women’s Day. Caroline Criado Perez’ Invisible Women We will be discussion Parts II and IV (‘The Workplace’ and ‘Going to the Doctor’) of Caroline Criado Perez’s bestseller ‘Invisible Women’. Free Online Event Register for Event Join […]

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Balloch Open Mic – Interview with Billy Scobie

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People often have a strong connection with and a passion for one particular place. Some spend their whole lives in such a place and never feel the need to go elsewhere.  In my opinion such a man is Billy Scobie, as his poems reveal and confirm. Some time ago I interviewed Billy via email and […]

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Book Launch – Peter May: The Night Gate

Thursday, 18 March 2021 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Online Event by Wee Three Indies, The Edinburgh Bookshop and 2 others Free Tickets £5-£20 Get Your Tickets From: Edinburgh Book Shop Madding Crowd Linlithgow Atkinson-Pryce At EventBrite Ticket holders will receive the event link the day before. (Note: Early pre-orders for the book from one of the […]

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CLIC Sargent – World Book Day Fundraiser

Young Lives Against Cancer Fundraiser Get Into Good Books this World Book Day! All this week (Until 7 March, 2021) more than 60 well-known authors are offering YOU the chance to win exclusive prizes to raise money for young lives against cancer. With CLIC’s Good Books auction you could name a character in a book, […]

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The Knitting Station by Kirsti Wishart – book launch

Friday 5 March, 2021 6 p.m. Event by Rymour Books Free Online Event BOOK LAUNCH – March 5 2021 @6:00 pm. Rymour Books invites you to the launch of The Knitting Station, a very Scottish saga of counter espionage, knitting, sheep and the debut novel of writer, Kirsti Wishart. Join the Event The Zoom link […]

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Creative Conversations Don Paterson

1 March, 2021 1 p.m. Creative Conversations at University of Glasgow Zoom Event Register at EventBrite You will be sent the link to attend the meeting. Don Paterson is Professor of Poetry at the University of St Andrews, and since 1996 has been poetry editor at Picador MacMillan. He is the author of seven books […]

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How Poets See The World – Paisley Book Festival 2021 review by Pat Byrne

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Paisley Book Festival At Home With poets and writers: Brian Whittingham, Basia Palka, Sean McMenemy, Jim Ferguson and Kay Metcalfe It was lovely to sit down with a coffee in my living room and catch this Paisley Book Festival event on YouTube.  Brian Whittingham introduced the event by telling us that : ‘a poet’s job […]

Read the full article: How Poets See The World – Paisley Book Festival 2021 review by Pat Byrne

Andrew Painting & Jim Crumley: #Wee Nature Fest

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FRIDAY, 26 MARCH 2021 AT 19:00 UTC Andrew Painting is involved in the largest rewilding project in Scotland at the Mar Lodge Estate in the Cairngorms. In the second of our #WeeNatureFest events, he’ll be discussing the work being done there and the stunning new book, Regeneration: The Rescue of a Wild Land with author and […]

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Rymour Books: Cultivating the Literary Arts

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RYMOUR BOOKS  – is an independent Scottish publisher founded in 2020 by Ian Spring and Ruby McCann. They have a team of writers and editors dedicated to cultivating the literary arts in all its forms and genres. They are committed to discovering and publishing new work. [February, 2021: Rymour Books is one of seven Scottish […]

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Saturday, February 20, 2021 | Filed under: Books, Talks, Poetry and Creative Writing Events, Pat's Home Page Blog

International Mother Language Day 21 February 2021

Four Exciting Events INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY was established by the UN General Assembly in 2002 to “promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world” Featuring wonderful guest speakers, musicians, poets and performers Session 1 – Bhasha Andolon (Bangla Language Movement) Dr Moniruzzaman, Ahmed Rafiq, Mafizur Rahman Laltu, and […]

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Glesga Banter: Celebration of Weegie Culture

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Thursday, 25 February, 2021 at 6 p.m. Online Event by Bhasha Glasgow Language Festival and Thriving Places Govanhill Free Sign up for event An hour of wee stories, poetry, and song Hosted by Marion Nisbet a community councillor in Govanhill, an antiracist, antipoverty feminist who enjoys growing food, community and resistance. Marion will be joined by her […]

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How Poets See The World – Paisley Book Festival Online 2021

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How Poets See The World with Brian Whittingham 22 February,  2021, 5 p.m. Free. Book Tickets Join Renfrewshire’s Tannahill Makar Brian Whittingham for an hour of readings from Paisley connected poets, who share their visions of the world and make some projections for its future. Featuring Jim Ferguson, Basia Palka, Kay Metcalfe and Sean McMenemy, […]

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New Patterns for Paisley, Paisley Book Festival

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Poetry and Publishing 23 February, 20217 p.m. Round table event discussing transformational effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Scottish writing and opportunities this presents for Paisley writers. Panellists include: John Scally, National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library of Scotland; Linda Jackson: writer, editor and creative writing tutor; Jim Ferguson: poet, novelist and […]

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In Conversation with Dean Atta and gainAgain

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Govanhill Queer Community Banner Project Event by Govanhill Baths Community Trust Online with Facebook Live Wednesday, 24 February 2021 at 18:00 UTC Free Join poet Dean Atta and artist gainAgain (Drew Taylor Wilson) for this special in conversation event, celebrating the Govanhill Queer Community Banner Project in honour of LGBT+ History month. The banner weaves together […]

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Breaking Boundaries: Main Reading Vahni Capildeo and Mark Waldron

vahni capildeo and mark waldron

Sunday 21st February – 8.00pm-9.00pm Tickets: 
£5 – Book Online – Brewery Arts Centre Vahni Capildeo’s seven books and five pamphlets extend from prose poetry into immersive theatre. Capildeo’s work is intimate yet full of humour, far-ranging and far-reaching and always fearless in its challenge to the boundaries of poetry and what it can do. Mark […]

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Weird Pleasure by Jim Ferguson review of the launch by Pat Byrne

I think it’s fair to say that most book launches, particularly on zoom, no matter how engrossing,  can be fairly staid affairs. Not so the launch of Jim Ferguson’s ‘Weird Pleasure’ – this was a raucous, irreverent and highly entertaining event.  There was much praise for Jim’s impressive new poems and Louise Malone’s art work […]

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New Poetries VIII – Online Launches

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Launches will run from 18 February until 18 March, 2021 Online Facebook Events – £2 each event. Please join Carcanet Press to celebrate the launch of New Poetries VIII, edited by Michael Schmidt and John McAuliffe. From the first New Poetries anthology, published in 1994, through to this eighth volume, the series has showcased some of the […]

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What It Means To Overcome – Paisley Film Festival

charlie gracie pailey book festival

(What it Means) to Overcome: Poems and short stories with Charlie Gracie, Donal McLaughlin & Mairi Murphy 23 February, 2021 5 p.m. Authors From Home Tickets: Free Charlie Gracie, Donal McLaughlin & Mairi Murphy are three local writers with strong Irish roots. One emigrated to Paisley as a child, whilst two are second generation. The […]

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Book Launch: The Stone in My Pocket by Matthew Keeley

Launch on YouTube Sunday 28th February 4pm  Join the book launch on You Tube The Stone in My Pocket ‘Powerfully evokes all of the emotions you want when you read a good novel.’ – The Independent  A poignant coming-of-age story following a teenage journey into mediumship, independence, 90s pop culture, and a new millennium. The […]

Read the full article: Book Launch: The Stone in My Pocket by Matthew Keeley

Creative Conversations: Scarlett Thomas

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Monday 22 February, 2021 at 1 p.m. Creative Conversations Lunchtime Series hosted by Creative Writing College of Arts, University of Glasgow  On Zoom – Free Register at EventBrite You will be sent the link to attend the meeting Scarlett Thomas was born in London. She is the author of the Worldquake series and nine novels […]

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The World I Fell Out Of – Melanie Reid

the world Ifell out of

Paisley Book Festival 20 February, 2021 – 4 p.m. Authors From Home Tickets: Free In 2010, award-winning writer and The Times columnist Melanie Reid fell from her horse, breaking her neck and fracturing her lower back. Paralysed from the top of her chest down, she was to spend almost a full year in hospital, determinedly […]

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Crossways Literary Festival 2021 – Online

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12 – 14 February, 2021 Crossways: The Irish Scottish Cultural & Literary Festival The first two Crossways Festivals took place in the Merchant City, Glasgow, in the spring of 2018 and 2019. Due to the ongoing Pandemic, this year’s Festival must be a virtual one. Although online, Virtual Crossways 2021 will nonetheless be a substantial series of […]

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