New stories of an old city retold in poetry competition
A three year collections project, Auld Reekie Retold, comes to a close tomorrow (Sunday 19 February) at the City Art Centre.
To mark the event, staff at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have announced the results of a poetry competition hosted with the Scottish Poetry Library and Hannah Lavery, the Edinburgh Makar.
Poems had to be inspired in some way by objects in the current exhibition at the City Art Centre. Entries covered the full range of objects exhibited, from small pottery items made at the Buchans factory in Portobello to a blue dress sold by Jenners in the 1980s.
The judging panel was made up of representatives from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh and Scottish Poetry Library, with the final selection made by Hannah Lavery.
Nico Tyack, Auld Reekie Retold project manager said: “The poems were of a really high standard, and had us laughing, smiling and even crying but they all moved us and showed us the amazing power of objects.
“We all see the same objects in an exhibition, but what they mean to us varies in so many ways. It was humbling to see the collections interpreted in such creative ways.”
Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Val Walker, said: “The poems are a moving and beautiful closure to the Auld Reekie Retold exhibition and project.
“Auld Reekie Retold was all about celebrating the shared public ownership of the collections, so what better way to tell new stories about the city than letting the people of Edinburgh do the talking?”
The winning entries were:
Under-18 Jiffy Washing Machine by Archer Thomson Adams
Over-18 First place, It is your turn, by Lynda McDonald Second place, Mind?, by Alison Findlay
Highly commended The Impermanent Collection by Iain Macfarlane and The Ballant o’ Hugh McKail’s Guid Beuk by Sam Phipps.
This short film shows the poets reading their winning entries, with images of the objects that inspired them.
One woman’s quest for tortured beefcake, 80s action and raw sexual power
Pre-pandemic Rosy became the world’s first female time-travelling doctor in her multi-award-winning theatre debut ‘Passionate Machine’. Now this feminist powerhouse is Musclebound to examine our most shameful sexual secrets.
When bodybuilders and 80s action films unite, you can always count on one thing: a good hard flogging! And for a five-year-old Rosy, witnessing live action film characters like He-Man and Conan the Barbarian being stripped, beaten and humiliated by their male antagonists sparked an odyssey of secret obsession that would shape her erotic life forever.
Now forty, with a string of disappointing relationships behind her and her own grown-up daughter about to leave home, a chance re-watching of He-Man reignites the spark of Rosy’s lust, setting her off on a mission to replenish her sexual power. But can tortured beefcake really be the key to her salvation? Or does a more uncomfortable sexual truth lurk, waiting to be reckoned with?
Join Rosy in this intelligent, provocative and terrifically funny real-life story, as she goes to any lengths to find out – even if that means asking Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger themselves …
‘It’s about me getting to grips with my childhood passion for watching these incredible scenes of hyper-muscular men being abused’, says Rosy.
‘About why that dynamic felt so powerful. Musclebound takes a playful, candid and highly singular look at sexual power, female pleasure and the politics and principles of orgasm-faking.’
Rosy is forced to ask herself: what are the sexual lessons we want to pass on to our daughters – and what do we still need to learn for ourselves? Is it ever OK to objectify people?
Rosy Carrick is a writer, actor and translator. Her critically acclaimed play Passionate Machine won theawards for Best Design and Best New Playat Brighton Fringe in 2018, and The Infallibles Award for Theatrical Excellence at Edinburgh Fringe. She has co-hosted the poetry stages at Glastonbury, Latitude and Port Eliot Festivals for the last decade.
Her debut poetry collection Chokey was published in 2018 and its follow-up, 26 Letters, is due for release in 2023. Rosy has a PhD on the Russian revolutionary poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. She has released two books of his work in translation, and is currently working on a third, which will be published in 2024 by The 87 Press. www.rosycarrick.com
Musclebound is directed by Fringe First winner Katie Bonna. Katie won the Most Promising New Playwright award at the 2018 Off West End Awards (for All The Things I Lied About).
In 2021, her queer comedy The Entertainment was nominated for OFF Fest’s Best Online Theatre production, and her short film IRL was nominated for Best Comedy at the Cannes Shorts Festival.
Part of the prestigious BBC Comedy Writers Room course 2019/2020, Katie is currently under commission from BBC Radio 4 and RADA.
‘Intelligent, articulate, funny’ Scotsman (on Passionate Machine)
Listings information:
Musclebound
Venue: Assembly Roxy (Venue 139)
Dates: 3-29 Aug (not 10, 16, 23) First review date 3 Aug
Fast-paced, thrilling verse play about marriage and political upheaval, told in blistering verse by one of the UK’s most celebrated poets. ‘Cool poems’ Patti Smith ‘A poet for our day’The Guardian
The Remains of Logan Dankworth is the third and final instalment of Fringe First and Stage Award winner Luke Wright’s trilogy of political verse plays. It looks at trust and privilege in the age of Brexit.
Logan Dankworth, newspaper columnist and Twitter warrior, grew up romanticising the political turmoil of the 1980s. Now, as the EU Referendum looms he is determined to be right there in the fray of the biggest political battle for years.
Meanwhile, Logan’s wife Megan wants to leave London to find a place to better raise their daughter. As tensions mount at home and across the nation, something is set to be lost forever. This gut wrenching and exhilarating slice of new writing won the 2020 Saboteur Award for Best Show with Luke winning Best Performer in 2021.
‘Sensational writing … human, vulnerable, eminently honest and very, very eloquent.’ The Guardian
The first two plays in the trilogy, What I Learned from Johnny Bevan and Frankie Vah, won praise from Fringe and UK-wide critics and audiences alike for their ‘mature, lyrical and politically relevant poetic writing’ (Exeunt), laced with wit, compassion and laser precision.
Luke said ‘The Remains of Logan Dankworth is the most complex and mature thing I’ve written so far. As with my earlier plays there is a personal story occurring against the backdrop of political upheaval.
“Previously I’ve dealt with Thatcherism and the legacy of New Labour, this is bang up to date and features a man approaching middle age excited by the febrile nature of British politics while trying to hold things together at home.”
Luke Wright is a poet and theatre maker who has been writing and performing his work for over 20 years, touring all over the world. He is acknowledged as one of Britain’s top stand-up poets and one of the principle architects of the now thriving spoken word scene.
Flamboyant, political and riotously funny, Luke’s published work includes four full collections, three pamphlets and his three verse plays. He is the winner of a Fringe First, a Stage Award for acting excellence and two Saboteur Awards. The Remains of Logan Dankworth is published in book form by Penned in the Margins.
‘Great! A hurtling headlong hour ’ ★★★★The Stage
The Remains of Logan Dankworth was co-commissioned by Norwich Arts Centre, National Centre for Writing, Colchester Arts Centre, and Freedom Festival. It is written & performed by Luke Wright, directed by Alex Thorpe who also has three Royal Shakespeare Company productions under his belt. Music for the show was written and performed by musician and writer Polly Wright with dramaturgy by Sarah Dickenson and lighting design by Joe Price.
Luke also performs Luke Wright’s Late Night Dance Floor Fillers (poems) at Pleasance Jack Dome 3- 29 Aug (not 15/16/17) at 23.00.
https://youtu.be/OEcE8EoGy4A
Listings information: The Remains of Logan Dankworth
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Above (Venue 33)
Tickets: £12-£15.50 (previews 3, 4 Aug £7.50)
Dates: 3-29 Aug (not 15/16/17) First review date 3 Aug
From womanhood to war, from class and punk to falling in and out of love to the beautiful game, ‘Fire is Not the Only Element’ is about our lives, our humanity, our foibles, foul-ups and frailties. Creating from real life experiences, Morna Burdon uses poetry to express the joy, sadness, humour, beauty and absurdity of life.
As a performer, writer, singer, director, Morna has toured Scotland and abroad telling stories through theatre and performance. With ‘Fire is Not the Only Element’, she turns her talents to poetry as she weaves a tapestry of poems, spoken word and song to shed light on people and situations that often remain hidden and unsung.
“During lockdown, I wrote a poem about having COVID (didn’t we all ??!!) and people really liked it, so I wrote on a different topic, then another and poems just kept coming until it became a show!”
Whether directing, performing or writing, Morna mines for stories and then finds ways of telling them that honour the integrity of the people on whose lives a light is being shone.
In her singing, her writing, her theatre, she is interested in the extraordinary in the so-called ‘ordinary’.
“I am delighted that this show- with its emphasis on poetry – is returning to the Scottish Storytelling Centre as part of the Fringe after its sell-out premiere in April 2022. This is the place where I started my one woman shows. It is the storytelling aspect of poems that I enjoy in performance.
“I love that people can respond together in the same room to these glimpses of life, as you do with a film, or a photograph, or a good piece of theatre. A good poem should grab you in the same way these other art forms do.”
Morna is an Edinburgh-based theatre director, performer, singer and writer whose work has appeared throughout Scotland and abroad. She has toured extensively in Scotland and has directed and performed with a range of international artists from throughout Europe and Africa, also working professionally in Milan, Dublin, Hamburg and Denmark.
Previous work has included Fringe successes ‘Bonnie Fechters: Songs and Stories of Women of Courage’ and ‘Gie’s Peace’, about women peace activists. She has performed Shakespeare at Glastonbury and recently acted with English Theatre Milan on a Zoom production of the French farce “Box and Cox”.
She has also led many theatre workshops, including writing for stage with mentees having their work developed and shown in venues ranging from community centres to the Royal Court Upstairs.
Poetry and spoken word performances have included COP26, Hillhead Bookshop, Glasgow, Hunter S Thomson, Dundee. In June 2020 Morna won the Scottish Book Trust Fast Fiction Award.
Producer, Writers and Activists Programme, Edinburgh International Book Fringe
GIE’S PEACE
★★★★ Scots Gay Arts “Brilliantly dark humour”
RECOMMENDED “a clever, wistful look at the effects wars had on the world” Fringe Review
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LOCKDOWN ONLINE EVENTS
Fire is Not the Only Element
Edinburgh Performing Arts Development Zoom Platform Event
Audience Comments
Gorgeous use of language … wonderfully performative… Connects with the audience at various stages of life… It has biographical power… stunning… loved the voice and delivery … full of compassion and humanity – as well as womanhood ” and ” I don’t like poetry, but I liked that – let me know when you do it again ”
EnglishMilan TheatreInternational Zoom Production (Fringeat the Space)
Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton
“All three performers succeeded in representing the eccentricity of the protagonists with an astonishing sense of humour and irony”.
Gioia Angeletti, Specialist in Scottish Theatre and Literature, Parma University
“Delightful tongue-in-cheek Victorian farce in Zoom form offers a laugh a minute and a chance to enjoy the actors’ ability in adjusting to a new medium”.
Patricia Anne Kennan, Adjunct Professor at Bicocca University, Milan “A special mention to Morna Burdon as Mrs Bouncer, who conveyed so much with the merest twitch of an eyebrow and/or lip.” Wilma G Stark, Translator,Writer, Storyteller
‘Cool Poems’ (Patti Smith). Rock n roll poetry at its visceral, inventive best
Fresh from wowing huge crowds when opening for The Libertines and John Cooper Clarke, Luke Wright serves up banger after banger at one of the hottest, most poetic, late-night shows in town. This is rock n roll poetry at its visceral, inventive best. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You might even pull.
Luke Wright’s Late Night Dance Floor Fillers (poems) is an hour of (mostly) new poems from the man dubbed ‘The Bard of Lockdown’ by The Daily Telegraph. His deliciously funny poems are set against a backdrop of pandemic politics, ageing parents, and an endless, droning, culture war.
Wright throws a squat party in his ‘poor old heart’ (bring a bottle!). He even finds a home for a couple of crowd-pleasing favourites, including an update on the riotous Essex Lion.
‘His performances rumble with rage, passion and humour.’ Guardian
Luke said ‘I never stopped performing in lockdown. Every night I connected with audiences via the internet. In some ways we formed a sort of support group and got each other through it.
“I’ve never felt so connected to my audiences as I do now. I’ve never performed so well. I can’t wait to be back in Edinburgh, it’s my 15th full run! We are going to have such fun.”
https://youtu.be/19pAd_UjthQ
Luke is one of the greats. A poetic pugilist. Beguiling and hypnotic.’ Carl Barat The Libertines
Flamboyant, political and riotously funny, Luke has an international reputation as a leader of the spoken word scene and as one of the UK’s most riveting spoken word performers. His poems are delivered with dynamism, intensity and charisma.
Keenly personal but always inflected with irreverent humour, his poetry is always based on his life and observations – as a poet, a father and a son. He is acknowledged as one of our top poets and one of the principle architects of the now thriving UK spoken word scene.
He is the winner of a Fringe First, a Stage Award for acting excellence and three Saboteur Awards, including Best Performer 2021.
If you like your late-night entertainment with a twist, and intelligence with your laughs, this is the show for you.
Luke is a very entertaining, witty, eloquent and erudite interviewee. Contact Steve Forster as above for availabilities, review tickets and images. Images can also be downloaded from www.sfppr.co.uk/downloads/
Luke also performs The Remains of Logan Dankworth, the third in his trilogy of verse plays, at Pleasance Above 3- 29 Aug (not 15/16/17) at 15.45.
Joseph Coelho, award-winning performance poet, playwright and children’s author, has today been crowned the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022 – 2024.
Coelho was presented with the bespoke silver Laureate medal by outgoing Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Cressida Cowell MBE, at a ceremony held at The Unicorn Theatre, London.
The Waterstones Children’s Laureate is the foremost representative of children’s literature, awarded biannually to a renowned writer or illustrator in recognition of exceptional talent.
Managed by BookTrust – the UK’s largest children’s reading charity – and sponsored by Waterstones, this prestigious role celebrates creativity and storytelling, promotes the vital importance of reading and children’s literature, and champions the right of every child to enjoy a lifetime enriched with books and stories.
Each Laureate brings their own passion and creativity to their tenure.
At yesterday’s ceremony, Joseph Coelho – who is acclaimed for his work including the Luna Loves picture books, middle grade series Fairy Tales Gone Bad, YA verse novel The Girl Who Became a Tree, as well as poetry collections for all ages including Overheard in a Tower Block and Poems Aloud – revealed that his tenure will celebrate the power of poetry, showcase new authors and illustrators to diversify bookshelves and inspire bookmakers of the future, and champion public libraries and the role they play in communities.
Joseph also performed a new poem written to mark the occasion, entitled ‘The Power of a Poem’.
Joseph Coelho, Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022–2024, said:“Poetry is powerful, it is the medium we turn to at weddings, funerals and new births because it goes beyond mere words, poetry translates the soul.
“I want to use the prestigious platform of the Waterstones Children’s Laureate to highlight and celebrate the power of poetry. To invite the nation, young and old, to write poems, to become poets.
“I want to ensure that every child has the opportunity to see themselves in books and as bookmakers through the plethora of new and exciting voices we have coming out of the UK – to diversify bookshelves so that every child can imagine themselves as writers, illustrators and poets.
“And, finally I want to hug every library, these miraculous institutions where new horizons line the shelves, where minds go to grow. Libraries made me a writer and make communities thrive – I wish to champion the services of these essential launchpads of learning.
“I’m trying to connect with and heal my younger self – a self-unable to imagine a future writing and publishing books. Through this work, through the young people and families I am lucky enough to interact with, I’m trying to reach down through time and tell little Joe “You can write, you can be a writer, your voice is valid your words are waiting to be heard.” Because I know that when the youth of today hear that message, he’ll hear it too.”
To deliver Coelho’s ambitions, his Laureateship will focus on three major projects:
‘Bookmaker Like You’ will showcase new talent within the industry and spotlight their work, so that children are introduced to a range of creatives that truly reflect everyone in our diverse society, and ensure that every child can see themselves as a bookmaker.
‘Poetry Prompts’ will celebrate the power of poetry in all its forms, breaking down the fear often associated with reading and writing to show why poems are for everyone, and the joy that writing, reading and performing poetry can bring.
Coelho will also champion local libraries, highlighting the vital role they play within the community and inspiring a love of reading in young people, by completing his ‘Library Marathon’ to join a library in every local authority in the UK, and encourage even more people to register with their local library.
Kate Edwards, Chair of the Waterstones Children’s Laureate Steering Group and Chair of the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022–24 Judging Panel, said: “Nominations for this prestigious role are invited from hundreds of literature, literacy and education organisations across the UK, and we are thrilled to welcome Joseph to the ‘League of Laureates’.
“His dynamic performance, passionate advocacy and engaging writing – which inspires children of all ages – cemented our choice for the next Waterstones Children’s Laurate, to champion the right of every child to enjoy a lifetime rich in books and stories.
“The Steering Group is looking forward to working with Joseph over the next two years to reach even more children and communities, following on from the wonderful work of the outgoing Laureate Cressida Cowell MBE. On behalf of the judges, I extend Joseph our warmest congratulations.”
Diana Gerald, CEO at BookTrust, said: “At BookTrust we believe all children should enjoy the life changing benefits of reading, and we are honoured to manage the Waterstones Children’s Laureate.
“Joseph Coelho is a truly wonderful successor to Cressida Cowell MBE as he becomes the twelfth Laureate. Joseph is an extraordinary advocate for making poetry accessible to all, celebrating creativity and storytelling and inspiring younger generations to find their voice, pick-up a pen, join a library and read a book.
“I have no doubt that the Laureate platform will help amplify his ability to reach even more young people, and show how books and reading can broaden horizons.”
Florentyna Martin, Head of Children’s at Waterstones, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Joseph Coelho to the post of Waterstones Children’s Laureate.
“His passion for stories and poetry brings a hefty dose of sunshine to readers, inspiring all those who experience his work. It is exciting to think what the next two years will bring and our booksellers are eager to support his Laureate ambitions from the off; Joseph’s term will undoubtedly be one for the history books.”
Joseph Coelho will deliver the Creative Keynote at The Children’s Media Conference on Wednesday 6 July in his inaugural appearance as the new Waterstones Children’s Laureate.
Edinburgh libraries’ successful environmentally themed creative writing competition, open to all P4 – P7 aged children in Edinburgh and, once again, to young people in S1-3 runs until 15 October 2021.
There has been a lot of attention recently regarding climate change and its effects on the natural environment. In November 2021 the Unite Nations will host COP26 in Glasgow.
We challenge you to think, if you were an animal, a bird, a tree, a plant or even a mountain or river in Scotland, what would be your story about climate change.
Or perhaps …
You wish to tell us what experiences you are going through, if we don’t tackle climate change, what does the future look like in 2030.
Entries could be poetry, prose or story, all we asked was that the writing is the author’s own work and was no longer than one side of A4 paper.
Edinburgh Multicultural Festival, funded by the City of Edinburgh Council, promotes local and international multicultural artists.
It engages local audiences through music, dance, poetry, storytelling and visual arts that represent Edinburgh’s diverse cultures, including African, Asian and Eastern European.
The aim of the festival is to better engage local, both BAME and indigenous, residents with local multicultural arts provision as well as promote diversity through shared experiences.
It is also to create a platform for BAME artists to share their talent, culture and artistic endeavours with other local artists and local audiences. It is seen as a unique opportunity for multicultural artists based in Edinburgh to share stages and experiences as well as encourage greater collaboration across arts disciplines.
The festival takes place across different venues in the North of Edinburgh, which is recognised as one of the most diverse areas in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Multicultural Festival is produced by African Connections CIC is a community interest company based in Scotland. It provides benefit to African and UK-based artists and communities as well as African and UK-based arts and culture groups and organisations.
African Connections CIC celebrates diversity and creates connections between African and other communities by means of sharing cultures, creative ideas, skills and experiences.
The company plans to establish information, guidance, events and trading centres showcasing quality African products and creatives productions with the aim of creating opportunities for all communities in Scotland and beyond to share and engage in cultural experiences.
The Grand Reveal Part 1 | Literary and Visual Art
1 October 2021 | granton:hub
Join us for an art exhibition featuring the work of Harriet Mould, Jose Luis Cote and Kate Soltan and creative writing and visual literacy workshops.
12:00-13:30 The Land of Punt: Reading and Creative Writing Workshop with Joan Hephzibah and Ebony Pollard (ages 7-12)
13:45-15:30 Imagination in Motion: Visual Literacy Workshop with Kate Soltan and Magda Adamow (all ages)
16:00-17:00 Person Behind Picture: Exhibition and Panel Discussion with Visual Artists Harriet Mould, Jose Luis Cote and Kate Soltan (all ages)
The Grand Reveal Part 2: Edinburgh Multicultural Festival LIVE!
Programme 2 OCTOBER 2021: DANCE, POETRY AND NEW WRITING FOR STAGE & FILM – PASS
Acting, Musical Theatre, Technical Theatre & Costume for Stage (PASS) Theatre at Edinburgh College (Granton Campus) will be home to exciting dance, theatre, poetry and stand-up comedy work presented by Scotland-based diverse artists on 2 October 2021.
With this programme we would like to present the work of artists at different stages of their creative careers and promote collaboration and exchange of skills and practice. Join us for three showcase events with the focus on DANCE, POETRY and NEW WRITING for THEATRE, FILM and STAND-UP featuring Divine Tasinda, Tuflamencoo with Inma Montero and Danielo Olivera, Fronteiras Theatre Lab, Lubna Kerr, Sean Wai Keung and Jinling Wu, and Raheema Sayed.
12:00 – 13:30 Musical Musings feat. instrumental music performed by harpist Mio Shudo, sitarist Alec Cooper and fiddler Roo Geddes will soothe your soul and take you on a journey into the sounds and stories of sea-bound people of Japan, South Asia and Ireland. [Entrance: Upper Grounds at Laverockbank Road]
14:00 – 19:00 StarDome21: Edinburgh Multicultural Festival Finale at Starbank Park with big bands and bigger sound. The Spinning Blowfish, Mother All Mighty, Los Chichanos and Shona the Musical – Band and Choir will grace the StarDome21 Finale Stage with an eclectic mix of Trad and Folk to Neo Soul / Hip Hop / R’n’B.
From Africa to South America, and back to Scotland, the finale concert will satisfy your music buds and fill your heart with joy. Not all goodbyes should be sad! [Entrance: Lower Grounds at Starbank Road]
Award-winning poet, playwright and performer Hannah Lavery has been nominated to become the Scottish Capital’s next poet laureate.
A report to the City of Edinburgh Council’s Culture and Communities Committee next week (Tuesday 14 September) recommends Hannah as the next writer to be inaugurated as the sixth Edinburgh Makar.
If agreed, Hannah will take over the honorary role from Alan Spence later this year at a special reception hosted by the Lord Provost within the City Chambers.
Born and raised in the Capital, Hannah is a highly respected poet and playwright whose work has been published widely. Hannah’s poem, “Scotland, You’re no mine” was selected by Roseanne Watt as one of the Best Scottish Poems of 2019, her poetry film, Thirteen Fragments featured as part of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Curious Festival this year and she it will feature as part of a longer work for Push the Boat Out Festival in Edinburgh, this October.
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Culture and Communities Vice Convener, said: “Hannah Lavery is the sixth in an illustrious line of writers who have filled this important role in Edinburgh, the original City of Literature.
“Hannah is a fantastic choice, an accomplished and highly-regarded writer whose work inspires and generates important conversations, and I’m sure she’ll take the role in fascinating new directions.
“The Council continues to show its commitment to the celebration of writers and literature which enhance the capital’s international reputation, including establishing the post of the Edinburgh Makar, a Scots word celebrating the role of the writer as a skilled crafter of words and images.
“I’m truly delighted that Hannah has been nominated as the Capital’s next Makar. She of course follows the brilliant Alan Spence, who has been an impressive advocate and ambassador for Edinburgh and for poetry, and whose interest in international dialogue and exchange has undoubtedly enhanced the city’s global reputation.
“It has been a pleasure to experience Alan’s perspective of the Capital and we would like to thank him for the dedication and insight that he has brought to the role.
Hannah Lavery, said: “I am thrilled to be nominated and to be given the opportunity to build upon the work of Alan Spence and previous Makars.
“Edinburgh is in my bones – to be nominated as her Makar is an absolute honour and privilege”.
The Edinburgh Makar is a civic post instituted in 2002 by the City of Edinburgh Council. The writer is selected and nominated by representatives of the Scottish Poetry Library, Scottish PEN, The Saltire Society, Edinburgh City of Literature Trust and the Council.
