A Son of the Rock » Writers’ Bloc events http://jackdeighton.co.uk Writing, Fiction, Football and Whatever Takes My Fancy Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:00:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Better Read Than Dead http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/10/27/better-read-than-dead/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/10/27/better-read-than-dead/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:00:34 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=8747

Don’t forget the Writers’ Bloc tenth anniversary special tonight.
At the Canon’s Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ.
Time:- from 8pm.
Admission:- £4.00, £2.00 concessions.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/10/27/better-read-than-dead/feed/ 0 Ten Years: Better Read Than Dead http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/10/23/ten-years-better-read-than-dead/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/10/23/ten-years-better-read-than-dead/#comments Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:00:57 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=8698

The latest Writers’ Bloc show is a celebration.

As the show’s (and this post’s) title suggests, Writers’ Bloc has been up and performing for ten years and this Thursday’s show marks the occasion.

Day:- Thursday 27th October 2011
Time:- from 8pm
Venue:- Canon’s Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ
Admission:- £4.00, £2.00 concessions

The blurb below is taken direct from the Writers’ Bloc site.

10 years of soviet lunacy

Comrades,

To mark 10 years of Writers’ Bloc spoken word performances you are invited to the launch of our new 10 year plan:

Better Read Than Dead

Favourite stories from the past 10 years, plus new initiatives forged in the heat and sweat of the bars of Edinburgh. Presented by comrades old and new.

Highlights include:

Will our production targets continue to be gloriously exceeded?

Will our drinking consumption continue to be gloriously excessive?

Will the return of comrade Stefan – hot from the barricades of Aix-en-Provence – be prevented by the running dogs of revisionism?

What is revisionism?

Will the regressive ideologies of Halloween – Satanic worship, drugs and orgies – distract our pure-hearted footsoldiers of literary endeavour?

Not so much a 10 year plan as a way of life

Long live the revolution!

Writers appearing at Better Read Than Dead will include: Kirsti Wishart, Andrew C. Ferguson, Jane McKie, Andrew J. Wilson and Gavin Inglis, new members Helen Jackson, Stuart Wallace, Bram E Gieben, Mark Harding.

Plus a special appearance of comrade Stefan Pearson.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/10/23/ten-years-better-read-than-dead/feed/ 0 Upcoming Writers’ Bloc Activities http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/08/12/upcoming-writers-bloc-activities/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/08/12/upcoming-writers-bloc-activities/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:48:36 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=8207 Don’t forget Writers’ Bloc at Word Power Books this Sunday (14th Aug.)

Also on the Writers’ Bloc website is a list of those members who are gigging at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe or other doing other events in August.

Some are individual efforts; others are Bloc ensemble events such as at Havers and Blethers on Fri 19th Aug and Electric Lit Orchestra on Tue 23rd Aug.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/08/12/upcoming-writers-bloc-activities/feed/ 0 Writers’ Bloc at Word Power http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/08/07/writers-bloc-at-word-power-2/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/08/07/writers-bloc-at-word-power-2/#comments Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:00:59 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=8160

Next Sunday (14/8/11) Writers’ Bloc is giving a free show at Word Power Books.

Here’s the blurb:-

After the sell-out success of their Mr Big Society show, Edinburgh’s premier spoken word performance group, Writer’s Bloc, presents: The Writers’ Bloc Think Tank.

Watch out for: derring-do and saboteurs in Operation Fairycake, monkey mayhem in a sleepy Suffolk town, as well as advice on social climbing for psychopaths and Rupert Murdoch’s exploding zeppelin in this free event of spoken word and unlikely social policy.

Writers’ Bloc is Edinburgh’s premier spoken word performance group. Its members include published and prize-winning poets, novelists and short story writers, who present original material with iconoclastic attitude.
Details of The Writers’ Bloc Think Tank can be found in the Edinburgh Book Fringe 2011 listings on Word Power Books’ website.

Venue is Word Power Books, 43-45, West Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DB
Sunday 14th August 2:30pm, FREE

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/08/07/writers-bloc-at-word-power-2/feed/ 0 Wee Red Bar Gig http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/06/01/wee-red-bar-gig/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/06/01/wee-red-bar-gig/#comments Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:01:06 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=7680 Don’t forget the Writers’ Bloc gig tonight, Wednesday 1st June, at the Wee Red Bar.

8pm, The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, EH3 9DF.

Admission on the door is £4 (£2 concessions.)

I gave more details here.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/06/01/wee-red-bar-gig/feed/ 0 Mr Big Society http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/05/26/mr-big-society/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/05/26/mr-big-society/#comments Thu, 26 May 2011 13:00:53 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=7642 Writers’ Bloc’s latest gig, entitled Mr Big Society, takes place at 8pm on Wednesday 1st June 2011.

Nice poster don’t you think?

Various Bloc stalwarts will make their contributions but so also will some new comrades!

In an innovation there will be Writers’ Bloc badges available for sale.

The venue is The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, EH3 9DF. Admission is an affordable £3 if you book your ticket online, or £4 (£2 concessions) on the door.

Sadly I shan’t be able to attend as the day job intervenes (they do make me work evenings sometimes.)

But you can…

Follow the adventures of Mr Big Society and his friends!

Yes, it’s the Writers’ Bloc contribution to the big debate of our time. All the things you really wanted to know about The Big Society but were just too sensible to ask.

Original, unscholarly research on the key economic questions: What happens if you literally pay peanuts? What happens when ‘Fairy Cakes for Fire Engines’ collides with ‘Lemoncake for Lifeboats’? Is The Big Society fact or fable? Bird or plane? Can you return it if it’s the wrong size? Will Mr Big Society, Mr Banker, Little Miss Librarian, Mr Jihad and all the other friends have the best time ever? Or will there be tears before bedtime?

A revolution of the Public Services and Charity Sector – what could possibly go wrong? Or to be more accurate, what could impossibly go wrong?

The Writers’ Bloc Think Tank will present a night of unlikely social policy – short stories that blur all distinction between fact, fiction, sense, nonsense, inaccuracy, good ideas and bonkers brainstorming sessions.

Having trouble understanding The Big Society? Just wait until we’ve finished!*

* Not approved by the IMF, OECD or The Institute for Economic Affairs.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/05/26/mr-big-society/feed/ 1 Lovesick http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/02/11/lovesick/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/02/11/lovesick/#comments Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:00:28 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=6995 No. Not me.

It’s the title of Writers’ Bloc‘s latest reading adventure, taking place this Sunday, 13th Feb, in “honour” of Valentine’s Day.

See blurb below or check out the website via the link above.

Our next show will be “Love Sick”, a bracing antidote to Valentine’s Day. Writers’ Bloc’s Andrew C Ferguson, Andrew J Wilson and Morag Edward will be the guests of the talented Napier University Creative Writing folk, who will include Jennifer Bryce, Ever Dundas, Sian Bevan, Matthew Nadelhaft, Sean Martin, Ariadne Cass-Maran and Barbara Melville.

Hello, my pretties. Do you think Valentine’s Day is squishy (in a bad way)? Forget the evening of shoplifting you had planned. Instead, come join us on Sunday 13th February for a FREE night of anti-Valentine stories, including guest performances from spoken word group Writers’ Bloc. We kick off at 8pm, and promise tales of historical romance, sexual perversions, and… well, more sexual perversions. After that, you can stay around for a drink and some other ’stuff’. Don’t forget the safe word, darling.

“Love Sick” will be held in the Speakeasy at Cabaret Voltaire, 36-38 Blair Street, on Sunday 13th February from 8pm to 11:00 pm. And it’s free!

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2011/02/11/lovesick/feed/ 0 The Wee Red Gig http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/11/23/the-wee-red-gig/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/11/23/the-wee-red-gig/#comments Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:00:32 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=6362 I mentioned before, Writers’ Bloc’s attempt to broaden the spoken word scene in Edinburgh. Well, it’s tomorrow (24th November.) Go along and enjoy.

WRITERS’ BLOC presents The Wee Red Gig

WHAT: Live readings of original fiction

WHO: Writers’ Bloc spoken-word performance group and special guests

WHERE: The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh Art College, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF

WHEN: 8.00 p.m., Wednesday 24 November 2010

HOW MUCH: £3/£2 concession

The Wee Red Gig on Wednesday 24th November at the Wee Red Bar will showcase a number of new voices, all delivering their own material to an enthusiastic audience.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/11/23/the-wee-red-gig/feed/ 0 Writers’ Bloc: New Enterprise http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/11/04/writers-bloc-new-enterprise/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/11/04/writers-bloc-new-enterprise/#comments Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:25:59 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=6119 The spoken word performance group, Writers’ Bloc, of which I am a part time member, is attempting to expand the spoken word scene in Edinburgh by devoting an evening to an opportunity for new performers to present their work in front of an audience.

See the press release below.

WRITERS’ BLOC presents The Wee Red Gig

WHAT: Live readings of original fiction

WHO: Writers’ Bloc spoken-word performance group and special guests

WHERE: The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh Art College, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF

WHEN: 8.00 p.m., Wednesday 24 November 2010

HOW MUCH: £3/£2 concession

URLs: http://www.writers-bloc.org.uk/ and http://www.myspace.com/blocspace
or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Hot on the heels of its Halloween show, No Country for Dead Men, Writers’ Bloc is pleased to announce another evening to warm your November cockles: The Wee Red Gig, in the intimate surroundings of the Wee Red Bar (see what we did there?)

Bloc regulars will make an appearance, but the emphasis will be on giving non-Bloc performers a platform for prose spoken word. The Edinburgh performance poetry scene is thriving like never before, but here at the Bloc Politburo we’ve noticed that there isn’t so much available for the writer of micro-fiction with a yearning to perform his or her work.

The emphasis will be on invited guests, but there may be some slots for others. Please note, however, that if you do want to perform, this isn’t open mic – you need to submit first, before the deadline of 12 noon, Sunday 14th November. Please email us at theweeredgig@gmx.co.uk, with a prose piece of not more than 800 words pasted into the email. Please also tell us a bit about yourself – publications, previous experience of reading in public, financial covenant for bribes (kidding.)

There are no prizes on the night, but we will buy every performer a drink, and we can promise our usual friendly Bloc audience will be on hand.

]]> http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/11/04/writers-bloc-new-enterprise/feed/ 1 No Country For Dead Men http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/10/31/no-country-for-dead-men/ http://jackdeighton.co.uk/2010/10/31/no-country-for-dead-men/#comments Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:23:13 +0000 jackdeighton http://jackdeighton.co.uk/?p=6085

Just a reminder about Writers’ Bloc’s latest reading at the Ghillie Dhu, 2-6, Rutland Place, Edinburgh EH1 2AD on Tuesday night, 2/11/10, from 8 pm.

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