Here is the latest update from Gavin Inglis re Underword.

Tue 24th Aug is a double blow of performance poetry with Anita Govan
and Laura Hainey. West coast wit meets east coast energy.

Wed 25th Aug is Dirty Words, a sex-themed charity night in aid of the
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which will not shy away from the
f-word, c-word or indeed outright porn. Two Bloc readers and you can
probably guess which ones.

Thu 26th Aug is Stefan Pearson with stories of salt air and drunken
sailors. You might have heard some of these before but you won’t have
heard his take on the real truths behind the decline of the Scottish
fishing industry.

Fri 27th Aug is Writers’ Bloc. We almost have a programme ready!

Sat 28th Aug is the closing night, a hell for leather rush through as
many readers as I can cram into 45 minutes.

Underword is 19.50-20.40 at Fingers Piano Bar, Frederick Street.
http://underword.co.uk/ and admission is FREE.

You may also enjoy Alba Ad Astra, an exhibition about the Scottish
space programme, at Transreal Fiction in the Grassmarket.

Writers’ Bloc member Gavin Inglis is running a series of spoken word performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Sorry for not clueing you in before – it’s been going for over a week.

Here are Gav’s notes for this week.

“Mon 17th Aug is the second open mic night. Some popular names are already signed up and I have had to start turning people away. Be prepared to be surprised — if that makes sense.

Tue 18th Aug is pretty special. If you are a loooong term Bloc follower you may remember Under The Bright And Hollow Sky, Andrew J. Wilson’s post-modern, multi-voiced tale of terror. We are staging this chilling episode for the first time in seven years.

Wed 19th is Newbie Night; poets and writers who have never performed their work on stage before. Come and support them — and y’know, I might still have one slot free …

Thu 20th is wasted on some guy called Gavin Inglis.

Fri 21st features Word Dogs, our sister group from Glasgow. Bark worse than their bite? Come along and find out.

Underword is 19.50-20.40 at Fingers Piano Bar, Frederick Street.
http://underword.co.uk/ Admission is FREE.

And a quick reminder that the West Port Book Festival is in full swing:
http://westportbookfestival.org/.”

It’s a busy season for Writers’ Bloc and a good time to get your spoken word fix. Here’s a heads-up for the next six weeks: charity, poetry, dirty punk, sad songs and twenty-two solid nights of free spoken word.

Thursday 16th July: Oxfam Bookfest @ the Jazz Bar, 8.30pm – 11.30pm

Some Bloc regulars — Andrew J, Gav, Stef and maybe even the elusive Hannu will appear with Ron Butlin and Jenny Lindsay as part of Oxfam’s national Bookfest. http://www.oxfam.org.uk/books/

Shortly thereafter:

Look out for “When The Sun Turns Green”, Jane McKie’s new collection published by Polygon. Celebrating the points at which the everyday intersects with magic, the poems explore ultrasounds and ley lines, wind farms and grandmothers, fighting hares and water monsters, sculptures and Sussex dialect. All in a day’s work for our Jane.

Saturday 18th July: Freak Power 72 — Hunter S. Thompson tribute night, Henry’s Cellar Bar, 11pm. 5 pounds/4 concessions.

Filthy garage punk rock’n’roll with Acid Fascists, The Brutes, The Fnords, Davey Sloan and some intoxicated writers of your acquaintance, reading from Hunter S. Thompson’s work to celebrate his 72nd birthday.

Saturday 8th – Saturday 29th August: Underword @ Fingers Piano Bar, 7.50pm-8.40pm, free entry.

Bloc’s own Gavin Inglis has assembled twenty-two different nights of spoken word for the Fringe this year, every single one free. Dip in for an extended session by some of your Bloc favourites, and discover new voices from Edinburgh and further afield. Come every night.
Full programme now up at: http://underword.co.uk/

25th August: Venus Carmichael @ tePOOKa

Is this the last ever performance for Andrew C. Ferguson’s tribute act to the troubled hippy chick Venus Carmichael? Step behind the Big Red Door and find out.

Don’t forget the Writers’ Bloc reading at The Pleasance Cabaret Bar tomorrow. See the poster below.

Below is the blurb promotional material for Writers’ Bloc’s latest gig. Yes we are busy bees. It’s a special show in connection with the genomics forum. And I will be reading a little something…

WRITERS’ BLOC and THE ESRC GENOMICS FORUM

WHAT: Mutant Scum! Live readings of original fiction

WHO: Writers’ Bloc spoken-word performance group, plus guests Ken MacLeod and Pippa Goldschmidt

WHERE: Pleasance Cabaret Bar, 60 the Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9TJ

WHEN: 7:45 p.m., Thursday 2 July 2009

HOW MUCH: £3.00 (£2.00 concessions)

URL: http://www.writers-bloc.org.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/blocspace

or find us on Facebook!

What do the following words have in common: zipper, mad/max, hip/hop, agnostic, werewolf, mindbomb, tigger, brokenheart and zinc finger? They’re all names of genes.

DNA databases, designer babies, GM foods, genes “for” this trait or that, the human genome, evolution — they’re all in the headlines. Genetic screening and paternity tests already affect many people’s family lives. Genomics is everywhere. You could almost say it’s in our DNA…

Writers’ Bloc is proud to present a night of literary mayhem featuring original fiction that gives the double helix an extra twist.

ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum Writers in Residence Ken MacLeod and Pippa Goldschmidt will be special guest performers for the evening. The show will also feature new fiction by Writers’ Bloc stalwarts including Jack Deighton, Gavin Inglis, Stefan Pearson and Andrew J. Wilson.

Expect genetically modified footballers, an investigation of whether death is an acquired trait and something that can only be described as Gattaca for neds…

Notes for Editors:
Writers’ Bloc is Edinburgh’s premier spoken-word performance group. Its members include published and prize-winning poets and novelists, who present original material with attitude.

For more information:

E-mail: embassy@writers-bloc.org.uk

Following the success of its recent gig at tePooka, Writers’ Bloc is returning to the same venue on Wednesday 10th June for a special performance in front of an audience composed of members of Bloc’s mailing list. The twist is that all the items – favourites from previous readings – will be recorded, hopefully with appropriate audience reactions.

I am due to read an extract from my (as yet unpublished) novel “Who Changes Not.”

The recordings may be appearing in due course on Writers’ Bloc’s My Space page.

Or is it Facebook?

(I know we’re on one of them.)

Below you’ll find the blurb for the tePooka gig (tonight) where I shall indeed be reading The Gentlemen Go By.

Writers’ Bloc takes its shows very seriously. That’s why it’s doing a special event at the tePOOKa April Fools Festival this month.

Portuguese magic realists meet their match by the sea. Edinburgh’s weeping statues mask a bizarre conspiracy. And we learn the truth behind the Wemyss cat’s inscrutable smile. Step through a mysterious red door to hear stories less reliable than the marriage of a Premiership footballer.

UNRELIABLE NARRATIVES will be a shorter themed show than usual but with all-new material, an atmospheric venue, and company from tePOOKa’s very own mischief makers.

The show will be at The Big Red Door, 10 Lady Lawson Street (off West Port). It begins a little after 8pm on Wednesday 8th April, and finishes shortly after 10pm. Admission has been kept at the foolishly low figure of 3 pounds (2 for concessions).

Check out the other events of the festival at:

http://www.tepooka.org/news.htm#foolFest

Writers’ Bloc:

www.writers-bloc.org.uk

There’s another Writers’ Bloc reading, this one titled Unreliable Narratives, on Wednesday 8th April in The Big Red Door, Lady Lawson Street Edinburgh. 8 pm start (£3; £2 concessions.)

I may be reading my story The Gentlemen Go By, though the author line up has not quite been finalised.

I know this is a bit short notice but it’s one of our special shows and is to tie in with the performing arts charity te Pooka‘s April Fools Festival.

Here’s a blurb for the Writers’ Bloc reading on Thursday.
Go along. You know you want to.

They say February is the most miserable month of the year. Are you shivering under a duvet and three jumpers, longing for adventure in exotic parts of the world? Come find it at the new Writers’ Bloc show.
And get a free book.

DOYLE M FOR MURDER is part of the Edinburgh City of Literature reading campaign. Drawing inspiration from “The Lost World” and certain other creations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Writers’ Bloc has somehow ended up with murderous squirrels, dead bagpipers, unlikely German filmmakers and a fellow with a disagreeable pencil moustache.

As if that wasn’t enough, Bloc favourite Andrew J. Wilson has put in a call to the man himself — Conan Doyle has spoken through the ether to dictate an all-new Professor Challenger story, “Out of the Depths”.

You can be part of this astounding literary event NOW by reading the first chapters on the City of Literature web site:

http://www.cityofliterature.com/ecol.aspx?sec=6&pid=363

Chapters one to four are available already. But you’ll have to come to the show to hear the incredible climax.

Bloc is yet again trying a NEW VENUE for this show. This is the Pleasance Cabaret Bar, 60 The Pleasance, Edinburgh. Pass through the arch to a courtyard; the Cabaret Bar is at the back left. Admission three golden guineas* (two for concessions).

Authors appearing include Stefan Pearson, Andrew J. Wilson, Morag Edward, Andrew C Ferguson, and Gavin Inglis.

Writers’ Bloc.
www.writers-bloc.org.uk

* pounds Sterling also accepted

The latest Writers’ Bloc event is:-

Doyle M For Murder at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar, 60 The Pleasance, on Thursday 26th February, 2009, at 8 pm.

Mind-boggling mysteries, jungle high jinks and stringently stiff upper lips. Featuring a new Professor Challenger story!

This show is part of the Edinburgh City of Literature reading campaign for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World.