Liz Niven wows China!

Our very own Liz Niven is wowing China with the Bookworm International Literature Festival.  Together with Dumfries and Galloway children's author Cathy Cassidy, Louise Welsh and Zoe Strachan, Liz has been promoting Scottish literature in Beijing.  

Liz Niven is launching her new collection of poems, The Shard Box and has translated some of Chinese poet Bei Dao's work into Scots.

Another chance to catch 'Tree' by Vivien Jones and Jackie Galley

Tree is a special piece of new writing by Vivien Jones and Jackie Galley, with music performed by Richard Jones, Michael Hendry and Becky Hendry.  It was first performed last year, but here's another chance to catch it, this time at WWT Caerlaverock Visitor Centre on Saturday 10 April at 7pm, £5 on the door. 

Tree is inspired by woods, trees and forests.

This will be a lovely evening out, ignore the sleet - spring's bound to have arrived by the 10th!

Open Stage at So You Cafe Wednesday 31 March

March's Open Stage will welcome Penpont poet JoAnne McKay to its guest spot, and she'll share the limelight with up-and-coming singer songwriter Beth Fouracre from Glasgow, who's coming back to D&G for the Wickerman Festival. 

Come along on the 31st to support JoAnne and enjoy her sparky, clever, and often very funny poetry.  Don't forget to bring some of your own work and get to So You at 7pm to book your slot.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Anthology for Women's Heritage Walk in Wigtown

The Wigtown Women’s Walk group recently launched a highly innovative project to create a women's heritage walk commemorating the contribution women have made to their community. Glasgow Women’s Library is supporting the project. The next step of the project is to compile an anthology and audio companion for the walk.

The WWW group is inviting writers to contribute a short poem or story inspired by the women and or events in Wigtown. The closing date is the last day of March but if anyone is interested and needs to negotiate time, please contact: Kriss Nichol 01671 402588

Submissions to kriss.nichol@googlemail.com

If you want to find out more, Kriss Nichol will be giving a talk at the conference 'One Small Step' in Glasgow on 23 March at the Mitchell Library. The WW group will also be at both the Wigtown Spring Book Festival and at the Main Book Festival in September. There is a display of photographs at the County Buildings in Wigtown and Stranraer Museum have kindly put up a display of artefacts from their collection until the end of May.

JoAnne McKay to guest at Open Stage on 31 March

Open Stage, Dumfries’ favourite open mic event for poets and singer songwriters, is back at So You Cafe in Castle Street Dumfries on Wednesday 31 March.

Come along and support poet JoAnne McKay, a great performer of her own sparky, funny, clever poetry. But also come along  at 7pm to book your own performance slot, before Open Stage goes live at 7.30pm.

Hosted by warm and friendly local musician Nicola Black, Open Stage is a great venue for trying out new work, or nurturing new talent. Or you can just come along to join our good-humoured audience and enjoy the vibe.

March’s Open Stage also features up-and-coming musician Beth Fouracre, a Glasgow singer songwriter who’ll be performing at the Wickerman Festival this summer. 

A great night out, and only £3 on the door.

Science and Literature - discover Lablit

It's National Science and Engineering Week!  Carolyn recommends -

LabLit - A forum for all topics related to the culture of science in fiction and fact. The site is a magazine with essays, reviews, profiles, and interviews about science/literature/art/media. It also contains a discussion forum.

http://www.lablit.com/

News for World Book Day!

The Scottish Book Trust's Meet Our Authors programme launches today!  The programme allows children, parents, teachers and people all over the world up close and personal with some of the world's leading children's authors, free of charge, with support from Scottish Arts Council National Lottery Fund.

The first live broadcast will take place today on World Book Day with former Children's Laureat Michael Rosen.  The programme will go out live over the internet on the BBC, and also through Facebook and YouTube.