West Port Book Festival Podcasts

Kei Miller reads from his astonishing new collection of poems A Light Song of Light, and from his latest novel, The Last Warner Woman. Kei is a Jamaican poet and novelist who combines a velveteen voice with a playful imagination. His first collection was There is an Anger that Moves and he is editor of New Caribbean Poetry (both Carcanet, 2007).

Ewan Morrison reads a brilliant short story from his new project, Tales from the Mall. He has worked as a film director before making his authorial début with the short story collection, The Last Book You Read and Other Stories, in 2005. His first novel, Swung, was published in 2007. Other novels are Distance (2008) and Ménage (2009).

Farmer poet Jim Carruth grew up on his family’s farm near Kilbarchan. His poems have been widely published and anthologised and his debut collection, Bovine Pastoral, was runner-up in the Callum Macdonald Memorial award. He curates St Mungo’s Mirrorball, a Glasgow poetry project, and created and is currently coordinating the Clydebuilt poetry mentoring programme for supporting developing poets in Glasgow. Chloe Morrish was one of the first mentees of Clydebuilt 1. She was born in Brunei, lived in Oman as a child and ended up in Scotland where she went to school and wrote her first poetry (almost entirely elegies for dead pets). She’s now back in Glasgow and a primary school teacher. Her pamphlet, Three Little Ninjas, is published by Dreadful Night Press in Glasgow.

We were very chuffed to announce our mystery guest was the fantastic Scottish comic book artist Frank Quitely. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, WE3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The Authority. In this event in the book lined surrounds of Edinburgh Books, Frank chats with former editor of 2000 AD, author and screenwriter David Bishop.

No-one has been as famous as Walter Scott and become as forgotten. He was so popular that, if you could read in the early 19th Century, you had read Scott. And yet nowadays nobody reads him. Nor do we really respect him. Literary editor and author Stuart Kelly reads from his new book "Scott-land" which deals with the man who invented a nation. By parts witty and touching, Stuart Kelly will have you rushing out the door to brush up your Ivanhoe or revisit the classic Old Mortality.

Author and literary editor Stuart Kelly is a closet fan of collective nouns, those brilliant and brain-bending terms that allow us to junk a dullard 'group' or 'flock' for many more interesting and apt alternatives. Author of upcoming "Scott-land" (Birlinn) and veteran of West Port 09 with his wonderful "Book of Lost Books", Stuart's event appeals to those who appreciate the linguistic greatness of a murder of crows, or the disparity between Sir Walter Scott's influence and his status.

Jim Haynes is a living legend. Flâneur, writer, publisher, former book shop owner and host to many hundreds of thousands over the years he’s spent welcoming strangers to his Parisian atelier for Sunday dinner, his is a life more spectacular than most. Join him for an hour of scintillating conversation, chaired by Edinburgh flâneur Ryan Van Winkle.

In The Book of Lost Books, Stuart Kelly reaches into the recesses of history to trace books, great or perhaps otherwise, that have been lost, stolen, incinerated, abandoned or mutilated through the ages.

A dramatic recitation of Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost by multi-talented literary historian Owen Dudley Edwards. An expert on fellow Irish wit Wilde, the quintessential rationalist Sherlock Holmes, and the inimitable P.G. Wodehouse, Owen's many works include a book and play on the West Port’s very own Burke and Hare. Featuring the track "Trouble Scene" from MWD, http://www.budabeats.com/bube007.htm

Librarian by training, poet by vocation, Professor Dunn’s many achievements in poetry include the Somerset-Maugham Award winning Terry Street, Love or Nothing and the acclaimed Elegies. Reading from poems new and old, with some classic West Port accompaniment from builders outside and the odd fire engine, join Douglas as he entertains a crowded Edinburgh Books. Incidental music is the track "Trouble Scene" from MWD, http://www.budabeats.com/bube007.htm

Our second podcast features Peter Burnett, who takes us on an entertaining and illuminating trip through the curious world of crisps, inspired by his master work "The Supper Book", an annotated list of everything he ate and drank in one year. The West Port is Edinburgh’s Soho, a heady mix of booze, bosoms, bespoke tailoring and BOOKS. It would almost be churlish not to celebrate this profusion of pages so we run an annual book festival that plays out over 11 wonderful West Port venues, ranging from singular second-hand bookshops to crisp art spaces and whisky-scented pubs. http://westportbookfestival.org Incidental music is the track "Trouble Scene" from MWD, http://www.budabeats.com/bube007.htm

Eleanor Thom’s debut novel, The Tin-Kin, is a fictional story based on photos, artefacts and memories of Eleanor’s mother’s travelling family. Eleanor tells us about the story behind the book and the travelling culture, blending a mixture of readings, audio and chat. Featuring the track "Trouble Scene" from MWD, http://www.budabeats.com/bube007.htm