First Words… Last Lines

Joanne 2019

8.00-10.30pm LIBRARY DOWNSTAIRS

OPENING EVENT:  FIRST WORDS…. LAST LINES

Our ever popular cabaret-style event, hosted by David Francis, takes a new format this year. It will feature local composer/musician Gareth Williams, writer and storyteller James Spence and performance poets Jo McFarlane and Alex Callaghan who will all entertain us with their take on the theme “First words …. last lines”.

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

Where Are the Women? with @SaraSheridan at Jameson Gate

Joanne 2019

Friday 4th October – 2pm – Jameson Gate

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Our Friday afternoon event sees us pay a return visit to Jameson Gate where you can hear Sara Sheridan who is a successful novelist, activist, feminist and perfumer. In this session she shares an insight into her work and talks about her latest book Where are the Women?: A Guide to Imagined Scotland exploring beyond the traditional male-dominated history and heritage of Scotland.                    

Chair: Viv Cree   

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

If you like the sound of this event, you may also be interested in Are We There Yet? which will be on Sunday 6th October at the library from 11.00am-12.00noon. This will look at the road to equality for Scottish women writers with writer and biographer Jenni Calder, novelist Regi Claire and Professor of Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling Claire Squires.

                                                         

Special event – Michael Pedersen at The Portobello Bookshop @scribepedersen @portybooks

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SPECIAL EVENT – PORTOBELLO BOOK SHOP

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THURSDAY 3rd OCTOBER – 6.30pm-8pm  

We are delighted to kick off this year’s Portobello Book Festival at our new local bookshop, The Portobello Bookshop. It hosts prize-winning Edinburgh poet Michael Pedersen who will talk about his recent work including his collection Oyster.

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

Portobello Book Festival 2019 Programme

Joanne Uncategorized

PBF prog zoom

The wait is over! The programme for the 2019 Portobello Book Festival, 3rd-6th October, has now been revealed. We have a packed programme as always this year and are delighted to be welcoming an exciting list of authors, contributors and guests. We are especially pleased to be running a special event in conjunction with our new local bookshop, The Portobello Bookshop, and to be paying a return visit to Jameson Gate.

Copies of the programme will be available from the library and local businesses in the coming few days. Tickets to all events are, as always, free and will be available from Monday 2nd September at Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

Click the link below to see the full programme and look out for more info about each individual event over the coming weeks.

Portobello Book Festival 2019 programme

 

 

BLACKWELL’S BOOKSHOP

Books by participating authors will be available.

 

Tickets for all events can be collected in person from

Portobello Library from 2nd September. Some tickets

will be available at venues 15 minutes before events.

PORTOBELLO BOOK FESTIVAL

is organised by local enthusiasts and Portobello Library.

If you have ideas or would like to be involved, please contact:

portobellobookfestival@gmail.com

VENUES

PORTOBELLO LIBRARY

14 Rosefield Avenue, EH15 1AU

PORTOBELLO BAPTIST CHURCH HALL & CAFE

189 Portobello High Street, EH15 1EU

JAMESON GATE

17-21 Portobello High Street, EH15 1DW

THE PORTOBELLO BOOKSHOP

46 Portobello High St, EH15 1DA

DALRIADA

77 Promenade, EH15 2EL

Coming soon – the 2019 Portobello Book Festival Programme

Joanne 2019, Home

PBF prog zoom

Not long to go now until you can find out what’s inside the programme for the 11th Portobello Book Festival. We are looking forward to revealing the line-up which, as always, includes local authors as well as those from further afield. The Festival, which runs from Thursday 3rd – Sunday 6th October, offers the diversity of subjects and authors that has become a distinctive feature of our programme. And yes, you are reading that correctly – we are beginning a day earlier than normal with a special event on Thursday 3rd September. All will be revealed soon.

You can pick up a copy of the programme from our brilliant bookstall at the Village Show in Rosefield Park this Sunday 1st September from 2-5pm or it will be available from Portobello Library and various local businesses from next Monday. Tickets for all events are free and must be collected in person from the library from Monday 2nd September. Some tickets will be available 15 minutes before events.

The full programme will be published here next week with more detailed posts on each event following in the lead-up to the festival.

See you next year!

Joanne Uncategorized

The 2019 Portobello Book Festival will run from 4th-6th October.

 

The tenth Portobello Book Festival was a great success and we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. 

Over the weekend, there were about 1000 people in and out of the library, Jameson Gate and the Baptist Church Hall, and comments across the board have been very positive indeed. Our intention is always to try as far as possible to make sure that those who make up the community of Portobello see themselves, their experience and their interests reflected in the programme – to be inclusive and local but never parochial! This year’s festival was perhaps the most diverse to date. The programme is also designed to bring together a distinctive mix of subjects, writers, commentators and readers creating what we hope is an atmosphere that is convivial and stimulating

The organising team would like to thank:

The talented musicians and writers who took part in the opening event celebrating the launch of our anniversary publication Postcards from Portobello 

All our participating writers for inspiring us

Our fantastic chairs for keeping everything running smoothly

Our soundman Jock and his assistant Riley for making sure that everyone could be heard

Our wonderful team of volunteers whose help was invaluable

Blackwell’s Bookshop for providing staff for the weekend and making sure all our authors’ books were available for sale after each event

Jameson Gate for hosting a fantastic and very popular event. It was great to have a new venue.

Portobello Baptist Church for their help and use of the premises

The teachers and children at the school events for their enthusiasm

Steve Harvey for organising the ever popular book quiz at the Dalriada

A special thanks to Paul Hudson and the staff of Portobello Library, a fantastic resource on our doorstep, without whose help and time we would not be able to run our festival

And of course, thanks to everyone who came along to the events and created such a vibrant atmosphere.

The 2019 programme will be launched early September with tickets available shortly afterwards. The organising team will be starting to plan for this very soon. Any ideas and suggestions will be warmly welcomed.

 

The 2019 Portobello Book Festival will run from 4th-6th October.

The State of the World 10 Years On: For Better or Worse with Sian Bayne @sbayne Jill Mackay @jillymackay & Donald Bloxham

Joanne 2018, Home

THE STATE OF THE WORLD 10 YEARS ON: FOR BETTER FOR WORSE

          Sian Bayne Jill MacKay  Donald Bloxham wwwushmmorgmimg2451127168x168jpg

 

How has the world changed in the decade since the first Portobello Book Festival in 2009?  What are the prospects for the next decade?  Three distinguished University of Edinburgh academics address these questions in their different and distinctive ways: Sian Bayne, Professor of Digital Education, Jill MacKay, Research Fellow in Veterinary Medical Education, and Donald Bloxham, Professor of History.

Chair: Ian Martin

Sunday 7th October 5.00-6.30pm                                                         LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

St Kilda: A Different Perspective with Alex Boyd @alexboyd

Joanne 2018, Home

ST KILDA: A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Alex Boyd’s St Kilda: The Silent Islands is a stark and reflective collection of photographs that capture the archipelago of St Kilda in a new light. They show the reality of the crumbling military base as well as the wild beauty of the natural landscape. He is joined by composer Jessica Danz who is working on a new composition focusing on the largely unknown and ill-fated 1852 migration of 42 islanders to Australia. 

Chair: Jim Gilchrist

Sunday 7th October 3.30-4.30pm                                                            LIBRARY UPSTAIRS

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.

The Times on Cinema with Brian Pendreigh

Joanne 2018, Home

THE TIMES ON CINEMA

Brian Pendreigh, local journalist and freelance film correspondent, has had a lifetime fascination with film. He has authored many books, guides and reviews for papers such as the Scotsman, Herald, Times and Guardian. Brian shares stories of meeting famous film stars, the Oscars and discusses his latest book The Times on Cinema.

Chair: Peter E. Ross

Sunday 7th October 3.30-4.30pm                                                 LIBRARY DOWNSTAIRS

Tickets for all Portobello Book Festival events are free and can be picked up from Portobello Library in Rosefield Avenue.