Serenity Cafe Club Night: Robbie Williams Tribute. Serenity Cafe is run for people in recovery by people in recovery – and for anyone else who wants good value, good quality food in a relaxed space. Serenity’s club nights are family friendly and drink and drug free. Serenity Cafe, 8 Jackson Entry, The Tun (off Holyrood Road). £4 unwaged, £6 waged. Contact Serenity on 0131 556 8765 for times.
Storytime with Lapin: a puppet show performance for 3-5 year olds with Tania and rabbit Lapin. Tania set up puppet theatre company Le Petit Monde to introduce young children and their families to her native French language and culture in the most natural way – through authentic French-speaking puppets! 2.30-3.30pm, Gilmerton Library, 13 Newtoft Street.
Regi Claire: The Waiting. Regi Claire discusses her latest novel, set against the backdrop of wartime Edinburgh. Elderly Lizzie Fairbairn opens her door to a strange young girl with stigmata-marked palms; her name is Rachel and she is a Scottish-Swiss student bent on discovering more about her grandmother, Lizzie’s esrtwhile friend Marlene. What follows is a pilgrimage of recollection, a cathartic skittering between past and present. 3-4pm, Writers’ Museum, Lady Stair’s House, Lady Stair’s Close, Lawnmarket. Free tickets can be booked via eventbrite. A Previously….Scotland’s History Festival event.
Gallery Social: Highlights from the National Collection. Join artists for relaxed guided tours for anyone affected by dementia, their friends, relatives and supporters. This very informal tour will explore highlights from the permanent collection and will begin with refreshments in the Learning Centre. 10.30am-12 noon, National Gallery of Scotland (meet at Gardens Entrance), The Mound. Free but please book by contacting the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560.
Bookbug: songs and rhymes for young children and babies. 10.30-11am, Corstorphine Library, 12 Kirk Loan.
Guid Crack: Broth, Breid and Bannocks – a feast of tales celebrating guid Scots fare with storyteller Sheila Kinninmouth. Edinburgh’s monthly storytelling night, upstairs at the Waverley Bar (accompanied young adults welcome). 7.30-9.30pm, Waverley Bar, 1 St Mary’s Street. Free – suggested donation £3.
Stories from the NLS Shelves: a two-part workshop led by James Robertson. In the morning there will be a behind-the-scenes tour with a curator; after lunch novelist and poet James Robertson will lead a writing workshop based on the morning’s experiences. For more information about the workshop click here. 10.30am-3pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but numbers are limited and booking is essential via info@moniackmhor.ork.uk. This event is sponsored by Moniack Mhor, Scotland’s creative writing centre.
Understanding the role of meditation in religion: Alex Holmes (Christian Meditation Scotland), Bryan Webb (Wild Geese Sangha) and Ani Rinchen Khandro (Kaygu Samye Dzong Edinburgh) will discuss this topic. 3-4pm, St Mark’s Unitarian Church, Castle Terrace. Part of Scottish Interfaith Week.
Eco Kidz Pop Up Stall: a fantastic selection of recycled gifts. Eco Kidz is a Creative Social Enterprise project for children aged 8-12, set up by North Edinburgh Arts and funded by the Big Lottery Young Start Fund: it aims to develop young people’s art, design and business skills by helping them to create their own brand of handmade market-ready products using recycled materials and upcycling techniques. The pop up stalls will offer jewellery, notebooks, pincushions, vases, brooches, key rings, magnets, Christmas cards and more. Today there will also be an Eco Kidz workshop in which you can make your own Christmas cards and gift tags from recycled materials. 2-4.30pm, Muirhouse Community Shop, Pennywell Road. (Next pop up stall 30th November at Ice Retail, St James’s Centre, Princes Street.) For more information click here.
Mokssh: Journey of the Soul (Ajit Bhairavkar, 2013, Hindi with English subtitles). An adaptation of the multiple award winning Marathi film Gajar – ‘a fascinating tale of spirituality and self-discovery’. 6pm, Screening Room, G.04, 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh. Shown as part of Scottish Interfaith Week.
LGBT Women’s Wellbeing Group: an inclusive group offering the opportunity to meet other LGBT women in a relaxed environment, Chat, information and activities promoting health and wellbeing. The group is open to all LGBT women and we welcome transgendered people who primarily identify as women. This week: We Got The Power – Disability History Month discussion on how different forms of disability impact LGBT women, with a focus on how activism has given people a platform to be visible and heard. 2-4.30pm, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. To stay up to date with the group, including meeting times and locations for outings, email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk
Shot At Dawn: free drop-in tours of Chloe Dewe Mathews’ current exhibition. 5.30-6pm today and every Friday, Stills Gallery, 23 Cockburn Street. No booking required, just turn up! Also available on Sunday 30th November at 2pm.
LGBT Film Nights: see LGBT and mainstream films in a friendly sociable setting. Vote via email and at the events for each month’s film choices; you are welcome just to turn up, but please be aware that the film for that month will already have been chosen. This month: Trans Remembrance. 6.30-9.30pm, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information contact admin@lgbthealth.org.uk.
War Poets Collection Guided Tours: Catherine Walker will provide a guided tour of Edinburgh Napier University’s collection of material relating to the history of its Craiglockhart campus, and will talk about the many interesting characters who have had links with Craiglockhart over the years. 11am-12 noon or 2-3pm, War Poets Collection Exhibition Area, Edinburgh Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus, Glenlockhart Road. Free but numbers are limited to 12 per tour, so please register by calling 0131 455 4260 or emailing events@napier.ac.uk.
St Andrew’s Day Talk with Professor Gordon Findlater: with the increase in anatomy schools in the 18th century, a growing demand for bodies for dissection provided ideal conditions for the infamous serial killers Burke and Hare. Join Edinburgh University Museum of Anatomy’s Gordon Findlater to discover the historic landscape of Edinburgh, where Burke and Hare preyed on the vulnerable to sell bodies to anatomist Robert Knox. 6-7.30pm, Surgeons’ Hall Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, Nicolson Street. Free tickets can be booked via eventbrite.
Edinburgh Greek Film Festival starts today and continues until 4th December 2014. It will present some of the most exciting new Greek films, alongside a modern masterpiece of Greek resistance The Rehearsal (showing on 1st December). Tonight: The Enemy Within/O ehthros mou (2013) Cert 18. The screening will be followed by a Q & A session with director Yorgos Tsemperopoulos. Film shown in Greek with English subtitles. 8.20pm , Filmhouse, Lothian Road. For prices and tickets contact the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or book online
Crohn’s and Colitis Fundraiser Ceilidh with The Occasionals. 7pm-12 midnight, St Brides Centre, Orwell Terrace. Tickets are £10.50 and can be booked via eventbrite.
