Bookbug Week: to celebrate this annual event – for which this year’s theme is Bookbug’s Big Bedtime Story – there will be lots of special sessions today, all including fun, songs, rhymes and stories for children aged 0-4 years and their parents and carers. 10.30am at Morningside Library, Morningside Road, Leith Library, 28 Ferry Road, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan and Ratho Library, School Wynd; 11am at Wester Hailes Library, Westside Plaza, 11.30am at Morningside Library (second session) and 2.15pm at Colinton Library, Thorburn Road.
Reid School of Music Final Year BMus Student Recitals. Today: 3pm Jessica Hailstone (violin), 4pm Jessica Kelly (piano), 5.30pm Katy Cavanagh (oboe), 6.30pm Svetoslav Todorov (piano) and 8pm Beatrice Langford-Powell (violin), all at Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, Bristo Square. All recitals are free and open to the public; recitals continue on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st May 2015.
Bookbug: songs, rhymes and stories for pre-school children and their parents and carers. 10.30am today and every Tuesday (and Friday), Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All welcome: free.
John Knox: Professor Jane Dawson will give an illustrated presentation to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Knox. There will also be psalm-singing in the four part harmonisations first used in Scottish churches after the Reformation, and Professor David Fergusson will offer some brief reflections on the current profile of reformed theology and its enduring value in an ecumenical context. 4pm, General Assembly Hall, The Mound. Free admission.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Jeremy Harmer: The Practice of English Language Teaching. One of the leading authors on the subject of English language teaching, Jeremy will discuss recent developments in the subject, how they are affecting the way that English is now taught, and what this means for the future of the profession, giving examples from his research for the fifth edition of his classic text. 6.30-8pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the store’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8218 or by emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
Rushford Hymns Tour. A group of 37 Americans are travelling through the UK on a ‘Hymns Tour’; tonight one of their guests will be Dr Ian Bradley (University of St Andrews). If you enjoy congregational singing, and especially the singing of classic hymns, come along and join in! 7-9pm, Sanctuary, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Free: all welcome.
Graham Greene Spy Stories on Screen: as part of Edinburgh Spy Week, this mini-season presents three fascinating examples of Greene’s politically acute and psychologically probing spy fictions. Today’s film is The Quiet American (PG) (1958): Thomas Fowler is a 50-something world-weary English journalist competing with Aiden Pyle, the young, idealistic ‘quiet American’ (and ?CIA agent) for possession of the most inscrutable secret in book and film, as nations and ideologies vie for Vietnam. Greene’s novel caused outrage in the USA for its critique of CIA involvement in the French War in Vietnam, and Joseph Mankiewicz’s adaptation provoked equal controversy for its revision of the plot to stress American political idealism. This screening will be introduced by Dr Simon Cooke (University of Edinburgh). 8.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688. The next film in this series is Our Man in Havana on Wednesday 20th May. Edinburgh Spy Week is organised by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with Filmhouse, National Library of Scotland and Blackwell’s.
Picturehouse Documentaries: Lambert and Stamp (15). Aspiring filmmakers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp were studio assistants at Shepperton in the 1960s; inspired by the burgeoning youth culture they hoped to make a truthful and authentic documentary about a rock band – except they didn’t have a rock band. Then they found The Who, a proto-Mod foursome of creative misfits, and persuaded the group to let them become their managers. ‘An expertly crafted and hugely entertaining socio-musical documentary’. 6pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723.
Leith Folk Club: Fisher Lassies with support Alasdair Morrison. An a cappella group with a well-established reputation in the Borders, the Fisher Lassies’ songs are drawn mainly from traditional sources, including many with local connections. 7.30pm, Leith Folk Club, Victoria Park House Hotel, 221 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £7 and may be purchased online here or via the club’s text booking line on 07502 024 852.
Edinburgh All Comers Writers’ Club: local writers get together to share/read their work, get positive feedback and constructive advice. 7.30pm tonight and every Tuesday, Boda Bar, 229 Leith Walk. All welcome.
Merchiston Community Council: 7pm, Merchiston Tennis and Bowling Club, Polwarth Terrace. All residents welcome.
Common Weal Edinburgh North and Leith: Positive Money. Positive Money is the name of a group who want to work towards solving the debt crisis and reducing poverty, debt and economic chaos. An opportunity to engage in a vibrant and informative discussion on Positive Money and the subject of monetary reform, and to hear perspectives from external commentator Howard Reed from Landman Economics. Before founding his own consultancy Howard was Chief Economist at the Institute for Public Policy Research. 
Newcomers very welcome! 7.30-9.30pm, Royal Dick Pub, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall.
