Remembering the Easter Rising: Professor Sir Thomas Devine presents a talk on ‘The Easter rising: its impact on Scotland’. 7.30pm, Monday 18th April, The Lauriston Jesuit Centre, 28 Lauriston Street.
Café Histoire: Verdun: ‘Verdun – I was there’. Those words were pronounced with a mixture of pride and terror by the ‘poilus‘ who survived the battle. 70 out of the 95 French army divisions took part in the battle of Verdun; the place still stands today as a symbol of the resistance of the French soldiers and as a place of memory. Patrick Landi gives this talk in French. 5.30pm, Monday 18th April, Institut Français d’Écosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. £8/£5 – please book by emailing info@ifecosse.org.uk or calling 0131 225 5366.
Journeying Together with the World’s Faiths: the origins of Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. 7.30pm, Wednesday 20th April, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral (please enter by Manor Place door), Palmerston Place. Free: all welcome – for more information and to register please email faithandgrowth@gmail.com.
Reading Shakespeare – Hot Off The Press: Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies (Hertford College, Oxford) discusses what it was like to read a new Shakespeare play for the very first time. 6pm, Monday 18th April, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free: book via eventbrite here or call 0131 623 3734.
Rave Reviewer: Scott on Frankenstein, Emma and Childe Harold. Sir Walter Scott was one of the most influential and prolific literary critics during the golden age of the review, writing about works by Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Lord Byron and Robert Southey, and even penning a anonymous critical study of his own work. Manuscripts Curator David McClay explores the stories behind each of these reviews, books and authors. The reviews also feature in Rave Reviewer, an exhibition bringing together never before seen literary treasures from Scott’s library at Abbotsford and the collections of the National Library. 2pm, Wednesday 20th April, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free: book via eventbrite here or call 0131 623 3734.
What do the Scots and English have in common? Three centuries after the Act of Union and a year and a half after the Independence Referendum, the question is still being hotly debated. Éric Albert, le Monde London correspondent, and Edinburgh-based TV reporter Etienne Duval have both recently written books on the subject: Les Anglais, dans le doute! (Éric Albert) and Les Écossais, pieds sur terre! (Etienne Duval). Each will attempt to answer the question, and any you might have, in a lively discussion (in French) in the run-up to the Holyrood Elections – and to St George’s Day. 6pm, Wednesday 20th April, Institut Français d’Écosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Free but please book by emailing info@ifecosse.org.uk or calling 0131 225 5366.
Mayfield Salisbury Thursday Club: a weekly programme of music, visual presentations, films, talks and demonstrations. Although mainly for retired people, visitors of any age are always welcome. This week: Hamish Coghill talks on My Edinburgh 2-4pm, Thursday 21st April, Upper Hall, Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, 1a Mayfield Road. Annual membership costs £4 per year and 50p a week is charged for tea; new members are most welcome, but you don’t have to be a member to come along. For more information please contact Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234.
Curating ‘The Plague!’ Exhibition: Rare Books Curator Dr Anette Hagan talks about how the exhibition was conceived and researched, what exciting facts were learned, and what mishaps happened along the way. 2pm, Thursday 21st April, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free: book via eventbrite here or call 0131 623 3734.
Spotlight On: Chambers Encyclopaedia. PhD Researcher Rose Roberto introduces the Museum’s collection of several thousand wood engraving blocks from Chambers’s Encyclopaedia, and explores how the first two editions were affected by changes in 19th century technology and a Victorian desire for new knowledge. What did these books, produced by Scottish publishing firm W & R Chambers, offer Victorians, and how did the engravings aid readers’ understanding of their world? 2pm, Thursday 21st April, Auditorium, Level One, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free but please book online here or call 0300 123 6789.
George Mackay Brown: An evening of celebration. George Mackay Brown was one of Scotland’s greatest 20th-century writers. He drew his artistic vision from the wellspring of the landscape, along with the speech and sagas of his native Orkney Islands. To mark 20 years since Mackay Brown’s death, his biographer Maggie Fergusson, family friend Morag Macinnes, and leading author James Robertson discuss Mackay Brown’s life, work and legacy. The event is chaired by Jenny Brown. 6pm, Thursday 21st April, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free: book via eventbrite here or call 0131 623 3734.
Sasha Dugdale: a poet, playwright and translator of Russian poetry and drama, Sasha will be reading her work and talking about the art of translation. 6.30pm, Friday 22nd April, Scottish Poetry Library, Crichton’s Close. Tickets £5/£4 from dmr.lit@fsmail.net.
LGBT: in conversation with Jo McFarlane. How can mental health services be more supportive of LGBT+ identities? Is it time to do away with psychiatric diagnoses altogether and start treating people as individuals – according to their strengths, as well as their needs? Can love really heal us? An intimate evening of conversation and reflection with Jo McFarlane and Alison Wren, who will discuss Jo’s ‘wide ranging and beautifully written’ (Kirsten Maclean, CAPS Advocacy) new book Transcending The Ghetto: reflections on mental health policy, practice and lived experience. Copies of the book will be available to buy, priced £7. 6.30pm (doors 6pm), Friday 22nd April, Serenity Cafe, The Tun, 8 Jackson’s Entry, 111 Holyrood Road. Free but please book here.
