Ecumenical Friends at St John’s: Fiona Bennett speaks on The Story of Augustine United Church. 1-2.30pm, St John’s Church, Princes Street (please note change of venue and time for this week). £1.50 per person: bring your own packed lunch, tea and coffee provided. These events are organised by Edinburgh City Centre Churches TOGETHER.
Wester Hailes Wildlife Walk: a two-hour fully guided flat walk, with binoculars provided and tea and coffee afterwards. Meet at 10.30am at Wester Hailes Library, 1 Westside Plaza.
Big Scream Club: for parents and carers with a baby under 12 months. Membership costs £5, lasts until the baby’s first birthday and allows you to buy tickets for these screenings at Picturehouse Member’s prices (babies admitted free). Only customers with babies will be admitted. Today: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (PG). 10am, Cameo, Home Street.
iWomen Scotland: a group supporting ethnic minority women with sight loss. Come along, meet the group, find out more about how you can get involved, and share your ideas with the members over lunch. 1pm, RNIB Scotland, 12-14 Hillside Crescent. For more information please contact enquiries@iwomenscotland.org or call 0131 474 6179. The group’s website can be found here.
Edinburgh College of Art Thursday Research Seminar Series – Please Touch: Artists in the Archive. Chaired by Kirstie Meehan, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and followed by drinks served in the Common Room of Minto House. 5-5.15pm, Lecture Room 1, Minto House, 20-22 Chambers Street. Free and open to all.
Guilty As Sin: ‘foot-tapping tunes’. 9pm, The Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent.
Mayfield Salisbury Thursday Club: Donald Miller will talk about Pre-Colombian Cities. 2pm, Mayfield Salisbury Church Hall, West Mayfield. Everyone very welcome; please contact Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234 for more information.
Blast Radius: Edinburgh-based author RL McKinney launches her debut novel, which follows Sean McNicol as he leaves the Marines in Afghanistan to return home, bringing the ghost of his best friend Mitch and memories of their traumatic experiences. ‘McKinney sensitively handles mental health issues, and the struggle for identity for those who have endured conflict’. 6.30pm, Looking Glass Books, 36 Simpson Loan. Free but booking is required via eventbrite – or drop into the shop, email hello@lookingglassbooks.com or phone them on 0131 229 2902.
Moon Hop: performances from some of the UK’s most exciting musicians, plus sets from the Moon Hop DJs and their genre-defying record collection…expect Screamers, Bangers and Cosmic Synths. This month featuring Lomond Campbell, River of Slime, Hamish Hawk and Jo Foster. 8pm-1am, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Morrison Street. £3.
North Edinburgh Arts: Teen Scream – your local youth magazine. If you are aged 10-18 years and you’d like to learn more about graffiti, art, creative writing, digital layout, photography and interviewing skills, come along to these weekly sessions, which start TODAY! 3.15-4.45pm, Muirhouse Library, 15a Pennywell Road. Snack provided too! For more information call 0131 529 5528.
LGBT History Month Celebration Event hosted by Edinburgh & Lothian Regional Equality Council, LGBT Youth Scotland and Leith Academy in collaboration with Lothian LGBT Development Group. Featuring keynote speakers, multicultural performances, dances and live music, this family-friendly evening will also be an opportunity to hear how improved equalities can support pupils and students to achieve. Light refreshments will be served. 5.30-8pm, Leith Academy, 20 Academy Park. All welcome: free, but please book online here. Read The Edinburgh Reporter’s round-up of LGBT History Month here.
Scotland-Russia Forum: Nothing is True and Everything is Possible. Author, documentary producer and Edinburgh graduate Peter Pomerantsev, who worked for nine years in Moscow, has written extensively about how Putin’s Russia has reinvented propaganda – and what the West should do about it. He is currently a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute, London. Peter’s book, Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, was released in the USA in November 2014 and will be published this month in the UK; it has just been Radio 4’s Book of the Week. The New York Times described it as ‘dazzling and sparkling’ while PJ O’Rourke called it ‘the strangest book of note I have ever read…a calm and incisive report on the current state of affairs in Russia. Yet it reads like a comedy of manners, a dark and grotesque comedy of manners….’ Peter will discuss his book and the activities and role of the Russian media – inside and outside Russia – with Martin Dewhirst former lecturer in Russian and now Honorary Research Fellow, at the University of Glasgow. There will be light refreshments and an opportunity to purchase the book after the talk. 7pm, Seminar Room 1/2, Chrystal Macmillan Building, University of Edinburgh, George Square. Free but donations to the Scotland-Russia Forum’s funds much appreciated.
Kirkliston Community Centre Ukelele Group! A new group for adults, starting tonight. Please contact the Centre for more details. 8-9pm, Kirkliston Community Centre, 16-18 Queensferry Road.
Play Talk Read! The Play Talk Read bus is coming to Ratho Library today! For pre-school children and their parents/carers. Hop on board to read stories, sing songs, play games and have fun. It’s free! 10am-1pm and 2-4pm, Ratho Library, School Wynd.
Writers Return: The British Council presents four celebrated authors with suitcases full of travelling experiences, who will reflect on how travel can inspire and inform new writing. Novelist and playwright Alan Bissett, novelist Anne Donovan and poets William Letford and Ryan Van Winkle will tell stories about their excursions, from Iraq to Pakistan; they will read poems and fiction, and explore the unexpected narratives they uncovered along the way. The British Council Writers Return series is a programme that sees writers recently back from overseas share new work inspired by their trips abroad, talk about where they are going, where they have been, and how this informs their writing. For ages 16+. 6.30-7.30pm, Main Hall, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Free tickets can be booked via eventbrite here.
Quiz Night: a mix of music, film and general knowledge – from science to celebrities ‘a proper pub quiz with lots of smiles and laughs!’ Maximum of 6 per team. 8pm tonight and every Thursday, The Skylark, 241/243 Portobello High Street. Free entry with prizes! Food is served until 9pm.
Babar Luck: ‘one of the most refreshing and unique performers around today’ – from rock to reggae, ska and sci-fi folk, plus support from Small Feet, Little Toes and Grant McNeil. 7pm, Forest Cafe, Lauriston Place. Free: BYOB (corkage applies).
