mercat grill dog quiz

Mercat Grill Doggy Quiz: in aid of the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home. Kicking off a weekend of tail-wagging events – dog owners, dog lovers, their friends and all pooches welcome! Complementary buffet. 8pm, Mercat Grill, 10 Whitecraig Road, Musselburgh. £5 per person: to book please call 0800 124 4112. All proceeds will be donated to EDCH.

gottland - coverWord Power and Interactive Writing Salon in Scotland Present Mariusz Szczygiel: Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia. The acclaimed Polish non-fiction writer will be in conversation with his award-winning translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones about his new book. ‘Extraordinary, hypnotising and disturbing tales’ (Liberation). 6.30pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. Free: all welcome – donations also welcome!

Flute-600x398Lunchtime concert: Annika Suhr (flute), Robert Milner (tenor) and Chris Harding (piano). The programme will include Jules Mouquet La Flute de Pan. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

iPad course at Newingtoni-Pad for Beginners: a new six week course. 10.30am-12.30pm, Newington Library, Fountainhall Road. If you are interested please register by contacting the library on 0131 529 5536, emailing them at newington.library@edinburgh.gov.uk or calling in to speak to one of the staff.

Clark GableMayfield Salisbury Thursday Club: Clark Gable on Film – a talk by Dr Peter Kendrick. 2-4pm, Upper Hall, Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, West Mayfield. Membership of the club costs £3 per annum, but you do not have to be a member to attend, and all are warmly welcomed. Tea costs 50p. For more information please call Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234

easel-sketching-in-the-gallery-image-2Easel Sketching in the Gallery led by artist Damian Callan. A different subject every month, sometimes with a model. All materials supplied. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street: please ask at the Information Desk for the exact location within the gallery. Free. Also at same times on Friday 24th April 2015.

world book night 2015Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents World Book Night 2015: authors Anne Donovan (Buddha Da), Andrea Gillies (Keeper), Michael Malone (The Guillotine Choice) and Philip Miller (award winning journalist and writer) chat about books. 6-8pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets are available via eventbrite here, or in person from the store’s front desk, by emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or calling 0131 622 8218.

sean-o-hagan-polaroid-1
sean o’hagan

Sean O’Hagan: Season of Photography Opening Lecture. Sean O’Hagan writes about photography for The Guardian and The Observer and is the winner of the 2011 J Dudley Johnston award from the Royal Photographic Society for major achievement in the field of photographic criticism. In this insightful talk he will share his views on contemporary photography as part of the nationwide Season of Photography 2015. 6-7.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Tickets cost £5/£4 and may be purchased in advance from the National Gallery’s Information Desk or by calling 0131 624 6560 (credit/debit payments only) between 9.30am and 4.30pm.

larger_lgbt_logoLGBT Learning Difficulties: Social Circle. A group for LGBT people who also identify as having a learning difficulty or disability. This month’s theme is ‘an introduction to transgender identities‘. 2-4pm, Lifecare Centre, 2 Cheyne Street, Stockbridge. If you would like to join the group, please contact George Burrows on 0131 652 3281 or by emailing george@lgbthealth.org.uk.

edwin morganEdwin Morgan: The Midnight Letterbox: Selected Correspondence 1950-2010. One of the central figures of 20th century Scottish literature, Edwin Morgan was a prolific letter-writer. His correspondence, like his poetry, is wide-ranging, full of generosity and enthusiasm, and above all a testament to his lifelong commitment to exploring the possibilities of poetry. James McGonigal and James Coyle, editors of this new collection of Morgan’s letters, will be in conversation with SPL Director Robyn Marsack. 6.30-8pm, The Saltire Society, 9 Fountain Close. Free but booking is required via eventbrite here.

mother joan

Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema: a season of films curated by Scorsese, all screened in pristine digital restorations. Today: Mother Joan of the Angels (Matka Joanna od aniolow) (PG). (In Polish and Latin with subtitles). Lucyna Winnicka plays an allegedly possessed abbess, who’s investigated by a priest, hopelessly out of his depth when confronted with forces he doesn’t understand. 6pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688. This screening will be introduced by Dr David Sorfa (University of Edinburgh); the film will be shown again on at 6pm on Saturday 9th May 2015
Where Language Ends

where language ends: amplified tour for visitors with hearing impairments, led by Juliana Capes. 2pm, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge. Free but booking is essential and may be made via eventbrite here.

larger_lgbt_logoLGBT Coming Out Course. Coming out as LGBT is a lifelong process. If you would like to spend some time exploring how far you have come, and how far you might have to go, be a part of this 4-week course, which will explore experiences of coming out in a relaxed, confidential environment. Discover new strategies to deal with your fears and meet others in similar situations, whilst taking the opportunity to celebrate your triumphs in being you. 6.30-8.30pm, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Booking is essential as places are limited: please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.

a beautiful living thing

A Beautiful Living Thing: filmed in the remains of the burned out Mackintosh library and the Glasgow School of Art in late December 2014 and early January 2015, Ross Birrell’s A Beautiful Living Thing features a composition for solo violin devised from Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s description of a work of art, performed inside the ruined library by Bill Chandler (RSNO). ‘The music sounds at first like a lament, but it does also have an element that is uplifting’ (Birrell). 7pm, Playfair Library Hall, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge. Free: all welcome. Ross Birrell and David Harding’s exhibition where language ends continues at Talbot Rice until 2nd May 2015.

edinburgh_napier_logoEdinburgh Napier University Postgraduate Information Evening: find out more about Napier’s postgraduate and professional courses (full-time, part-time and distance learning). Talks plus the opportunity to ask questions about study, finance, admissions and accommodation. The event will take place across all three Napier campuses, so click here to see which one offers the course you are interested in. 6-8pm, Edinburgh Napier University (Merchiston, Sighthilll and Craiglockhart campuses). Free but please register online here.

De Giovanni

Maurizio De Giovanni. The Naples-based detective story writer will be in conversation with academic and engineer Raffaela Ocone, who is fascinated by crime novels and the precision of making them work. De Giovanni’s books have been translated into French, German and Spanish and are now available in English for the first time (Europa Books). 6pm, Italian Cultural Insititute, 82 Nicolson Street.

TER along the canal 1Share your Union Canal Stories: the Scottish Waterways Trust invites you to share your canal-related stories and memorabilia with its young Canal College volunteers. If you have a story to tell, or any photos, maps or other objects related to the canal, please come along to the Lochrin Belle barge on the quay – tea and coffee provided! The Canal College is a heritage skills training programme for 16-25 year olds who are not in employment, further education or training. As part of the course, the young people are leaning about the cultural heritage of the canals; they will record stories and collect photos and memorabilia to create unique heritage boxes to use in community groups and schools. 11am-3pm, Lochrin Belle (the purple barge), Edinburgh Quay, 1 Union Path. The quay can be accessed at the junction of Fountainbridge and Gardner’s Crescent through a pedestrian walkway beside the former Cargo bar.

lainie and the crows

The Electric Circus Presents Lainie and the Crows: Nashville comes to Edinburgh via the Carolinas and the Louisiana dustbowl, as Lainie and the Crows give their own British folk and 60s’ pop flavour to classic Americana themes. For over-18s only. 7pm, Main Room, Electric Circus, 36-39 Market Street. Free admission.

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