I’m pleased to announce…

…drumroll…

…the members of our Electric Lit Orchestra!

On the words, we have: Morag Edward, Andrew C. Ferguson, Bram E. Gieben, Mark Harding, Gavin Inglis, Helen Jackson, Stuart Wallace, Andrew J. Wilson and Kirsti Wishart.

And, providing the music, there’s:

• The multi-talented Andrew C. Ferguson.

• The equally multi-talented Bram E. Gieben aka Texture.

• The wonderful Charlotte Halton on sax teaming up with Kenny MacKay (perhaps best known for being in the Architects of Fear with Andrew J. Wilson?).

• More from Charlotte Halton in collaboration with Mark Allan (of Isaac Brutal and Shock and Awe) and Kelly Brooks (of Tribute to Venus Carmichael).

• The amazing Yann Seznec, aka The Amazing Rolo with a new soundscape composed specially for the show.

• Singers from two brilliant Edinburgh choirs: the Wildfire Women’s Choir and Protest in Harmony.

• And more!

Electric Lit Orchestra, Tuesday 23rd August 2011, 9-11pm, Charlotte Square Spiegeltent, Edinburgh International Book Festival. Why should the story stop when the band comes on?

Here’s the lastest listing of August activities for the Writers’ Bloc comrades, starting with a Tribute to Venus Carmichael gig tonight:

• Friday 12th August, 7:30pm – Venus in Eclipse (Andrew C. Ferguson)
• 13th & 14th August, 7:30pm – Havers and Blethers (Gavin Inglis MCing)
• Sunday 14th August, 2:30pm – The Writers’ Bloc Think Tank (Bloc event)
• 15th-20th August, 1-1:50pm – Neuromonster (Bram E. Gieben)
• Tuesday 16th August, 9:50pm – The Last Man in Space (Andrew J. Wilson)
• Wednesday 17th August, 7pm – Edwin Morgan international poetry prize (Jane McKie)
• Thursday 18th August, 4pm – Story Shop (Helen Jackson)
• Friday 19th August, 7:30pm – Havers and Blethers (Bloc event)
• Tuesday 23rd August, 9pm – Electric Lit Orchestra (BIG Bloc event)

It’s entirely possible that more shows will be announced, so keep an eye on our events pages for the latest information.

The Writers’ Bloc comrades will be keeping busy in August. First up, two new Bloc shows:

• The Writers’ Bloc Think Tank – Wordpower Books, Sunday 14th August 2:30pm, FREE

  Following on from Mr Big Society, we present another show of spoken word and unlikely social policy.

• Havers and Blethers – Captain’s Bar, Friday 19th August 7:30-8:30pm, FREE

  Including a sneak preview of some of the material for Electric Lit Orchestra

And, don’t forget:

• Electric Lit Orchestra – Unbound, EIBF, Tuesday 23rd August 2011, 9-11pm, FREE

  This is our main show for August and it’s going to rock! Why should the story stop when the band comes on?

Bloc will also have a table at:

• Edinburgh Zine & Small Press Fair – The Forest Cafe, Sunday 7th August, 12-5pm, FREE

  For one day only, The Forest Cafe will be turned into a bookshop – featuring rare and hand-made zines, chapbooks, books, CDs and other ephemera.

As if three Writers’ Bloc shows and a book sale weren’t enough, we have confirmation of the first few other shows that will include appearances by Bloc comrades. There will be more to add to this list, so check the Comrades in August 2012 page for the latest updates.

• Venus in Eclipse – Captain’s Bar, Friday 12th August 7:30-8:30pm, FREE

  Hear parts of the legendary singer-songwriter Venus Carmichael’s life story with performances of her songs by Tribute to Venus Carmichael. Featuring Andrew C Ferguson, Helen Jackson and Kirsti Wishart.

• Andrew J. Wilson – The Last Man in Space – The Banshee Labyrinth, Tuesday 16th August 9:30-11pm 9:50-10:50pm, FREE

  For one night only, Scottish spacemen, doo-wop devil worshippers and quite possibly the end of the world as we know it. Part of the Free Fringe.

• Edwin Morgan international poetry prize – EIBF, Wed 17th August, 7-8pm, £10/£8

  Jane McKie has been shortlisted in the prestigious Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition. The prize ceremony, which will include readings, is part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

The programme for Unbound is out so it’s time to tell you about our next event! Unbound is the Edinburgh International Book Festival‘s late-night Spiegeltent series.

Writers’ Bloc will be performing Electric Lit Orchestra on Tuesday 23rd August 2011, 9-11pm in the Spiegeltent in Charlotte Square. Here’s what the Unbound brochure says:

Electric Lit Orchestra

Why should the story stop when the band comes on? This local ‘spoken word performance collective’ are modern day champions of the often overlooked Scottish literary tradition – the fantastique. Edinburgh collective Writers’ Bloc presents an evening of new fiction about, and set to, music. Expect hidden nightclubs and soul trades, celestial harmonies and ram raids in this event where anything literal could literally happen.

Unbound events happen every night from 14 to 29 August in the Spiegeltent in Charlotte Square Gardens as part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. All Unbound events are FREE and unticketed. To get in, simply turn up and walk in. All events start at 9pm so arrive early to get a seat and the bar will be open until 1am.

There are some great events in Unbound, so pick up your programme in The Skinny, or check out Unbound on the EIBF website.

Another quick shout-out for Inky Fingers. This month’s Open Mic night features comrade Jane alongside the multi-talented Alan Bissett.

Inky Fingers Open Mic featuring Jane McKie and Alan Bissett
Tuesday 28th June, 8 – 11pm, Forest Café, FREE

We want to hear from everybody. We want your poems, your rants, your ballads, your short stories, your diaries, your experimental texts, your heart, your mind, your body. We want the essay on your summer holidays you wrote when you were four, your adolescent haiku, and extracts from your eventually-to-be-completed epic fantasy quadrilogy. We want to hear your best new work as well. And we want people to care about the way words are performed.

Our featured performers this month are Jane McKie, award-winning poet and Knucker Press publisher, and Alan Bissett, novelist, playwright, and all-round banterer.

More details at http://inkyfingersedinburgh.wordpress.com

Our fellow travellers over at Inky Fingers have two reminders this week:

Inky Fingers Readeasy
Thursday 9th June (sign up by the 8th!), 6 – 9pm, Forest Action Room, FREE

The READeasy Writers’ Group is a safe and encouraging space for writers to meet up, hear their words read, and get constructive critical feedback. It’s open to writers of any style, experience, identity and genre — but places each month are limited. See the Writers’ Group page for full instructions (including length limits).

Inky Fingers August Minifest
Deadline for Proposals: Friday 10th June

Calling writers, performers, poets, storytellers, spoken word artistes, linguistic experimenters, and everyone who cares about putting beautiful words in a beautiful order!

Inky Fingers, Edinburgh’s live-lit organising collective, is programming a spectacular wordly mini-fest at the Forest Café, 8th – 13th August 2011, and is looking for proposed events and readings from writers around the country.

Check the Minifest Callout for full details and send in your ideas by Friday!

Mr Big Society is tonight: 8pm at the Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art. If you move quickly you can still book your ticket online for a discount and a free Mr Big Society badge. Or, it’s £4/£2 on the door.

Bloc is presenting an all-new illustrated Mr Men story, featuring appearances by several characters you may not remember from the first time round. Other stories feature improvised weaponry in Asda, warring troops of worthy youth organisations, William Burroughs, rooftop gardens, eerie doors, rage, and Edinburgh City Council. The lineup is:

Gavin Inglis reads Mr Big Society
Stuart Wallace reads Break On Through
Morag Edward reads Eat Your Greens
Helen Jackson reads Banana Republic

Gavin Inglis reads Mr Big Society
Bram E. Gieben reads Small Utopias
Mark Harding reads 28 Minutes Later

Gavin Inglis reads Mr Big Society
Andrew C . Ferguson reads Die Hard by George
Kirsti Wishart reads Operation Fairycake

It’s the last day of the Guardian Edinburgh blog. We’ll miss you, Guardian Edinburgh!

On this final day, Comrade Mo has contributed a piece about Bloc’s history and happenings in the run-up to next week’s Mr Big Society show: Edinburgh Writers’ Bloc confronts Mr Big Society.

(If you buy your tickets online now for “one of Edinburgh’s wittiest nights out” you’ll get a free Mr Big Society badge on the night! Or, there’ll be plenty of tickets on the door.)

And, in other Edinburgh news, it seems that the Big Society is headquartered on Leith Walk:

Big Society | Originally uploaded by HellyBelly

The People’s Commissariat has authorised production of a limited number of Writers’ Bloc badges.

If you’d like to demonstrate your allegiance to the Bloc, badges will be on sale at all our events. Or, even better, get a Mr Big Society badge free by buying your ticket online for the Mr Big Society show.

In an unprecendented multiple adoption process, the Writers’ Bloc spoken word collective has expanded again.

Following on from their successful guest slots at Bloc’s Wee Red Gig last year, we would like to welcome our new comrades Bram E Gieben, Helen Jackson, Mark Harding and Stuart Wallace, who will be formally presented to you at ‘Mr Big Society’, The Wee Red Bar on Wednesday, June 1st. 
 
Bram E Gieben is a writer, poet, musician, critic and emusic label curator. He is one of the founders of The Skinny, a member of Chemical Poets, and recently launched the new spoken-word night ‘Blind Poetics’ at, strangely enough, The Blind Poet.

Helen Jackson is a recovering architect, animator and short story writer. She’s already upgraded the Bloc website so we are even more technologically amazing than before.

Mark Harding of Mutation Press, is a journalist, reviewer and short story writer. And he dances. Last year Mark published ‘Music for Another World’ an athology of strange fiction on the theme of music.

Last but definitely not least, Stuart Wallace is a journalist, fiction writer, scriptwriter and experienced Edinburgh Fringe performer. In 2010 he was a guest author in Story Shop at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
 
We think you’re going to enjoy their stories…