Dundee Literary Festival 2012

The Dundee Literary Festival will be taking place from 24th October to 28th October at the Bonar Hall, Perth Road, Dundee.

Follow the links below to purchase individual event tickets or view the whole range at the University of Dundee Online Store

24
Oct

Launch of The 2012 Dundee Literary Festival

6pm Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill

Join us for a special joint launch to celebrate the start of the 2012 Dundee Literary Festival and the publication of Zoe Venditozzi’s first novel, Anywhere’s Better Than Here.

Zoe is a graduate of the University of Dundee’s Creative Writing Practice and Study MLitt, working on her novel as part of the course. Come and hear her read from her stunning book, a portrait of a young woman’s growing self-awareness as she finally decides to grow up and make her way in the world.

25
Oct

Lari Don

10am

Lari Don grew up in the north-east of Scotland, and lives in Edinburgh. She is the author of three picture books for young children, The Big Bottom Hunt, How to Make a Heron Happy, and her latest, Orange Juice Peas. Join Lari for a morning session of storytelling and foodie fun! Suitable for nursery-aged children.

25
Oct

What's the point of Literary festivals?

Kirsty Gunn, Juliet Gardiner, Anna Day and Adrian Searle (Freight Books)

10am

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a literary festival? This session gives you a privileged peek into the green room, the box office, and the organisers’ diaries. Panellists include Kirsty Gunn, Juliet Gardiner, Anna Day and Adrian Searle (Freight Books). Chaired by Claire Squires.

This event is held in collaboration with the Royal Society of Edinburgh research project, Book Events, Book Cultures, led by Prof Claire Squires (University of Stirling) and Prof David Finkelstein (University of Dundee) and in association with Bookfestival Scotland. For more detail of the project see www.bookcultures.stir.ac.uk

25
Oct

Matt Cartney

11am

Matt Cartney’s Danny Lansing adventure novels have been compared to Robert Muchamore’s Cherub novels. The latest, Red, White and Black, has the emphasis firmly on intrigue, adventure and jeopardy. When he’s not writing, Matt is an intrepid traveller, motorbike fanatic, snow-boarder and mountaineer. Come and hear action man Matt talk about his books and his adventures. Suitable for children aged 10+.

25
Oct

MLitt Showcase

Kirsty Gunn

11am

Now a regular part of our Festival Programme, Kirsty Gunn introduces the stars of Dundee’s unique degree in Writing Practice and Study. Hear the latest work by new poets and novelists just graduating from the course and discover what secrets they’ve picked up about the world of writing - from first drafts to presentation.

25
Oct

A Poem and a Piece

Tessa Ransford & Iyad Hayatleh

12 noon

A Rug of a Thousand Colours is an exploratory project between an established Scottish poet and a Palestinian poet who is now resident in Scotland. The poems explore Tessa and Iyad’s personal responses to the Five Pillars of Islam. Although from different backgrounds the two poets form a dialogue which is interwoven throughout the poems and creates a vivid tapestry of ideas. The poems will be presented in English and in Arabic.

Photogarph by Mike Knowles

25
Oct

What’s the point of Literary prizes?

Aly Barr, Mark Buckland and Alan Bissett

1pm

Join Aly Barr from Creative Scotland, Mark Buckland from Cargo Publishing and prize-winning author Alan Bissett as they discuss the pros and cons of literary prizes. Are there now too many prizes? What does winning a prize mean for the author? Are the general public aware of any other than the Man Booker? These questions and many more will be answered by our distinguished panel. 

25
Oct

Theatre Studies & Creative Writing Workshop

2pm

If you’ve ever thought about working for the theatre, this free workshop will take you on a whirlwind tour of the jobs involved - try your hand at directing, stage design, playwriting. We’ll have professional actors on hand to read your words aloud and experts from the University of Dundee and the Dundee Rep Theatre to help develop your skills.

This event is supported by the brand new degree in Theatre Studies at the University of Dundee - bringing students, actors and Dundee Rep theatre professionals together in a rich creative mix. For more information about the degree, go to www.dundee.ac.uk

*Please note this event is run by the University of Dundee, not the Rep Theatre*

25
Oct

Mark Beaumont

4pm

Mark Beaumont is an adventurer, documentary maker and author. In 2007/2008 Mark broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle, then in 2009/2010 he then went on to cycle from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, also climbing the highest peaks in North and South America. In 2011 Mark was part of the six-man team who rowed through the Canadian Arctic to the 1996 location of the North Magnetic Pole. Mark has self-filmed three BBC1 documentaries, published two books and is a prolific social network blogger. He will share his passion for adventure, culture and travel in this illustrated talk. Mark was recently given an honorary degree by the University of Dundee and we are delighted to welcome him back to the literary festival.

25
Oct

Owning History

Juliet Gardiner

5pm

Juliet Gardiner is a woman of many talents. Author, historian, TV and film consultant, Radio editor (for History Today) and Research Fellow. Juliet has written 14 books including The Thirties an intimate history and The Blitz: the British under attack. She’s coming to Dundee to discuss her wonderful books and her TV career which includes a spell as the historical consultant to Channel 4’s The 1940’s House and The Edwardian Country House.

25
Oct

Alan Warner & James Meek

6pm

This early evening session with two of our finest novelists should provide a feast of fiction. Alan Warner burst onto the literary scene in 1995 with Morvern Callar and since then has won many prizes for his books. He was long-listed for the Man Booker prize for The Stars in the Bright Sky and his latest novel The Deadman’s Pedal has been gathering some of the best reviews of his career. James Meek is an award-winning journalist who was also a literary prize-winner for his novel The People’s Act of Love, which won the Scottish Arts Council Book of Year Award and the Ondaatje Prize. He will be reading from his latest novel The Heart Broke In.

26
Oct

Caithness Writers session

10 am

As part of the Festival’s ongoing project to introduce Dundee audiences to the work of artists living in the Far North, we welcome you to a celebration of the life of David Morrison who died recently.

Poet and sculptor David was founder of the radical arts and literary magazine The Scotia Review and is director of Pultney Press. His son, the novelist Ewan Morrison was born in Caithness and will be discussing his most recent books, Tales from the Mall and Close Your Eyes. Writer, historian and collagist Jenny Bruce will be in conversation with artist Merran Gunn about the ways in which image and idea may be layered and mixed to create stories. An enchanted and inspiring hour.

26
Oct

Tom Pow on Europe’s vanishing villages

Tom Pow

11am

One of the great shifts in modern human history has been the migration from rural to urban areas, and the effects of this countryside depopulation and the plummeting rural birthrate are being felt keenly throughout Europe. Tom Pow sets out to explore what this means in some of the most rapidly vanishing areas using travelogue, essay, story and poem - to make connections between what he encounters in these dying villages with his own experiences of memory, identity and loss.

26
Oct

A Poem and a Piece

David Kinloch

12 noon

David Kinloch was born, brought up and educated in Glasgow. Since 2003 he has been teaching Creative Writing and Scottish Literature at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, where he is currently Reader in Poetry. He is the author of five collections of poetry and was a founder and editor of the internationally respected poetry magazine Verse.

26
Oct

Nick Robinson on Politics, Power and the Media

Nick Robinson

1pm

The relationship between those who wield power and those whose job it is to tell us what they are doing has always been fraught with tension. Politicians these days are used to 24-hour rolling news channels, blogs and Twitter but it was not always this way. Nick Robinson’s timely book Live from Downing Street takes us on an absorbing journey through the history of the conflict between journalists and the government of the time. It provides a colourful and personal examination of what life is like as the BBC’s Political Editor and reveals his own considered view of the controversial issue of impartial reporting.

26
Oct

The Great Tenement Battle: Dundee vs. Glasgow

Robert Douglas & Mae Stewart

2pm

Mae Stewart and Robert Douglas were both brought up in the 1940s and 1950s and both have used their childhood experiences and memories to form the basis of their books. Mae’s two autobiographies have found her a huge audience with their mix of gentle humour and nostalgia. Robert Douglas wrote about his tenement childhood in Night Song of the Last Tram and has now gone on to write a trilogy of novels set in a fictional Glasgow tenement. Come along and share your memories of back courts and middens, of picture houses and dance halls and of steamies and washies!

26
Oct

Andy Coogan

3pm

The oldest child of poor Irish immigrants, Andy Coogan’s Tomorrow You Die begins with his recollections of life in Glasgow’s slums during the 1920s and ‘30s. It is his gripping war story that will linger long in your mind, beginning with jungle fighting against Japanese invaders in Malaya in 1942 and ending with the dropping of the Atom bomb just 20 miles from Andy’s prisoner of war camp.

As a young man, Andy was tipped for Olympic glory before war service interrupted his promising running career and it was this athleticism and spirit that allowed him to survive an ordeal that killed so many.

Andy has lived in Carnoustie for many years and this is a great opportunity to hear a local hero’s extraordinary stoty.

26
Oct

Tea & Mystery in the 1950s

Sara Sheridan & Maureen Reynolds

4pm

Join us for a 1950s-style afternoon tea to celebrate the new books from these two authors. Maureen Reynolds has written a series of gentle detective novels set in the 1950s in Dundee featuring Molly McQueen, and Sara Sheridan’s Brighton Belle introduces us to Mirabelle Bevan and the first in a series of mysteries set in 1950s Brighton.

26
Oct

Max Benitz on Afghanistan

Max Benitz

5pm

Max Benitz reports from the frontline of a highly controversial war in a perceptive and revealing account of several months spent in Afghanistan with The Scots Guards, training with them and living amongst them as they undertake their tour in Helmand province. Fascinating and illuminating, his book reveals new insights into the war raging in Afghanistan and the men and women who bravely serve there for the British forces.

In this illustrated talk Max will give us a unique insight into the pressures faced by those who risk their lives every second of the day in one of the most dangerous places on earth.

26
Oct

Finding Sanctuary

Albert Bogle

6pm

We’re delighted to welcome Albert Bogle, Moderator of the Church of Scotland, to Dundee. As well as discussing some of today’s most pressing issues - what does community mean to us - he’ll be reading from his new prayer collection, Sanctuary. He describes it as a book of ‘street prayers’, all of which he wrote on various plane and train journeys. He insists that they are ‘not pieces of polished prose, but rather the thoughts of a traveller connecting with the world’. Some very entertaining stories lie behind his reflections, and the Moderator will be happy to read from, and talk about the making of, the book which is foreworded by the Archbishop of York.

26
Oct

101 World Whiskies Tasting

Ian Buxton

7pm

In this companion guide to 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die, Ian Buxton recommends another 101 whiskies that he believes every whisky lover should taste. This time Ian casts the net wider to include whiskies from Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Wales.

Join Ian for an educational and intoxicating evening of unforgettable drams.

26
Oct

Killer Cookbook launch

8pm

Join Scottish crime-writers Caro Ramsay and Frank Muir for the launch of The Killer Cookbook: the grisliest approach to dinner since Hannibal Lecter cooked up brains for Clarice Starling. Caro and Frank will be joined by some crime-writing friends to talk about how food fits into their modus operandi. There’ll also be drinks and canapes to eat if you dare.

The Killer Cookbook is a gory, gritty collection of recipes from the likes of Jeffery Deaver, Peter James, Val McDermid, Stuart MacBride, Mark Billingham and Ian Rankin, edited by Caro Ramsay and illustrated by Steve Carroll. It’s gruesome, it’s twisted, and it also contains the perfect recipe for Mushroom Soup. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Million for a Morgue campaign (www.millionforamorgue.com).

26
Oct

From Sunset Strip to Tayside

Christopher Brookmyre & Billy Franks

9pm

Best-selling Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre has written fifteen novels, some of which took their cue – and even their titles -- from the music of Billy Franks. In the summer of 2005, Billy and three friends took an eight-month journey across America and Europe on a daring if improbable mission to get ten of the world’s most famous recording artists to record a tribute album to an unknown songwriter: Billy himself. Billy’s book A Far Cry From Sunset chronicles a fraught and often hilarious journey that taught its travellers much about the nature and realities of fame. Join the pair of them for a raucous evening of tales and tunes, sharing the stories that inspired Billy’s songs, and performing the songs that inspired Christopher’s stories.

27
Oct

Joan Lennon

11am

Joan Lennon’s Slightly Jones series are delightful mysteries that all take place in famous museums, so where better to hear her read than in the Victorian gallery at the McManus museum? Joan Lennon was born in Canada but now lives and writes in Fife where she has a husband, four tall sons and one short cat. This event is suitable for children 8+.

27
Oct

Jeremy Bowen

11am

Jeremy Bowen has been the BBC’s Middle East correspondent for twelve years and has been on the ground for them as the recent revolutions have swept through the region. His book The Arab Uprisings captures the thoughts and feelings of the people involved as the events unfolded, putting these revolutions in their political context, and using them as a prism through which to understand the broader history and landscape of the Middle East. This is an urgent and authoritative account of the seismic political changes rocking the Middle East, from one of the foremost reporters of our time.

27
Oct

Sally Magnusson & Norman Stone

12 noon

Horace the Haggis, homeless and hunted, finds refuge among the animals of Acre Valley. But Angus McPhee, chief of the haggis-hunters, and his deadly cat are out to trap him. Can a flower-eating fox, a loyal mouse, a gossipy rook, two magpies on Twitter and the bumbling efforts of the Mole Patrol help Horace escape before he is caught in a net and boiled for dinner? Join Sally and Norman as they present an interactive show based on the book where the exploits of Horace and his friends will have you laughing one minute and on the edge of your seat the next. Suitable for children 6 -10 years old.

27
Oct

A Poem and a Piece

Alan Spence

1pm

Alan Spence, author of poetry, novels, short stories and plays, was born in Glasgow. As a poet, Alan has made zestful use of haiku in Glasgow Zen, Seasons of the Heart, Clear Light and Morning Glory. He uses the haiku form to explore the essential paradox of life, discovering timelessness in cycles of changes, immanence in the finite, simplicity in the intricate.

27
Oct

Liz Lochhead

2pm

During her career Liz Lochhead has been described variously as a poet, feminist playwright, translator and broadcaster but has said that ‘when somebody asks me what I do I usually say writer. The most precious thing to me is to be a poet. If I were a playwright, I’d like to be a poet in the theatre.’ We are very pleased to welcome the Scots Makar to Dundee for this special event based around her book A Choosing: The Selected Poems of Liz Lochhead.

27
Oct

Gillian Philip

2pm

Following her best-selling books Firebrand and Bloodstone, Wolfsbane is the third in the prize-winning Rebel Angels series of fantasy novels.

Gillian Philip lives in the north of Scotland with her husband, twins, three dogs, two sociopathic cats, a slayer hamster, three chickens and a lot of nervous fish.

Suitable for children 11+.

27
Oct

Running Event

Geoff & Ben Beattie & Phil Hewitt

3pm

Why do we run? The simple answer might be to get fit and lose a few pounds but as you’ll see from this session the answer to that question may be a lot more complicated.

Geoffrey Beattie is an extremely successful academic and celebrity psychologist whose obsession with his career and his driving passion for running when he was at home almost destroyed his relationship with his son, but, ironically, it is running that has brought them back together.

Chasing Lost Times is the emotional story of a father and son trying to repair a relationship through a shared activity.

Phil Hewitt has completed over 25 marathons in conditions ranging from blistering heat to snow and ice. Keep on Running gives an account of his adventures along the way from Berlin to New York, and explores our growing fascination with marathon running. This story of an ordinary guy’s addiction to running marathons – an addiction hundreds of thousands share – looks at the highs and lows, the motivation that keeps you going when your body is crying out to stop.

27
Oct

Karin Altenberg & Susan Fletcher

4pm

Would you go to the end of the earth for love? It’s 1830 and Neil and Lizzie MacKenzie, a newly married young couple, arrive at the remotest part of the British Isles: St Kilda. He is a minister determined to save the souls of the pagan inhabitants; his pregnant wife speaks no Gaelic and, when her husband is away, has only the waves and the cry of gulls for company. Karin Altenberg’s stunning debut novel was long-listed for the Orange prize in 2012. She is joined by Susan Fletcher who won the Whitbread first novel award for her Richard & Judy best-selling novel Eve Green and will be reading from her new novel The Silver Dark Sea – a profound tale of love loss and the lore of the sea.

27
Oct

Bernard MacLaverty

5pm

Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland. In his distinguished career he has published five collections of short stories and four novels, including Cal and Lamb (both of which were adapted for the big screen) and the Booker short-listed Grace Notes. He has also written radio plays, television plays, screenplays and an opera for children. He will be reading from and talking about his work.

27
Oct

John Gordon Sinclair

6pm

John Gordon Sinclair’s first film Gregory’s Girl won him a BAFTA nomination for ‘Best Newcomer to a Leading Film Role’. His first outing in London’s West End won him an Olivier award for ‘Best Actor’. We are incredibly pleased to welcome this much loved actor to Dundee as he releases Seventy Times Seven, his first novel. Set in Northern Ireland and Alabama it is a gripping story of redemption as the lead character sets out to find out who murdered his brother. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear John read from this terrific book.

28
Oct

High Intensity workout

10 am The Institute of Sport & Exercise (ise). Please bring suitable clothing and footwear for the training session

We all want to be fitter and healthier but how do you fit a weekly workout schedule into an already hectic life or increase your training to improve your personal best times without losing time with your family? This event will show you that you can do a workout that lasts no more than 15 minutes and has been scientifically shown to improve both fitness and health. Whether you want to start training from scratch, or are looking to change your existing training regime, this event is for you. The authors of the book will discuss the high intensity workout and then you will have an opportunity to try a high intensity session for yourself.

28
Oct

A Sink of Atrocity Walking Tour

Malcolm Archibald

12 noon

In his book A Sink of Atrocity, Malcolm Archibald reveals the real nineteenth- century Dundee and the ordinary and extraordinary crimes that took place here. Join us for a most unusual festival event with the author as he takes us on a walking tour of the city including: The Howff – scene of grave robbers; Victoria Dock – home to petty pilfering; Court House – where Police Courts were held and where Jack the Ripper may have been tried; and Couttie’s Wynd – a dark place which once held a number of infamous brothels and lodging houses.

28
Oct

Memories of McGonagall

A Poem and a Piece

1pm

Come and join in the fun of this tribute poetry competition to Dundee’s bard, who died 110 years ago this year. This event will be introduced by William McGonagall and filmed by Dundee’s internet news channel. The winner will be declared by three Dundee wordsmiths, Dr. Jim Stewart, Dr. Norman Watson and Sheena Wellington. The winner will be presented with a quarter stone of sausages, an author signed biography and a framed original broadsheet written and signed by McGonagall. Hear the finalists recite their original composition in the style of the man known as the world’s worst poet.

28
Oct

Scotland's Genes

Alistair Moffat

2pm

Since Alistair Moffat launched his Scotland’s DNA project, more than 2,000 Scots have taken part in a genetic tracking experiment that could revolutionise the way the country’s history is understood. Join us for this unique event where Alistair will discuss the genetic tracking of two volunteers (one male and one female) to illustrate the findings in his book The Scots: A Genetic Journey.

28
Oct

Tales from the Back Page: Football Writing - Fact & Fiction

Rodge Glass, Graham Hunter & Richard Wilson

3pm

For this special event we have brought together three authors who have written about some of the most iconic teams in football. Graham Hunter has had unprecedented access to Barcelona - and the result is his book Barca: The Making of The Greatest Team In The World. Bring Me The Head of Ryan Giggs by Rodge Glass tells the tale of a player who manages just one game for Manchester United before his life spirals out of control. Finally, Richard Wilson’s Inside the Divide delves into the history of The Old Firm and addresses the role football plays in working-class life. A thought-provoking and controversial afternoon is guaranteed.

28
Oct

Antarctica

Gavin Francis & Doug Allan

4pm

Doug Allan is a freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman. He is perhaps best known for his stunning contributions to The Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. Over the years, he’s also written numerous articles about wildlife and his experiences.

He will be talking about and showing images from Freeze Frame, a collection of polar pictures and experiences. Gavin Francis spent fourteen months as a medical doctor on the Caird Coast of Antarctica, which is unreachable for ten months of the year. It was a rare opportunity to explore the world of the Emperor Penguin.

Gavin’s book Empire Antarctica takes the reader through the year, and explores the physical and mental hardship of living at temperatures of-50°C.

Come and join us for an insight into life in the Antarctic from two first hand witnesses.

28
Oct

Chris Dolan

5pm

Elspeth Baillie, a young Scottish actress, is chosen by enigmatic impresario Lord Coak for an acting career on the Island of Barbados. At first fêted by the colonial gentry, her life in the Caribbean does not go according to plan and in a plot full of unexpected twists, Elspeth becomes ever more a prisoner.

Join the author Chris Dolan for a unique reading event with live music to accompany this wonderful novel which The Independent called “a powerful, disturbing tale, written with scrupulous care“.

28
Oct

Iain M. Banks

7pm

‘The standard by which the rest of SF is judged’
Guardian

‘Banks is a phenomenon’
William Gibson

The Scavenger species are circling. It is, truly, the End Days for the Gzilt civilization.

An ancient people, organized on military principles and yet almost perversely peaceful, the Gzilt helped set up the Culture ten thousand years earlier and were very nearly one of its founding societies, deciding not to join only at the last moment. Iain M. Banks’ latest SF novel The Hydrogen Sonata is being published 25 years after the first Culture novel, Consider Phlebas, and we are incredibly pleased that he has agreed to round off this year’s literary festival with this event.

28
Oct

The Comics Of Grant Morrison

D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre and Baxter Suite Tower Building, University of Dundee

The Dundee Comics day once again welcomes a stellar line-up of top industry talent, this time to celebrate the comics of award-winning Scottish writer Grant Morrison (MBE). Grant will be discussing his approach to writing comics, his thoughts about superheroes, as expressed in his recent book Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero, and his experience of working with some of the best comics artists in the industry.

This exploration of the comics of Grant Morrison is timely given his recent award of an MBE, but also because the University of Dundee is currently leading the way in the emerging field of Comics Studies with modules on comics at Undergraduate and postgraduate level, including the UK’s first MLitt in Comics Studies in the School of Humanities, launched in September 2011. DJCAD has also launched very successful modules on creating comics. The University of Dundee is therefore delighted to have this opportunity to celebrate the huge success of one of Scotland’s most influential and successful authors.

The Comics Day talks are designed to appeal to everyone with an interest in comics, and will be accompanied by an exhibition of comic art work. Tickets: £15 for Saturday & Sunday Workshop and £7.50 concession for children under 13. For more information about the Comics Day please contact Dr Chris Murray at c.murray@dundee. ac.uk. For tickets consult the Dundee Literary Festival webpage: www.literarydundee.co.uk/

26
Oct

Grant Morrison: Screening

Chris Murrray

8.45pm DCA, Nethergate

Screening of documentary Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods at DCA, with an introduction by Dr Chris Murrray.

  • Tickets from DCA
28
Oct

Registration

10.30am

28
Oct

Opening of Conference

Chris Murray

10.55am

27
Oct

Creating Comics

2.00pm

A two hour workshop on Creating Comics

28
Oct

Session One

11.00am

11.00am A conversation with Grant Morrison
12.00pm Break

Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison is one of the world’s most successful comics writers. He started his professional career in the late 1970s working for DC Thomson in Dundee. In the mid-1980s he started work for Marvel UK writing short Doctor Who stories, and then he created Zenith for 2000AD. Morrison was quickly head-hunted by DC Comics in America, where he produced post-modern deconstructions of Animal Man and Doom Patrol. Morrison continued to make a name for himself and his most mature and personal work emerged in the mid-1990s, and included Flex Mentallo (1996), and arguably his most important project, The Invisibles (1994–2000). He also wrote the enormously popular Justice League of America (1996). Morrison continued to balance personal work with mainstream success, and has helmed several radical re-workings of major titles, notably New X-Men. His run on All-Star Superman, with artwork by Frank Quitely, produced some of the best Superman stories since the 1960s, and in his Batman R.I.P. storyline he killed Bruce Wayne, having Dick Grayson take up the mantle of Batman. Beyond comics Morrison has written scripts and treatments for films and computer games, as well as two plays and several short stories, many of which are collected in the anthology Lovely Biscuits (1999).

28
Oct

Session Two

1.00pm

1.00pm Cameron Stewart
1.30pm Frazer Irving
2.00pm Break / book signing by Cameron Stewart, Frazer Irving and Grant Morrison
2.40pm Gallery talk / Exhibition Launch

Cameron Stewart

Cameron Stewart is a Canadian comic artist whose credits include Catwoman for DC Comics (in the famed run by Ed Brubaker), the Eisner award nominated The Other Side for Vertigo (with writer Jason Aaron), as well as his own webcomic Sin Titulo. He has collaborated with Grant Morrison on Seaguy, Seven Soldiers of Victory, and Batman and Robin.

Frazer Irving

Frazer Irving started work in the comics industry, like many before him, by creating Future Shocks and a few Judge Dredd stories for 2000AD, but unlike many who had taken this route his style marked him out as quite different. His dark and twisted style found a perfect match with Gordon Rennie’s writing for the horror story Necronauts, also in 2000AD. He collaborated with Grant Morrison in Seven Soldiers of Victory, and has gone on to illustrate some of Morrison’s recent work on Batman.

28
Oct

Session Three

3.00pm

3.00pm Frank Quitely
3.30pm Rian Hughes
4.00pm Jill Thompson
4.30pm Break / book signing by Frank Quitely, Rian Hughes, Jill Thompson & Grant Morrison

Frank Quitely

Frank Quitely is one of the most sought- after comics artists in the world, and has worked with Grant Morrison on comics such as Flex Mentallo, The Invisibles, New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin. He started out in comics producing work for Electric Soup, parodying DC Thomson’s The Broons in his strip, The Greens. Quitely’s stylish artwork has made him one of the most influential artists in the comics industry.

Rian Hughes

Rian Hughes is a graphic designer and comics artist who runs a successful design company, Device, which has an impressive client list. He is the author of the book Cult-ure: Ideas can be Dangerous, and illustrated Grant Morrison’s controversial reworking of one of Britain’s most beloved comic characters, Dan Dare, in 1990’s Dare, as well as working for various characters for 2000AD, such as Really & Truly (also with Grant Morrison), and Robo-Hunter. Some of his work in comics is collected in the limited edition graphic novel Yesterday’s Tomorrows. Although he no longer does much in the way of comics illustration his distinctive sense of design continues to have a profound effect on the world of comics.

Jill Thompson

Jill Thompson is a comic artist and writer whose best known work includes The Invisibles (with Grant Morrison) and The Sandman (with Neil Gaiman). She has also worked on Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Books of Magic, and The Little Endless, featuring manga versions of characters from The Sandman, such as Death. She is creator of the Scary Godmother series of children’s books and comics, which have has been made into animated films.

28
Oct

Session Four

5.15pm

5.15pm
Roundtable discussion with Grant Morrison and his collaborators

6.00pm  
Announcement of Dundee Comics Prize Winners and wine reception

29
Oct

Colm Toibin

7pm Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill

We are very proud to welcome Colm Toibin to Dundee. Twice shortlisted for the Booker prize (for The Blackwater Lightship and The Master), he won the Costa novel of the year for Brooklyn in 2009. In addition to his novels he is a respected essayist and reviewer and has taught at Princeton, the University of Manchester and Columbia. He will be reading from and talking about his latest novel The Testament of Mary – the devastatingly moving story of the Virgin Mary, one of the most famous mothers in history but one rarely captured so vividly in fiction.

03
Nov

It Came From Outta' Space!

Dr David Darling

6pm Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill

Wayward asteroids and comets, exploding stars, giant solar flares and – who knows – even an alien invasion – could bring chaos to our planet in the future. Some of the threats from space are very real and have proved calamitous for life in the past: just ask the dinosaurs. What are the chances that another asteroid has our name on it, or that a massive solar storm will knock out our power and communications systems? Could a nearby star blow up and bombard the Earth with deadly radiation? What about the danger from stellar collisions or of our planet being swallowed up by a rogue black hole? And, if there are intelligent extraterrestrials out there, what might they be like and could they pay us a visit? Local science writer and astronomer Dr. David Darling, author of Megacatastrophes! Nine Strange Ways the World Could End, looks at the hazards of living in a violent universe and of some of the ways we might try to protect ourselves. Sleep well!

07
Nov

It’s Not Rocket Science!

Ben Miller

6.30pm Dalhousie Building

Black holes. DNA. The Large Hadron Collider. Ever had that sneaking feeling that you are missing out on some truly spectacular science?

You do? Well fear not, for help is at hand.

Ben Miller was working on his Physics PhD at Cambridge when he accidentally became a comedian. But first love runs deep, and he has returned to his roots to share with you all his favourite bits of science. This is the stuff that you really need to know, not only because it matters, but because it will quite simply amaze and delight you. As Ben himself says; ‘Let me show you another, perhaps less familiar side of Science; her beauty, her seductiveness and her passion. And let’s do it quickly, while Maths isn’t looking’

10
Nov

Like a Virgin

Dr Aarathi Prasad

6pm Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill

Dr Aarathi Prasad’s book Like a Virgin, is full of inconceivable ideas about conception, from a Renaissance-era recipe for creating a baby to the tabloid search for a true virgin mother in the 1950s, from the birth of the first test tube baby in 1978 to the invention of an artificial womb.

Come and hear these provocative and profound issues discussed at this fascinating event.

‘Like a Virgin is packed with extraordinary curiosities and disturbing possibilities’
Metro

‘Cheer or weep, but read this book.’
Armand Marie Leroi, author of Mutants

17
Nov

The adventure of Science

Doug Allan

6pm Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill

It’s always exciting to be at the cutting edge of science. But as the electronic gizmos get smarter and better, it still takes a scientist to actually put that equipment where it can gather the information. And that can mean remote, hazardous places, sometimes working with animals that would rather eat the researcher than offer up insights into their usual diet. So how do you gather information about the behaviour about polar bears or leopard seals from up close, accurately measure the length of a killer whale from a small inflatable boat, collect DNA samples from a 50 tonne whale, or discover just how many million tonnes of ice fall off a glacier every day? Sometimes diving under the ice itself will reveal the answers – but does that require any special techniques, or just a certain frame of mind?

Wildlife and documentary cameraman Doug Allan graduated as a marine biologist but for the last 25 years he’s worked and filmed scientists in action for many BBC and Discovery productions like Ocean Giants, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet. This talk is for anyone who’s ever wondered – how far would you go for your data?