Literature, Storytelling

Figures of Speech: Place

with Amanda Thomson, Roseanne Watt & Marjolein Robertson

(Fri 21 Oct: 8pm)

*Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled due to illness. Ticket holders will be contacted with further information.*

Season 2 of the Figures of Speech series continues with an exploration of the wonderful and wide-ranging topic of Place within Scottish Literature. Our hosts Amanda Thomson and Roseanne Watt take us on a tour through nature, landscape, community and the language of place, whilst also discussing their own experiences of writing and working in Scotland.

Storyteller and comedian Marjolein Robertson also presents a brand new commission inspired by a sense of place.

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Figures of Speech is a series of events bringing together writers and artists to take us on a road trip through Scottish literature for Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022. Covering six universal themes (Music, Friendship, Future, Love, Place, Big Ideas), each event explores literary blockbusters, hidden gems and modern classics.

Our expert guides will take us on a journey through Scotland’s iconic books and stories, navigating the dazzling array of new voices, and presenting newly commissioned work by artists responding to each theme. Let us take you on a journey across the curious contrasts and contradictions that define Scottish literature.

All Figures of Speech events will be filmed and made available online a week later, and both the live and recorded events will feature live BSL interpretation from Yvonne Waddell, who is a Lecturer in Sign Language Interpreting at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Each live event will be supported by a pop-up bookshop from Lighthouse Books, whose expert booksellers will be on hand to supply the must-read books to match the event.

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Amanda Thomson is a visual artist and writer who is also a lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art. Originally trained as a printmaker, her interdisciplinary work is often about notions of home, movements, migrations, landscapes and the natural world and how places come to be made. Her first book, A Scots Dictionary of Nature, is published by Saraband Books and her second book, Belonging: Natural Histories of Place, Identity and Home will be published by Canongate Books in August 2022. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence with Cairngorms Connect - a landscape restoration project with a 200-year vision to enhance habitats, species and ecological processes across a vast area within the Cairngorms National Park.

Roseanne Watt is a writer, filmmaker and musician from Shetland. Her dual-language debut collection, Moder Dy, was published by Polygon in May 2019, after receiving the prestigious Edwin Morgan Poetry Award for Scottish poets under 30. Moder Dy subsequently received both an Eric Gregory and Somerset Maugham Award in 2020, and was named joint-winner of the Highland Book Prize 2019. Roseanne is currently poetry editor for the online literary journal The Island Review and is working on her next publication Scotland’s Wild Words. She also performs in the bands Lukkie Minnie and Wulver, where she plays fiddle, vocals and (occasionally) guitar.

Marjolein Robertson is a comedian, storyteller and filmmaker, born and raised in Shetland. Whilst back at home in Shetland during lockdown she started telling stories and performing comedy online developing a large following. She also creates content for BBC the Social and BBC Shortstuff and was a regular contributor on BBC Scotland's The People's News.

Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 spotlights, celebrates and promotes the wealth of stories inspired by, written, or created in Scotland, and will inspire new stories of Scotland to be shared. Figures of Speech is programmed and developed by Edinburgh City of Literature and the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Supported by EventScotland as part of the Year of Stories 2022.