I know shamefully little about book publishers but I’ve always felt a little proud that Canongate – who have in the past published works from Alasdair Gray, Miranda July and Barack Obama in the UK, as well as Booker Prize winner Life of Pi – has its HQ up here in Edinburgh. A few months ago, they started a literary/music night at the very stylish Voodoo Rooms – there’s been two so far and I’ve been lucky enough to go to both.
The first (back in March) was great. There was some very entertaining poetry from Tim Turnbull, Dan Rhodes read from his book Anthropology and Joe Dunthorne also read some captivating selections of his own work which still circulate around my mind today. Then there was a set from local blues-style band the Black Diamond Express, who I’ve seen play a few times and never been disappointed (incidentally, they’re hosting their own ‘Vaudeville Spectacular’ at The Ark during the Fringe, which should be fun). Best of all, there were exclusive filmed readings from Nick Cave from his new book The Death of Bunny Munroe, soon to be published by Canongate, with (if I remember correctly) original music from Warren Ellis in the background.
Last night was the second Irregular outing and while it was a lot of fun, I don’t think it quite had the same energy or excitement as the first. The band, Modernaire, were an amazing live act and I’d love to see them again (I even bought their CD which, predictably, isn’t as peppy but still good). I thought poet/singer Salena Goddon was a great compere but I’m not sure the crowd quite warmed to her irreverant delivery (I don’t think the late start helped much either). Then there were the two novelists, Richard Milward and Trevor Byrne. I’ve been reading quite a lot about Milward recently, though I’ve never read any of his books (Apples and Ten Storey Love Song), and apparently last night was the launch of Byrne’s first novel, Ghosts and Lightning. They both read well and their extracts were very engaging, but I think in both cases they benefited from being read in the accents in which their characters were speaking – a Middlesborough accent in Milward’s case, and a Dublin one in Byrne’s. Still, the event’s definitely made me more interested in reading their work.
Hopefully I’ll be here for the next Irregular night (I assume in September?) and I’m already looking forward to seeing who’s on the next bill. Fingers crossed it’ll turn into an unmissable Edinburgh fixture before the year is out.
