Edinburgh Book Fringe 2011
It all kicks off with Alasdair Gray at 1pm -a delicious prospect of Matthew Lloyd explaining how they managed to fuck up the Edinburgh Film Festival (‘How the Movie Brats Took Over Edinburgh: The Impact of Cinéphilia on the Edinburgh International Film Festival, 1968-1980‘), Mark Thomas on Extreme Rambling, a welcome return to Edinburgh for Ilan Pappe on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, neatly bookmarked by Shlomo Sand (“Sand debunks the historical Moses” – Noam Chomsky), the outstanding Selma James launching Jailhouse Lawyers,: Prisoners Defending Prisoners V. The U.S.A. by Mumia Abu-Jamal, foreward by Angela Y. Davis and introduction by Selma James (Paperback) (ISBN: 9780954437299)…before Tommy Kearney talks to the struggle that hasn’t gone away in which he analyses the Provisional IRA’s formation, development, and prospects for the future. This book analyses the underlying reasons behind the formation of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), its development, where this current in Irish republicanism is at present and its prospects for the future. Tommy McKearney, a former IRA member who was part of the 1980 hunger strike, challenges the misconception that the Provisional IRA was only, or even wholly, about ending partition and uniting Ireland. He argues that while these objectives were always the core and headline demands of the organisation, opposition to the old Northern Ireland state was a major dynamic for the IRA’s armed campaign.
Plus Scottish PEN, The Selecter’s Pauline Black, and loads more. ALL FREE!
Went to see Alasdair Gray today. Nice way to see writers without paying a fortune like the Book Festival. And you even get time to talk to some of them!
Also, it’s a good way to get to hear about people you’ve never heard of as well.