lowercase news

lower case highlights cultural events, new releases, publish short reviews and recommendations for works across all genres. Our focus is on small and micro press, radical publishers, and events from independent bookshops. Readers & bookshop events suggestions welcome.

Omar El Akkad Edinburgh Event

On October 25th, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This tweet was viewed more than ten million times.

Over the past twenty years, award-winning novelist and journalist Omar el Akkad has been reporting from the ground-zeros of war and social justice issues – from Black Lives Matter protests, to climate change and Wars on Terror. His debut non-fiction book chronicles the author’s realisation, precipitated by the slaughter in Gaza, that much of what the West promises is a lie.

Lighthouse Books host an evening with Omar El Akkad on Wednesday 12 February 2025: 19:00 – 20:15 at the Roxy. All the details are HERE (you can watch online too).

Burns in Brixton

If you are bored with the traditional Burns Supper format, you’ll love this. Burn Out is ‘A Burns night to celebrate Scottish chaos and creativity’ with Haggis Pizza and “words and poetry from Peter Scalpello and Leyla Josephine celebrating the makars of Scotland.”

“There will be art from Glasgow’s own Trackie McLeod, and leading the music offering, the EZUP crowd will take care of business from early doors to close with a host of special guests yet to be revealed in the downstairs bar and upstairs club space. With Scottish floral design by Flúr London to transport us from Brixton to Brechin.”

6pm-3am 25 January at the Ton of Brix 414 Coldharbour Ln, London SW9 8LF, United

Spiegelman Sacco Teamup

Art Spiegelman, who created “Maus,” is teaming up with Joe Sacco, who created the graphic novels “Palestine” and “Footnotes in Gaza,” for a new graphic novel about #Gaza. 

Art Spiegelman, creator of the graphic novel Maus, editor on Arcade and Raw, and contributing artist for The New Yorker, was also the creator of a number of publications and comics in the 1980s. But it was Maus, the biography of his father and the history of the Holocaust. which took 13 years to complete and won him the most plaudits, including a Pulitzer Prize. Joe Sacco is best known for his comics journalism, particularly in the books Palestine (1996) and Footnotes in Gaza (2009).

The collaboration was announced in New York after the premiere of Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse is a new documentary about the life and work of Spiegelman, directed by Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin. After the screening Spiegelman announced that his next project would be a collaboration with Sacco and focused on Gaza. He stated he expects it will be hard to find a publisher in the USA. If they are successful it would be a cultural and political moment of some significance, bringing together two of the most iconic storytellers and artists of recent times.

Finish Your First Book

Gutter magazine are offering a series of free, small-group workshops for four prose writers working on their first book led by Gutter’s managing editor, Malachy Tallack.

Applicants must live in Scotland, must be working on their first book of fiction or non-fiction for adults, you can be signed to a literary agent, but cannot have a book under contract with a publisher.

All the details on how to apply are HERE.

Friends of AK Press

AK was founded in Stirling, Scotland, by Ramsey Kanaan in 1987 as a small mail-order outlet, but expanded into independent publishing and moved the Scotland base of operations to Edinburgh, later opening a US base of operations in California. Their slogan is ‘Worker-run. Collectively-managed. Anarchist publishing and distribution’.

You can join Friends of AK Press and automatically get every single book they publish, plus 50% off. They write: “The Friends of AK Press is part of the long history of anarchist mutual aid and solidarity, a tradition in which we share energy and resources to support one another in our struggles. Sure, such attitudes go against the grain of this screwed-up society, but as the anarchist formerly known as Prince, Peter Kropotkin, put it “in the long run the practice of solidarity proves much more advantageous to the species than the development of individuals endowed with predatory inclinations.”

The mutual aid behind the Friends of AK Press has kept our radical publishing efforts afloat from the very beginning of our collective, almost 30 years ago. Without it, we couldn’t keep the presses running or help hundreds of writers and thinkers share their ideas and, more importantly, their strategies for change with the rest of us.” All the details are HERE.

The Poor Had No Lawyers

Andy Wightman has a new edition of The Poor Had No Lawyers, which has been described as “one of the defining literary and scholarly works of modern Scotland.” In it he asks: Who owns Scotland? How did they get it? What happened to all the common land in Scotland? Has the Scottish Parliament made any difference? Can we get our common good land back?

In this new edition, Andy updates the statistics of landownership in Scotland and explores how and why landowners got their hands on the millions of acres of land that were once held in common. Andy will talk about his work and the new edition – St Paul’s Church, Pilrig Street. 7 pm Tuesday 11 February.

Tickets HERE.

Waves and Words

Is your poetry a bit salty? Typewronger’s Waves and Words: Ocean Poetry Evening – may be the place for you. Monday 27/1/25 @ 7:00pm

“Dive into an evening of ocean-inspired poetry with SeaVoice Magazine and Typewronger Books! Join us on January 27th at 7pm for a captivating event celebrating the power, mystery, and beauty of the sea through spoken word and verse. This unique collaboration brings together voices that resonate with the ebb and flow of our oceans—poets who explore themes of conservation, awe, and connection with the marine world. Set in the cozy ambiance of Typewronger Books, we invite you to immerse yourself in a night of poetic tides, thought-provoking conversations, and a shared love for the natural world. Let the sea of words carry you away.”