Michael Pedersen – The Cat Prince & Other Poems
WithMichael Pedersen
In conversation withRoddy Woomble
On:7th July 2023, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
We're delighted that Michael Pedersen is returning to the bookshop for an event to launch his brand new collection of poems, The Cat Prince & Other Poems. We've hosted brilliant events with Michael over the last few years and his book, Boy Friends, was our first Porty by Post non-fiction subscription box book so it's great to be able to welcome him back for another launch. Michael will be in conversation with musician and frontman of rock band Idlewild, Roddy Woomble,
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of The Cat Prince & Other Poems – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on the website against a single copy of The Cat Prince & Other Poems. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book.
About The Cat Prince & Other Poems:
The Cat Prince & Other Poems is the third collection from prize-winning poet, and author of Boy Friends, Michael Pedersen. All moggy moxie, Pedersen croons to the beauty and devastation of love, loss, friendship, cats and careless joy. Equal parts tender and trenchant, raw and ribald, plangent and smutty, these poems exhibit an emotionally charged, fantastical playground of language and lore.
From the brutalising death of a cherished friend comes a gut-wrenching grief. And so begins a tenacious quest for light, lustre and survival as Pedersen pays tender tribute to a gorgeous, life- altering friendship. In doing so, he harks back to the hilarity of being young, reckless and petrified: memories of boys showboating in a fishing tackle shop, games of feline metamorphosis, laments for demolished buildings and a case of constipation of the most pernicious stock.
As frisky as it is fierce, The Cat Prince pounces around the poet’s emotional and physical landscapes, past and present, unfankling a Scotland full of gothic splendour and nature’s majesty. These poems reveal a poet at his bravest and most vulnerable. The Cat Prince & Other Poems purrs with affection, flashes its teeth, then digs in the claws.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Michael Pedersen Author
Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning Scottish poet and author, the Writer in Residence at The University of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate). He’s published three acclaimed collections of poetry, his most recent, The Cat Prince & Other Poems, won Best Poetry 2023 at the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards. His prose debut, Boy Friends, was published by Faber & Faber in 2022 to rave reviews and was a Sunday Times Critics Choice. Pedersen has been shortlisted for the Forward Prizes Poetry and the Saltire Scottish National Book Awards and has won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. His work has attracted praise from the likes of Stephen Fry, Kae Tempest, Irvine Welsh, Shirley Manson, Maggie Smith, Nicola Sturgeon, Jackie Kay and many more. He also co-founded the prize-winning literary collective Neu! Reekie!.
Roddy Woomble Chair
Roddy Woomble is a Scottish musician and writer. He has released six solo albums, and nine albums with the rock band Idlewild, who he fronts.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.