Thomas Stewart – Real Boys
WithThomas Stewart, Janette Ayachi, Harry Josephine Giles and Alycia Pirmohamed
On:30th July 2024, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
We're delighted that Thomas Stewart will return to the bookshop to celebrate the launch of his debut poetry collection, Real Boys. He last joined us back in November 2022 for the launch of his pamphlet, Based on a True Story. On the night, he'll be reading from the collection alongside fellow poets Janette Ayachi, Harry Josephine Giles and Alycia Pirmohamed, who will each perform their own work.
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience.
Vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of Real Boys – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book.
About Real Boys:
This collection is a visceral depiction of the difficult love between a father and son and what happens when that love is lost. In his debut, Thomas Stewart examines the death of his father whilst exploring questions of grief, guilt, mental health, identity, sexuality and masculinity.
As these poems unfold a hallway of mirrors is created, with father-son relationships from art, cinema and Welsh mythology expanded and rethought. From Space Jam to The Mabinogion, The Babadook to Ivan the Terrible, this collection grapples what it means to be a father, a son and a self. Subverting the notions of gender, Stewart addresses the damage of old stereotypes, the passage of generational trauma and questions how we might change.
Here, father and son yearn, kill, retreat, die, grieve, turn to stone, are brought back from the dead. Here, sunflowers compete in fashion contests, bees nestle in beards, apple seeds birth ragged-robins. Here, suns give license to grief, witches rest in the crib and moths lead the way to the dead. At its core, Real Boys explores the crushing weight of grief and how we might just live with it.
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:
Thomas Stewart Author
Thomas Stewart studied at the University of South Wales and creative writing at the University of Warwick and in Milan. In 2021, he was awarded a New Writers Award from Scottish Book Trust where he was mentored by Claire Askew. In 2020, he was Highly Commended in the Verve Poetry Competition, and his poem was included in the anthology, We’ve Done Nothing Wrong, We’ve Nothing to Hide (Verve Poetry Press, 2020). Thomas is the author of two poetry pamphlets: Based on a True Story (fourteen poems, 2022). Empire of Dirt (Red Squirrel Press, 2019), a Poetry Book Society selection.
Janette Ayachi Author
Janette Ayachi is a London-born, Edinburgh-based, Scottish-Algerian poet. She graduated with a Combined BA Honours in English Literature & Film Media from Stirling University and an MSc in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University. She’s a regular on BBC Scotland arts programmes and her work has been translated into several languages across a broad range of journals and anthologies. Her debut poetry book 'Hand Over Mouth Music' (Pavilion) won the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year Literary Award 2019 and she is now working on her travel memoir 'Lonerlust'. She collaborates with artists and works with poetry in public places, as well as regularly performing spoken word at festivals and events internationally.
Harry Josephine Giles Author
Harry Josephine Giles is a writer and performer from Orkney. She holds an MA in Theatre Directing from East 15 Acting School and a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from the University of Stirling. Her verse novel Deep Wheel Orcadia was published by Picador in October 2021 and received the 2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Book of the Year. Her poetry collections – Tonguit (Freight Books, 2015) and The Games (Out-Spoken Press, 2018) – were shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award (twice), the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year.
Alycia Pirmohamed Author
Alycia Pirmohamed is a Canadian-born poet based in Scotland. She is the author of Another Way to Split Water, as well as the pamphlets Hinge and Faces that Fled the Wind, and the collaborative essay Second Memory, which was co-authored with Pratyusha.
She is the co-founder of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, a co-organiser of the Ledbury Poetry Critics Program, and she currently teaches on the MSt. Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge.
Alycia has held post-doctoral positions at University Edinburgh and at the University of Liverpool, and she received an MFA from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She is the recipient of several awards, including the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize and the 2020 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award.
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.