PIG UPDATE #16
14th of September 2025
This PIG Update is a little shorter because Annie and her little support network of Ringo, the cat, and Frodo, the tech magician, are moving house. This newsletter is thus written in between piles of boxes, with arms and legs weak from carrying stuff up and down stairs... If you are interested on what the team behind PIG is up to - Annie had the harebrained idea of starting a little Substack.
But enough about tediously mundane things like that: let's get to the good stuff!
Events (15 to 28 September 2025)
The West End is your destination on Monday, 15 September. You have the choice between the weekly Poet's Corner open mic at Hillhead Bookclub and Ross Wilcock's Curler's Cosy Corner open mic. Ross has invited Colin Herd as a special guest.
On Wednesday, 17 September, you are cordially invited to Versaye Poetry Night at Bossa on the Southside. The night will feature a reading by dada poet Derek McLuckie. Versaye is a regular event and also includes open mic slots. Make sure to contact the organisers if you want to read. The same night, also on the Southside, the Writing Group at Mount Florida Books is returning. Bring your laptops, pens, paper or notebooks and join the group for a two hour writing session from 6pm - but remember to book your ticket via the shop's website first. Too rainy to leave the house? StAnza Poetry Festival is running an online poetry series called Well Versed - and the next edition is happening at midday. The event will feature a reading and discussion with Joelle Taylor as well as time to ask questions.
After its summer break, Discover Poetry is returning on Thursday, 18 September. The monthly online poetry sessions by Polly Atkin are presented via Wordsworth Grasmere and offer opportunities to talk about poetry, learn and get inspired. The sessions are hosted via Zoom and start at 7:30pm.
Friday, 19 September is all about your own writing practice! You have two brilliant writing workshops to choose from. Civic House is hosting a full-day workshop aimed specifically at working class writers. The event is organised by Rosie's Disobedient Press in collaboration with Maria Fusco. Meanwhile, Glasgow Zine Library is offering a poetry writing workshop to celebrate ESEA Heritage Month. The workshop is all about identity and cultural heritage for East and Southeast Asian women. It will be based around the screening of two films.
Scowth is back on Sunday, 21 September. In addition to the usual open mic slots, Keeks has invited two exciting featured poets: Gordon Christopher Powrie and Wendy Miller. Get yourself to Anniesland for this lovely weekend afternoon event!
On Monday, 22 September, we are back on schedule with the weekly open mic at Hillhead Bookclub. The theme for the week is still to be confirmed, so make sure to check the organiser's socials ahead of time if you want to read.
Ross Wilcock's Poetry Experiment invites you for a lovely, friendly and inclusive open mic night at the Alchemy Experiment on Wednesday, 24 September. Make sure to book in advance though - the night tends to sell out really quickly! Possibly a consolation prize, if you didn't get a ticket to the Poetry Experiment: the next iteration of the Carcanet online book launch series is on as well. This time, you can get a first taste of Steve Malmude's next book "Red Carpet". Audience members pay £2 to join the Zoom event but the cost is redeemable against the cost of the book at the end of the night.
You can support a great event for a worthy cause on Saturday, 27 September at Listen Gallery in the city centre. Under the headline Money 4 A Honey, the fundraiser supports a Glasgow-based trans woman who is currently struggling with the asylum system and in need of rent, utilities and healthcare. The brilliant line-up includes live poetry from Anthony V. Capildeo, Mohammed Tonsy, Ali Graham and Nat Raha, as well as live music, an art auction and potluck.
Opportunities
Today's pick from among the long list of opportunities currently on the PIG website:
The US-based art and lit magazine HNDL Mag publishes work by writers and artists with neurodivergence, disability, mental and/or chronic illnesses. Right now, the submission window is open for their Halloween edition: HNDL w/ caution. The editors are looking for personal and unique work that uses concepts like ghosts, horror, liminal spaces or monsters as metaphors for the disabled experience. Submissions are still open until 20 September.
Gutter is still accepting submissions for the upcoming issue 33. You have until 21 September to throw your poetic hat in the ring to get published in Scotland's premier literary journal. Apart from bragging rights, you'll even get a £30 pay check if your work gets accepted.
My favourite niche publication, The Hyperbolic Review, is open for submissions for their third issue of mathematical poetry. Got a poem that relates to math in either form or content? This is your chance to get it out there! The submission window closes on 1 October.
With funds received from the Scottish Book Trust, Glasgow Zine Library is commissioning a new Scots language zine that engages with themes about marginalised histories and vulnerable languages, stories, and heritage. The selected proposal will receive a total of £500 to cover research and development as well as printing costs. Submit your idea until 3 October.
Another very exciting opportunity is still open until 12 October: the Rebecca Swift Foundation in collaboration with Fly on the Wall Press is putting together an anthology celebrating the complexity, resilience, and creativity of women’s lives today. This opportunity is open to anyone for whom woman is a meaningful identifier or lived experience. Selected contributors receive a fee of £300.
PIG Spotlight
This section is designed to shine a spotlight on a particular website, organisation or feature. For each Update, I'll pick something new - either because it is plain awesome or because it's new or really topical.
Today's spotlight is simultaneously also PIG's Poetry Pick. It's DIAGRAM - an electronic journal of text and art. I absolutely adore the current issue and I will never get enough of poetic graphs, indices and schematics.
That's it. I told you, today's Update is going to be short. See you in two weeks!
Love,
Annie