PIG UPDATE #20
10th of November 2025
If you thought that the year is slowly winding down now that Christmas decorations are cropping up everywhere, you are in for a rude awakening. This is not the time to curl up on the sofa with a blanket. There is way too much exciting stuff happening! Read for yourself.
Events (10 to 23 November 2025)
We are starting into the new week at full speed with no less than 5 (five!) poetry events on offer. Glasgow Uni's creative writing department has invited Maria Sledmere for its weekly lunchtime Creative Conversation. Pop by the University Chapel at 1pm on Monday, 10 November or tune in remotely via Zoom. Later that day, you can take your pick between two Open Mic opportunities in the city: Poetry @ Inn Deep on Great Western Road and Shed Open Mic at the House Arts Collective near St George's Cross. Too lazy to leave the house? Why not join the Poetry Society's Annual Lecture. Under the headline 'Burlesque Picaresque in the Rural Midwest: My Education in Poetry', you get a free talk by Diane Seuss, delivered straight to the comfort of your home. The Rebecca Swift Foundation invites you to 'snuggle up and listen to some great poetry' the same evening. Their new Zoom event series 'Poetry in Pyjamas' will bring you an evening of poems with Laurie Bolger and Jennifer Wong. This one isn't free though, tickets are £11.55.
On Tuesday, 11 November, the team behind Crisp Packet Poetry is inviting you to their monthly open mic for poetry and language-based experimental performance at Vic Bar, just around the corner from GSA.
Wednesday, 12 November is again, absolutely crammed with poetry. There are three different open mic events: Poet's Corner at Hillhead Bookclub, SpeakEasy at Adrian's Bar on the Southside and the Poetry Open Mic at Glasgow Zine Library, also on the Southside. SpeakEasy have announced this month's special guest as Gray Crosbie - and if you are considering participating in their end-of-year slam event, the night may also be a good time to sign up. If you aren't in the mood for an open mic - how about a book launch and reading? Vicki Husband is celebrating the launch of her latest poetry book Glasgoscopy at the Alchemy Experiment on Byres Road that same evening; and at Good Press in Merchant City, you'll have the pleasure of hearing Grace Edwards, Ellie Wiseman and Blair Coron read their work. Finally, for the stay-at-home folks, I can offer an online reading with Harry Josephine Giles and Kim Moore, organised by Wordsworth Grasmere. The Zoom event is £7 to attend.
On Thursday (13 November), you are cordially invited to the Waterstone's Bookshop on Sauchiehall for a Mirrorball Poetry take-over via Aye Write. The night starts with an open mic event hosted by Glasgow Makar, Jim Carruth. Afterwards, there will be a panel discussion and readings with debut poets Michael Mullen, Dean Browne and Desree. The open mic is free. Tickets for the reading can be booked via Glasgow Life for £6.72. But that's not all. There are also two separate book launch events that may deserve your attention. At Good Press, Sean Roy Parker, Adam Nasser Benmakhlouf and Carle Gent are coming together for an evening of readings, and Nine Arches Press presents a line-up including Caroline Smith, Troy Cabida and Jessica Mookherjee during their online book launch (tickets are £3).
The Aye Write Programme offers some brilliant poetry events on Saturday, 15 November. From 4pm, you can join Jim Carruth and Robyn Marsack for a conversation about poetry and poets at Mitchell Library. Later, also at Mitchell Library, writer, blogger, and journalist Mark Forsyth presents his latest book, Rhyme & Reason which promises to offer 'a funny, charming guide to poetry (and people) for people who don’t usually read poetry'. Meanwhile, at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, you will have the pleasure to hear podcast host Alistair Braidwood introduce a 'stellar evening of prose and poetry from the Into Creative team'. All the Aye Write events are ticketed with prices ranging between £6.72 and £15. If you'd rather get creative yourself, you can join poet Romalyn Ante for an online workshop all about the 'poetry of joy'. Tickets for the workshop are £35.
But the week is far from over. Sunday, 16 November has plenty more! Join the Scowth team from 2pm at The Mansion in Anniesland for a friendly afternoon of open mic performances and readings by featured poets Emma Claire Brightlyn and Dev McMath (plus a bonus appearance by Dev's adorable dog!). A very exciting writing workshop is also happening on Sunday afternoon. The Crisp Packet Poetry team are running a workshop entitled 'Breathwork Poetics' at the Wee Retreat on the Southside. Tickets are already sold out, but you can still join the waiting list. In the evening, Aye Write beckons again to Mitchell Library for an intriguing conversation between editor Esa Aldegheri and Linda Cracknell and Claire Askew who have just published 'There She Goes', an anthology of travel tales by seventeen women writers of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. A little bit of time travel is on offer at the Alchemy Experiment on Byres Road: Ross Wilcock is presenting his Second Chance Fringe night. So if you missed out in August, this is your chance to see some of Scotland's best spoken word artists who had shows at this year's Fringe.
Do you think Ross needs a break after that? Fool you! The very next day (Monday, 17 November), he is back on Byres Road (this time at Curler's Rest) presenting his monthly Cosy Corner open mic with special guest Sarah Beaver. At the same time, on the Southside, the author collective Battlefield Writers are presenting their new anthology Glasgow Tales at Couper Institute Library, and for those interested in getting creative themselves, there is also an online writing workshop run by Kim Moore (and delivered via the Poetry Society) which will explore the vital art of the line break. Tickets are £27 for non-members.
Fancy a little taster for the upcoming Push the Boat Out Festival in Edinburgh? Poet Marjorie Lotfi is running an online reading group on Tuesday, 18 November which will explore the poetry of some of the poets appearing at the festival. Tickets are on a sliding scale between £0-20.
Wednesday, 19 November is another busy day for poetry lovers. The weekly Poet's Corner open mic at Hillhead Bookclub is back, as is the monthly writing group at Mount Florida Books. Time for One Poem open mic is also back at Sweeney's on the Southside for one final time (snoff). Annie Muir, who has been running the monthly open mic night since last year is moving on to other, new and exciting projects. At Listen Gallery near the Barras, you have the chance to witness the unique collaboration between Simone Seales (cello and vocals) and Mele Broomes (spoken word and vocals). If all these options are giving you decision paralysis, you can also opt to stay at home and watch Well Versed, StAnza Poetry Festival's online poetry discussion event featuring some of the festivals headliners. Today's event features Karen McCarthy Woolf.
On Thursday, 20 November, St Mungo's Mirrorball is back with another outstanding showcase. This time, the writers' collective is taking over the CCA with a line-up featuring Robert Crawford, Vicki Husband, David Kinloch, Finola Scott and Eloise Birtwhistle. Other options for the night include the online showcase featuring the shortlisted writers for this year's Bold Types Creative Writing Competition by Glasgow Women's Library as well as the monthly Discover Poetry online event run by Wordsworth Grasmere.
Push the Boat Out (PTBO) is officially starting in Edinburgh on Thursday (see spotlight below). But of those unable to travel across to the capital, there are also a few online events. On Friday, 21 November they include a poetry workshop with Lorna Goodison all about the art of translating existing stories and texts into different places and Englishes.
On Saturday (22 November) PTBO is inviting audiences further afield to a double-bill online reading with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Arundhathi Subramaniam. You can also join an online generative writing lab with Victoria Chang all about experimentation. But you don't have to settle for online poetry. Glasgow also offers an in-person gem for poetry lovers: The Writers Gathering is organising an discussion event with poets including Colin Herd, Chisom Okoronkwo and Ross Wilcock to explore what fuels our creativity and sparks our imagination in storytelling. The meeting takes place from 2pm at the Boardwalk in Merchant City.
Another PTBO writing workshop on Sunday afternoon (23 November) invites participants to explore poems from the Palestinian poetry anthology Heaven Looks Like Us and use generative writing prompts to create new work in conversation with the existing work. The workshop is run by Noori Hindi.
Opportunities
Today's pick from among the long list of opportunities currently on the PIG website:
As previously mentioned, SpeakEasy, Glasgow's unique open mic night with its own house band is launching its own slam competition. You still have until 14 November to apply to be part of the fun, which might see you win a prize of £50 as well as a future headline slot at SpeakEasy.
Jerwood Foundation is currently accepting applications for its Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies. The scheme is a development programme for emerging writers and includes a residential writing course as well as tutoring, participation in Masterclasses and peer support. The deadline for applications is 17 November 2025.
The Irish literary magazine Channel is currently open for submissions until 20 November. The journal is dedicated to the topic of the climate crisis and publishes poetry and prose with an environmentalist perspective. Selected work will receive a fee of €35 per printed page.
Also still running until 23 November is the call for submissions for the anniversary anthology by the Creative Writing department of the University of Glasgow. This one is only open to students and staff current and former of the Creative Writing Programme at UofG, though. Sorry!
The Candyman's Trumpet has commissioned Scowth's Keeks Mc to edit its upcoming Scots-language Edition for February 2026. Although there is no official deadline, I would recommend to get your best work in Scots submitted asap to be part of this one.
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 on Push the Boat Out (PTBO), Edinburgh's International Poetry Festival which is running from 20 to 23 November 2025. Each day is jam-packed with readings, workshops, discussions and performances, including names such as Leena Norms, Hollie McNish, Michael Pedersen, Luke Kennard, Anthony Anaxagorou and many more.
Worth highlighting is the Glasgow City of Poets takeover on Saturday morning which will feature Keeks Mc, Theo Cross, Chisom Okoronkwo, Ro Mehrooz, Elissa Hunter-Dorans, Spencer Mason and Anne Wilkie. I am also super excited to see the session dedicated to the anthology Versus Versus by Rachael Boast, which showcases 100 disabled, D/deaf and neurodivergent poets, from across the globe. To celebrate the book, Elspeth Wilson will chair a panel including Polly Atkin, Pascale Petit and Nuala Watt. Glasgow's SpeakEasy will also be featured on Saturday. RJ Hunter and the Speakeasy house band are bringing the SpeakEasy open mic experience to Edinburgh. Another personal favourite of mine is 'Poetry is Punk', a performance with experimental poets and performers, Mátyás Dunajcsik and Nat Raha, who will be weaving together spoken word, bass, loop pedals and a whole lot of energy. Sounds awesome. Important to flag is also the Gaelic poetry and song night on Sunday which will include Jeni Flannigan (of Bothan Dhùn Èideann and Lusan Buì), Niall O’ Gallagher, Josie Duncan, Iona Mairead Davidson and Calum ‘singing weatherman’ MacColla.
If you can't make it along to the event, PTBO have also joint forces with EHFM to offer livestreams for a number of events - that's on top of the online workshops mentioned above. You can tune in free of charge via ehfm.live.
PIG's Poetry Pick
Today, I picked a poem by Isabelle Baafi, not just because her debut collection one the 2025 Forward Prize and she will be at PTBO, but also because the Scottish Poetry Library's podcast 'Nothing But the Poem' featured her recently.
Burst Me Into Song
by Isabelle Baafi
although perhaps
not a symphony
but a hum
perhaps aloe vera for ulcered gums
and leaf shadows dappling our chests
perhaps the equinox
perhaps afrobeats
perhaps yams perhaps
homeostasis
perhaps orange peel brightens dark
thoughts
and the scar on my face
gives a lecture
on beauty perhaps you hand me a fig
and our fingers graze
and we leave the roast chicken
to burn
perhaps the chivalry of autocorrect the motherhood
of bleach
perhaps your dirty socks and my unread books
the papercut the sucked thumb the blood
covenant
perhaps the alarm warns us
about us
perhaps
enough points for a free latte
perhaps vegan steak zero waste
the book of john
perhaps three buses in a row
perhaps the postman
holds the lift
and the safety pins
are where we last saw them
via Propel Magazine. You can also hear Isabelle read the poem on the Propel Magazine site.
That's it for today.
Love,
Annie