Venue:
Word Power Books
43-45 West Nicolson Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9DB
Scotland

Has published four collections of poetry: Wolfwind (Chapman, Edinburgh, 1996) North East Passage (Scottish Cultural Press, Aberdeen, 1996). Rattlesnake Road (Dionysia Press, Edinburgh) as well as a smaller collection, Redwing Summer, Lapwing Press, Selkirk. Have also published several short stories and had fiction broadcast on Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 4. Short-listed for 1998 Macallan/Scotland on Sunday short story competition and included in that competition's first-ever anthology. His poetry and fiction has appeared in most of the leading Scottish literary journals, including New Writing Scotland and the Harper Collins/ Flamingo short story anthology. Has been short-listed for major fiction competitions in Scotland, England and Ireland. Has also had work published in England, Canada and the USA. Founding editor of the Eildon Tree. Also editor of Northwords 1992-97, and The Broken Fiddle, 1994-97. Has edited anthologies of fiction and poetry.

Currently CREATE Writing Fellow for Dumfries and Galloway, Julian has had over fifty poems published in magazines as various as The Rialto, Stand, New Welsh Review, Orbis, Envoi, The New Writer, Cencrastus and The Eildon Tree, which he currently co edits with Tom Murray. His poetry pamphlet Something For The Weekend was published in 2001 and last year saw the publication of his first full poetry collection Two Che Guevaras. In 2004 he published a book of children’s ghost stories, The Looking Glass Years, as part of Selkirk’s Scott’s Selkirk celebrations for which he also wrote, and performs in, the town’s acclaimed ghost tour. In 2007 his poems interpreting Hamish MacCunn’s music Three Highland Memories was performed to a full house at the Eastgate Theatre, Peebles by Peebles Orchestra. Julian is also a storyteller and facilitates writing and reading events. He lives in Selkirk with his wife and three children.

Tom is currently co Writer in Residence to Clackmannanshire Council. He has had a collection of poems published, The Future is Behind You, a story collection Out of My Head and also a play The Clash. He has recently collaborated with Glasgow School of Art combining poetry with sculpture. A second story collection is to be published in the near future. His poems and stories have been widely published in magazines and anthologies in the USA and Canada, as well as the UK. These include Word Jig: New fiction from Scotland, published Hanging Loose Press, New York. His plays have been performed at various venues including the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and the Arches Theatre in Glasgow. His play ‘Can You Hear Me?‘ was published by Fairplay Press in the anthology of plays I confess, and performed in Milan. Along with Julian Colton he produced the Eildon Leaves CD, a collection of poems and stories from the Eildon Tree Magazine. His website is www.tommurray.org

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Reading by Bridget Khursheed.

Trespass magazine and Excess Express present

Utopia/Dystopia launch August 20, 8:30pm at The Enterprise, 2 Haverstock Hill (opposite Chalk Farm Tube) NW3, London

Poetry by Robert Vas Dias, Philippa Moore, Leora Ronel, Nick Baker and Bridget Khursheed

Music by Baby Scream (acoustic set)

Performance art by Lorna Robertson and Riffat Ahmed

Hosted by Paul Lyalls

Tickets £3