In an effort to support the Push The Boat Out poetry festival we attended a couple of events on what turned out to be a very snowy with all the buses in town being cancelled which may have effected attendances.
At lunch we went to a slightly delayed talk and reading by Alexander McCall Smith taking about his favourite poets (Auden) and some of his published poetry books. Seemed like a very nice chat and quite an interesting hour although sadly with an audience of just 13.
We arrived very late for our lunch at Mother India Cafe which offered small indian plates - nice to get modest portions rather than the usual over eating at an indian restaurant.
In the evening we waded through the slush to Dovecot Studios for a musical evening in the gallery. A very strange venue with a small audience spread round the gallery much of it quite a distance from the musicians and poets. It turned out to be a very enjoyable evening with each of the performers good in their own way. First off was Iona Lee with DJ Nikki Kent layering poetic vocal over electrifying beats. Then was Emma Capponi and Fionnbarr Byrne with a captivating blend of folk and ethereal sounds. The headliner was Iona Fyfe folk singer and very recently appointed Rector of Aberdeen University.
