With the 2021 Festival now behind us, we look back on our most recent Citizen events. Read on to find out how you can catch up on anything you missed this August!
Tollcross Stories – Portraits and Audio Trail
As the Book Festival moves to its new location at Edinburgh College of Art, we wanted to find out more about the area from local people who live, work and have grown up in the Tollcross area. Listen to their reflections, memories and connections to the area.
Spotlight on our Community Programme in August
Take a look at the Citizen events that are coming up in the August Book Festival programme, and find how we are taking the joy of the Festival to those who can’t join us in person.
Citizen with the Saheliya Champions
We reflect on our five online Citizen sessions with Saheliya, an organisation which supports and promotes the positive mental health and well-being of Black, minority ethnic, asylum seeker, refugee and migrant women and girls (12+) in Edinburgh, Glasgow and other parts of Scotland.
The Citizen Map of Musselburgh
Explore our map and listen to audio recordings of creative writing by local Musselburgh residents, inspired by the town’s sights and sounds.
Citizen Goes Online
Last week we launched The Citizen Collective, an online creative writing initiative for young people across four local high schools. We’re also starting an online writing group for adults in North Edinburgh and Musselburgh
Looking back: Spotlight on Citizen Events
In this blog, we highlight three Citizen events from the August 2020 Book Festival Online which examine what ‘community’ means in a time of crisis
Precious objects inspire Citizen writers
Listen to the work of two of our Brunton Citizen writers, where they take precious objects as a starting point for a piece of reflective writing.
Where Dandelions Go: the film
Here we’re sharing in full the story written by children and families from North Edinburgh, in collaboration with Craigroyston Primary School, North Edinburgh Arts, and our Communities Writer in Residence, Eleanor Thom.
Creative challenge: turning fridge magnets into poetry
We challenged our Citizen collaborators to create some poetry using 30 randomly-allocated fridge magnet words. Here we share Karen’s response to the challenge and tell you how you can give it a go at home.
Enjoy Edinburgh International Book Festival from your own home
A spotlight on three Citizen events from our August 2020 programme, which aim to help us understand the meaning of community in the time of Covid-19.
Musselburgh’s Hidden Treasures – Making Stories from Stones
Discover a collection of stories in film, inspired by a game where families in Musselburgh hid and found ‘Story Stones’. Created by Eleanor Thom.
Book Bags for Citizen
This week we have been packing and distributing book and activity packs to children and adults in Musselburgh and North Edinburgh.
The Keys to Our Lives – a Citizen Podcast
In this podcast, two Musselburgh-based groups join together through poetry and discussion. We invite you to be part of the conversation by submitting your poems, songs and pictures exploring what the theme means to you.
Musselburgh: Write Where You Belong!
Our Citizen Communities Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom is leading a series of 5 workshops involving writing, stories and crafts in The Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh over the next few months! We want to know about residents’ experience of life in the area and your ideas of home, community and belonging.
Shelf Life
Citizen Writer in Residence Eleanor Thom reflects on the sharing shelf at North Edinburgh Arts – a community resource helping people in need access food and other essential items – as Christmas and a momentous General Election approach.
Citizen: Women of Wester Hailes
In this audio blog, Eleanor hears from the women of the Create group which meets at WHALE Arts in Wester Hailes, one of our Citizen partners. These women share their stories of home and community, food, family, work and more.
Citizen: Meet Eleanor Thom
Our community writer-in-residence for Citizen, Eleanor Thom, introduces herself and her approach to this new creative programme – read on to find out how you can get involved in sharing stories and shaping events that will take place around Edinburgh and at the Book Festival in 2019 and beyond.