Talks & lectures

For the first time, see the Forward Prizes awarded to poets live on stage. The annual Forward Prizes are regarded by poets internationally as the highest of accolades. Past winners include Thom Gunn, Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes and Carol Ann Duffy. As a prelude to National Poetry Day and for the first time in the…

All audience members share in the reading aloud of Ken Smith's Fox Running. This is the second of three intimate shared readings which celebrate the range of poetry in the Poetry Library's collection as part of the library's 60th-birthday celebrations. Saison Poetry Library at Royal Festival Hall

Dr Dominic Paterson, Lecturer in Art History at the University of Glasgow, will give a talk on the exhibition Mostly West: Franz West and Artist Collaborations. Free admission, booking essential: ihevents@rbge.ac.uk or 0131 248 2971.

Lisa Le Feuvre – curator, writer and Head of Sculpture Studies at The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds – will give a talk on the exhibition Mostly West: Franz West and Artist Collaborations. Free admission, booking essential: ihevents@rbge.ac.uk or 0131 248 2971.

Fraser Ross talks about the inspiration behind the work in his current exhibition, Senses.

Improve your French conversation in a small group with an experienced tutor.

A variety of different speakers, from artists to historians, at these monthly talks.

A symposium exploring the history of organ transplantation.

Learn to find your way around in the countryside on this orienteering course for all the family.

Bees and other pollinators are responsible for the pollination of one third of our shopping basket. There is now an urgent need to understand how the complex interaction of the multiple pressures faced by pollinators (habitat loss, climate change, pests and diseases and environmental chemicals) currently threatens their…

A talk about how to keep your garden looking good throughout the year.

Pollok Country Park Gardener Sean Belshaw dispenses handy tips on how to get the most out of your allotment in the summer months.

Learn how to make a pond.

Jan MacDonald from Glasgow Allotment Forum gives a talk on the best ways to harvest and store produce from your garden or allotment.

A one-day course to help you persuade your under ten to get into the garden.

Although he went to Antarctica as an on-base medical doctor, Gavin Francis ended up spending a lot of time amongst emperor penguins during his fourteen months on the most icy and isolated of continents. Hear him talk about his life-changing experience amongst the birds.

The artist Gavin Turk has had a lifelong interest in the cult of personality and the construction of artistic myth. A major new book assembled under his direction showcases more than two decades of extraordinary sculptures, paintings, prints and installation pieces. Jarvis Cocker is widely regarded as one of the most…

Join geneticists from the University of Glasgow to discuss the ongoing revolution in Genetics.

George Saunders is commonly described as one of the world's best short-story writers. Tonight he discusses his new collection 'The Tenth of December' with fan Jon McGregor, the IMPAC Award-winning author of 'Even the Dogs' and 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'. 'Few people cut as hard or deep as Saunders does.…

A conversation with the artist George Widener Widener employs a rich mix of numbers, calendars, numerology, historical data, population statistics and mathematical calculations in his art. In his clearly structured drawings he combines real historical events, such as the sinking of the Titanic, with his own…

An annual lecture that looks at the study of Natural Theology in broad terms, with the goal to advance modern theological thought.

Explore the latest ideas in science and technology, outside a traditional academic context, at this forum for debating and promoting public engagement.

Simon Biggs, Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts, joins artists and researchers to present interactive media art projects that explore how the ‘glitch’ can be beautiful.