Talks & lectures

369 events

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Forward Prizes for Poetry

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…

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London SE1

Tue 1 Oct

£12 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073

  • 19:30

Fox Running

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

Saison Poetry Library, London SE1

Wed 23 Oct

£5 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073

  • 20:00

Franz West Exhibition Talk by Dominic Paterson

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.

Inverleith House, Edinburgh

Sat 17 Aug

Free / 0131 248 2971

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

  • 14:00 – 15:00

Franz West Exhibition Talk by Lisa Le Feuvre

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.

Inverleith House, Edinburgh

Thu 1 Aug

Free / 0131 248 2971

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

  • 14:00 – 15:00

Fraser Ross – Artist's Talk

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

The Park Gallery, Falkirk

Sat 8 Jun

Free / 01324 506850

  • 11:00 – 12:00
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Free Training Courses

Free training courses for unemployed people living in London.

Free2Learn, London E8

Mon 27 May

Free / 020 8525 9430

  • 10:00 – 15:00

French Conversation with Yakety Yak Language Cafe

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

Le Marché Français, Edinburgh

Thu 23 May

£7 / 07826 555 134

  • 10:00 – 11:00

Thu 30 May

£7 / 07826 555 134

  • 10:00 – 11:00

Thu 6 Jun

£7 / 07826 555 134

  • 10:00 – 11:00
…and 3 more dates until 27 Jun

Fridays at Two Talks

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

National Mining Museum Scotland, Newtongrange

Fri 7 Jun

Free / 0131 663 7519

This month: Mining in the Penicuik area, with Jim Waugh.

  • 14:00 – 15:30

From Corneas to Kidneys: Organ Transplantation, its History, Ethics and Art

A symposium exploring the history of organ transplantation.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

Thu 6 Jun

Free / 0141 241 6210

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 18:00 – 21:00

From Pillar to Post

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

The Ashoka Car Park, Glasgow

Wed 31 Jul

Free

  • 18:30 – 20:30
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A Future Without Bees

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…

Purcell Room, London SE1

Sun 26 May

£10 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073

  • 19:00

Garden Talk: A Year in the Garden

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

Pollok Country Park, Glasgow

Sun 11 Aug

Free / 0141 276 0924

Meet at visitor centre.

  • 13:00 – 15:00

Garden Talk: Allotments

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

Pollok Country Park, Glasgow

Sun 7 Jul

Free / 0141 276 0924

  • 13:00 – 15:00

Garden Talk: Ponds

Learn how to make a pond.

Pollok Country Park, Glasgow

Sun 8 Sep

Free / 0141 276 0924

  • 13:00 – 15:00

Garden Talks: Harvesting and the Storage of Crops

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

Pollok Country Park, Glasgow

Sun 6 Oct

Free / 0141 276 0924

  • 13:00 – 15:00
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Gardening with Children

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

RHS Garden Wisley, Woking

Wed 17 Jul

£30–£41.50 / 01483 224234

  • 10:30 – 12:30

Gavin Francis: Empire Antarctica – Ice, Silence and Emperor Penguins

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.

Harmony Garden, Melrose

Thu 13 Jun

£10 (£8) / 0844 357 1060

Part of Borders Book Festival.

Largo and Newburn Church, Leven

Thu 4 Jul

£10

Part of East Neuk Festival.

Gavin Turk and Jarvis Cocker: Art and Fame: What Celebrity Does to Identity

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…

Queen Elizabeth Hall, London SE1

Fri 24 May

£12–£15 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073

  • 19:45

Genetics: Past, Present and Future

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

University of Glasgow

Sat 8 Jun

Free Small cost for lunch / 0141 330 5511

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 11:00 – 16:00

George Saunders

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.…

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1

Wed 29 May

Level 5 Function Room

£8 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073

  • 18:30
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George Widener

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…

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1

Wed 12 Jun

Foyer

£8 Booking: £1.75 (Members £0.00) (£50) / 0844 875 0073

  • 19:45

German Conversation with Yakety Yak Language Cafe

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

Filmhouse Café Bar, Edinburgh

Thu 23 May

Times to be confirmed / £7 / 07826 555 134

Thu 30 May

Times to be confirmed / £7 / 07826 555 134

Thu 6 Jun

Times to be confirmed / £7 / 07826 555 134

…and 3 more dates until 27 Jun

The Gifford Lecture

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

McEwan Hall, Edinburgh

Wed 29 May

Free

This year's lecture is 'The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity', about the decline of violence in what are often perceived be highly violent times. Given by Prof Steven Pinker of Harvard University, who studies cognition and language.

Glasgow Café Scientifique

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

Tron Theatre, Glasgow

Mon 10 Jun

Victorian Bar

Free / 0141 552 4267

Today, a Glasgow Science Festival special. All over the world, many species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction, but especially amphibians. Herpetologist (amphibian expert) Professor Roger Downie outlines the evidence for amphibian decline, and its possible causes.

Mon 7 Oct

Victorian Bar

Free / 0141 552 4267

Topic: 'Life = H2O: Six (or perhaps seven) things you did not know about water' by Colin Adams.

  • 19:00

Glitch'd: Purposeful Mistakes

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

Edinburgh College of Art

Wed 28 Aug

£6 / 0131 473 2000

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