Shoreline of Infinity Event Horizon –
Unbound at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Sizzling Prose and Poetry from
Ken MacLeod
Jane Yolen
Jo Walton
Bram E Gieben
Pippa Goldschmidt
Now with added Nalo Hopkinson
Stupendous Musical Cabaret from
Markee de Saw & Bert Finkle
Sensational Cello and Ambient Techno from
Atzi and the Reverse Engineer
Scintillating Audio drama
World Premiere!
The Infinitesimals (Debbie Cannon and Danielle Farrow, with Jonathan Whiteside as the ‘Voices’)
Perform See You Later, an audio adaptation by Debbie Cannon based on a story by
M Luke McDonell. First published in Shoreline of Infinity 1
Plus the launch of Shoreline of Infinity
Edinburgh International Book Festival Special Edition
and your superlative MC for the evening
Russell Jones
in the Spiegeltent in Charlotte Square at the Edinburgh Book Festival
9pm to 11pm, Wednesday 16th August 2017
Free entry
Unbound
Shoreline of Infinity’s “Event Horizon” sci-fi cabaret nights have metamorphosed since their humble beginnings in small Edinburgh comic shops and pubs. This year, we were head-over-tentacles to be asked to host a night of SF entertainment at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, for part of their Unbound series.
Set in the beautiful and bizarre Spiegel Tent in Charlotte Square (imagine living inside a cushion-cum-circus), the Shoreline team set up their artists’ corner, dashing through sound checks and tech tests. Outside, the book-loving hoards pounded at our metaphoric gates (more inclined towards peach cobbler and paperbacks than medieval warfare), eventually filling the marquee.
Our audience were things of stardust: glimmering, attentive, generous and numerous. This was a late event, running from 9pm until 11:15pm, and the vast majority stayed throughout. Why? Well, the Shoreline team invited some of our favourite writers and performers from the last 2 years of running Event Horizons, and Ken MacLeod (who organised the SF strands of the EIBF this year) brought top SF talents from around the globe. We heard amazing stories and poetry, live music and drama, plus one or two (dozen) bad sci-fi jokes…
Our writers included fantastic local talents such as Pippa Goldschmidt and Bram E. Gieben, with universally-renowned guests from other planes of existence, such as Jane Yolen, Nalo Hopkinson and Jo Walton. We began with murderous musical cabaret from Markee de Saw and Burt Finkle, and finished with mind-melting ambient techno and cello (incorporating words from Shoreline of Infinity issue 8.5) from Atzi and The Reverse Engineer. Throw in a little dystopian drama from actors Debbie Cannon and Danielle Farrow, and nobody left disappointed!
This was a big undertaking for Shoreline of Infinity, and we wanted to show our metal by showcasing local and international voices in science fiction. Amongst the happy chirps from our audience, we’d even lured a few SF-sceptics inside, and since converted them to give sci-fi a try! We couldn’t wish for more.
Our stellar thanks go to the EIBF and their diligent team, as well as to all of our performers. If you’d like to find out more about Shoreline of Infinity and/or Event Horizon, take a jaunt over to www.ShorelineOfIntinity.com
-Russell Jones, Event Horizon Coordinator
