Welcome to Queer Folks’ Tales, our hugely popular bi-monthly storytelling series where queer storytellers from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and cultures around Edinburgh and Scotland share stories of LGBTQ+ lives, past, present and future.
Sometimes hilarious, often moving, occasionally shocking, the mix of true and fictional stories across the year is as varied as the range of storytellers we invite. Household names feature alongside new and diverse queer storytellers from the different communities of Scotland. Many of the stories told in the Queer Folks' Tales evenings will be true stories of LGBTQ+ experience in Scotland today. Hosted by Edinburgh’s Turan Ali, who is joined on June 15th by novelists Kirsty Logan and Ellen Galford and singer-songwriter Man of the Minch.
Turan Ali has been producing, directing and writing BBC Radio dramas and comedies for over 20 years. He has also been telling stories of queer lives and experiences on stage since 2012, and more recently as a stand up. His shows have toured internationally and he has two sell out monthly storytelling shows in Vienna. This year he is adapting and directing Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children for BBC Radio 4.
Kirsty Logan is a writer whose latest book Now She is Witch (Harvill Secker 2023) is "a queer medieval witch revenge quest". Forthcoming is The Unfamiliar (Virago 2023), a memoir of queer pregnancy and parenthood. She has two previous novels, three story collections, two chapbooks and a 10-hour audio play for Audible. Her books have won the Lambda, Polari, Saboteur, Scott and Gavin Wallace awards and have been adapted for stage, radio and podcasts.
Ellen Galford was born in New Jersey, USA, but has lived in Scotland for half a century. She’s had long and short fiction and essays on various queer topics published on both sides of the Atlantic. Her fourth novel The Dyke and the Dybbuk received the Lambda Award for humour from the American Publishers Association. She says now she’s too ancient to give a damn, she’s reconnected with a very old flame (poetry) - mostly exploring Jewish, Scottish and LGBTQI+ themes.
Man of the Minch is the musical alias of Glasgow based singer-songwriter and instrumentalist Pedro Cameron, who has been shaking up Scottish folk music. He blends traditional Celtic sounds with personal, profound storytelling and is the founder of Bogha-frois: LGBT+ Voices in Folk, which debuted at Celtic Connections in 2019. The release of his debut album The Tide is at the Turning in August 2021 brought wide critical acclaim. A beautiful, original voice you won't be able to get out of your head.
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Want to be the first to hear about what's happening in Edinburgh? Just hit 'Like' on our Facebook page, join the What's On Scotland Facebook Group and 'Follow' on our Twitter account and you're all set!Join us for a new quarterly series of full-moon celebrations, with live storytelling, music and a rotating programme of incredible performers.
READ MOREWith story, music and imagery, storytellers Bea Ferguson and Heather Yule explore the captivating tales of these lands, and the people and strange creatures who dwelt there.
READ MOREJoin the Family Beltane crew for a morning of mask decoration, crafting and face painting ahead of the May Day Parade.
READ MOREJoin Gaelic storyteller Martin MacIntyre for an introductory session exploring the history, importance and joy in Gaelic storytelling culture in Scotland.
READ MOREThis delightful Beltane Fire Society tradition allows parents to share in the magic of the Beltane story with their little ones through storytelling, face painting and arts & crafts.
READ MORECome with family and friends to dance Scottish dances and sing well-known songs with the Minnow Ceilidh Band at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 4th May!
READ MOREDon't miss cinematic-folk duo Dowally and innovative French drummer Philippe Boudot as they celebrate the release of their album Ici et Là-Bas, recorded last year in Edinburgh!
READ MOREJoin Claire McNicol and Fergus McNicol for a lively, family-friendly session of traditional street games, playful rhymes, toe-tapping songs, and captivating tales from Old Edinburgh!
READ MOREIn his new book Scotland’s Sacred Goddess: Hidden in Plain Sight, Stuart McHardy explores the pre-Christian beliefs of the Scottish people.
READ MORECelebrate Edinburgh's Tradfest with a free afternoon session of traditional songs, music, poems and stories with friends from the Scots Music Group in the Scottish Storytelling Centre!
READ MOREJoin ballad singer Allan Taylor, fiddler Karin Paterson and storytellers Phyll McBain and Jackie Ross for a ceilidh of land, laughter and a hearty dollop of Doric!
READ MORESangstream, the a cappella Scots folk choir now in its 28th year, led by the renowned Corrina Hewat, is excited to perform their rich choice of songs as part of Tradfest.
READ MOREWelcome to an eclectic night of ancient myth, contemporary storytelling, post-folk music, and physical artistry!
READ MOREBog Standard is the gripping true story of a tip off which led a rookie journalist to one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century.
READ MOREThis special live performance from filmmaker/storytellers Nadir Bouhmouch and Soumeya Ait Ahmed combines film, lecture and storytelling!
READ MORETuFlamenco presents a tribute to Federico García Lorca, Spain’s most iconic poet, through Flamenco’s rhythm, dance, and poetry at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Saturday 10th May.
READ MOREJoin musician and storyteller David Francis and learn how to improve your patter and song introductions with some basic rules of storytelling on this workshop as part of Tradfest!
READ MOREMeeting at the Scottish Storytelling Centre, enjoy a walking tour around the sights and sounds of Edinburgh’s Old Town with artist/curator Claudia Zeiske on 10th May as part of Edinburgh Tradfest!
READ MOREJoin storyteller Ailie Finlay from My Kind of Book on a fun-packed, sensory adventure for May time as we head off through the green grass and squelchy bogs of Scotland!
READ MOREJoin us at the Scottish Storytelling Centre for a celebration of independent film in Scotland through the lens of celebrated filmmaker Douglas Eadie!
READ MOREA photographic documentation of the 500+ Palestinian villages across Mandatory Palestine that were depopulated during the Nakba in 1948 and subsequently destroyed by the Zionist settler state.
READ MOREFormer inmates of the Moskobiya interrogation centre in Jerusalem, a group of Palestinian men address trauma by re-enacting their stories of capture and torture.
READ MOREHiam Abbass returns home with her filmmaker daughter, in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.
READ MOREBorn in exile, Ahmed Saleh knew Palestine only through a TV screen, then he crossed the threshold; moving to Palestine for university, he arrived just as the second intifada erupted.
READ MOREJenin Jenin shows the extent to which the prolonged oppression and terror has affected the state of mind of the Palestinian inhabitants of Jenin.
READ MOREPerforming Archaeology is a screening of four short films that delve into the manipulation of archaeological heritage and erasure of folkloric traditions by the occupying zionist entity.
READ MOREThree Promises is a heart-breaking film that conveys the anguish of children and their parents who are forced to choose between safety and emotional upheaval.
READ MOREA cinematic exploration on borders, the physical, emotional, material & immaterial; those that dictate movement and return, or lack thereof, for Palestinians universally.
READ MOREAn aesthetic and provocative screening of four experimental shorts uncovering the occupation’s haunting manipulation of sound as a form of torture, the politics of sound and sonic self-determination
READ MOREThis conversation at the Scottish Storytelling Centre will bring together distinguished voices to share testimonies from Gaza on the ongoing genocide.
READ MOREJoin us at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 17th May for a hands-on workshop with Rowa and learn the basics of Palestinian embroidery, tatreez!
READ MOREFrom Ground Zero is a collection of 22 short films made in Gaza during the ongoing genocide and showing as part of the Falastin Film Festival at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
READ MOREAn oblique, albeit powerful experimental documentary which examines the politics and economics of South Lebanon against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation.
READ MORETwo beautiful and powerful medium-length films on the coloniality of archives, reclamation of Palestinian music and dance, and the ethnographic underpinnings of colonization.
READ MOREJoin Falastin Film Festival on 18th May for a musical concert by renowned composer and Oud virtuoso Saied Silbak and singer Intibint!
READ MOREJoin Diline Abushaban at Scottish Storytelling Centre on Sunday 18th May for a session full of creativity, healing and solidarity with Gaza!
READ MOREJoin Penpal Productions at the Scottish Storytelling Centre for this series of short pieces exploring what the city means to these diverse voices.
READ MOREJoin us at the Scottish Storytelling Centre for our May Bothan, a monthly session of Gaelic culture and community in Edinburgh!
READ MOREJoin Alan McLellan to walk the old Port Road railway line from Dumfries to Stranraer, with vintage film clips and photos illustrating his journey into the past at the Scottish Storytelling Centre.
READ MOREJoin guest storyteller Kate Walker for another session of Edinburgh’s monthly storytelling club held upstairs in the Waverley Bar on Friday 30th May!
READ MOREJoin us in the historic Abbey Strand Centre for our special Royal Rhyme Time sessions for toddlers.
READ MOREAt Dynamic Earth's Dino's Science Club, your child will make new discoveries each week in these hour-long interactive science sessions for 6-12 year olds!
READ MOREEdinburgh Printmakers' Family Print Club is perfect for children as they explore lots of different printmaking techniques and have fun as well!
READ MOREEnjoy crafts? Or enjoy a boardgame? Or simply would appreciate being in the company of others in a warm, relaxed space with a bowl of soup? Then this is the space for you!
READ MOREOcean Terminal Market is a fantastic monthly weekend market with a great range of arts, crafts, food and drinks!
READ MOREThis monthly untutored life drawing group at The Salisbury Centre gives men the opportunity to come along and draw a male Life model in a friendly, supportive drawing group.
READ MOREShop from the best in Scottish Crafts and support your local makers when The Crafters Roadshow comes to The Centre Livingston!
READ MOREJoin Mud & Marsh Jewellery Design for this two and a half hour Polymer Clay Jewellery Workshop for beginners at The Crannie!
READ MOREJoin Fiona Johnston, audio describer, as she describes various artwork and objects from the Royal Collection at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
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