AROUND TOWN

Book Week Scotland (Monday 17 – Sunday 23 November) is back for its annual celebration of all things literary. Events take place across the country, including in Edinburgh where crime queen Val McDermid will be celebrating winter, and Richard Wiseman will be delving into the magic of the mind.

Edinburgh Zoo’s Giant Lanterns (Friday 14 November – Sunday 22 February) offers a fun underwater twist on its popular outdoor lantern trail, featuring dazzling jellyfish and towering sea turtles.

And you can brush up on your photography skills at Dundee Contemporary Arts this weekend with a two-day Introduction To Digital Photography (Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 November), a course which will help you master the more mysterious settings and take some sensational snaps.

MUSIC

At The Johnnie Walker Experience in Edinburgh they’re launching Keep Walking: Live (Thursday 13 November) in collaboration with NTS, a platform championing local musical talent with international appeal. Held at TJWE’s trendy rooftop bar, the night features sets by La La, Maveen and DIJA, offering a cross-section of the country’s new club sound.

Legendary alternative rockers Pop Will Eat Itself (Friday 14 & Saturday 15 November) have been treating fans to their ever-evolving, unabashed sounds since 1986 and they’re back with a new album, Delete Everything, their first in a decade. Check them out at Òran Mór, Glasgow, and Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele this weekend.

Meanwhile, Glasgow’s Queen Margaret Union is hosting Scottish indie outfit Swim School (Friday 14 November). Perfect for fans of Wolf Alice and Slowdive.

STAGE

Combining stirring music and passionate protest, Apphia Campbell’s Through The Mud (Friday 14 & Saturday 15 November) explores what it takes to be a revolutionary as it compares the stories of a Black Panther and a college student at the start of the Black Lives Matter movement. Catch it at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre.

At Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre, Irish comic Mike Rice (Saturday 15 November) is bringing his latest stand-up show, Cruel Little Man, to town. In it, he talks about psychedelics, a Spanish sausage dog called Nino, and more.

Set on a condemned high-rise estate, Gravity (Friday 14 November) is a heartfelt drama from Kevin P Gilday, commissioned as part of the A Play, A Pie And A Pint series. It follows a social worker who attempts to reason with the last remaining resident.

SCREEN

Bringing together George Clooney and Adam Sandler for a film about fame and friendship, Jay Kelly is the latest from Marriage Story director Noah Baumbach. You can catch it at cinemas first, before it heads to Netflix on Friday 5 December.

The International Film Festival Glasgow (until Sunday 16 November) marks its 12th edition this year and continues its mission to champion new talent around the globe. This year’s films include the much-talked about If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, starring a never-better Rose Byrne, and one of The List’s recent faves, Pillion.

Continuing Glasgow Film Theatre’s Coen Brothers Of The Month season, Burn After Reading (Monday 17 November) stars George Clooney alongside the likes of Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Tilda Swinton, in a CIA-themed screwball comedy.

PODCASTS

Popular political podcast, The Rest Is Politics (Saturday 15 November) is out on the road for some live shows and this weekend it’ll be swinging by Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo. Join Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart as they break down current affairs at home and abroad.

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson is the host of Complex, a new podcast that wants to help you live more positively and calmly in an overwhelming, information-heavy world.

And if you need more Alan Carr in your life following the end of The Celebrity Traitors then check out his podcast Life’s A Beach in which he chats to famous faces about their favourites places, with recent guests including KT Tunstall, Gloria Estefan and Chris McCausland.

VISUAL ARTS

V&A Dundee is the setting for Craftex 2025 (Saturday 15 – Sunday 30 November), an annual display of emerging talent in the furniture craft world, which features the work of students from colleges across Glasgow.

At City Art Centre, Edinburgh, Unmasked: Exploring Scottish Portraiture (until Sunday 31 May) examines the titular genre in depth using examples of painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and photography, spanning nearly 400 years of artistic production.

And finally, wrapping up this weekend at Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket is Adam Barker-Mill: PhotoSynthesis 2 (until Sunday 16 November). The sculptor, who experiments with light, returns to the venue, this time installing his work in the Warehouse, a naturally dark ‘Dionysian space’.

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