Rishi Dastidar: Walking with Neptune
A Push the Boat Out Festival Event
Tickets available via the Push the Boat Out Festival website.
Please note that this event takes place on Portobello Beach, but attendees will be meeting at the bookshop.
Poet Rishi Dastidar has spent a lot of time in the company of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. Join them for a Sunday morning stroll along Portobello Beach, where they will try and answer questions like: what do you do when you are a god – but powerless and unable to prevent one of your favourite species from their insatiable, accelerating death wish?
Their recent third poetry collection Neptune’s Projects poses some such dilemmas, reshaping mythology for the climate crisis era and giving bold consideration to the stark choices we face.
This event is a conversation with Rishi, where you can share your hopes and fears for the sea, the environment, the planet, and what we might all start to do to wake the world up a little more.
Push the Boat Out Festival takes place from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th November 2023.
Participants:
Rishi Dastidar Author
Rishi Dastidar’s poetry has been published by the Financial Times, New Scientist and the BBC, amongst many others. Their debut collection Ticker-tape was published in 2017, and a poem from it was included in The Forward Book of Poetry 2018. A consulting editor at The Rialto magazine, they also chair the London writer development organization Spread The Word and is editor of the final part of the Nine Arches Press writers’ trilogy, The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century. Saffron Jack was included in the Guardian Review ‘Best recent poetry collections’, May 2020. Rishi’s next collection, Neptune’s Projects, is due to be published by Nine Arches Press in Spring 2023.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.