PLEASURE

Quines Cast Live takes over Edinburgh's Traverse Bar with host Hannah Lavery plus special guests: Zinnie Harris, Liz Kettle, Harry Josephine Giles, Kim McAleese with music from Faith Eliott. One hour of invigorating  music, performance and conversation exploring the role of art in the feminist movement and asking Art? What is it good for?  Quines Cast is bought to you by Hannah Lavery and Caitlin Skinner and a host of Scotland’s leading feminist authors, poets, playwrights and musicians. https://stellarquines.co.uk/show/quines-cast 

How can art create political change? What do we learn from loss? How does getting older change how we define pleasure? Education: What is it for? Quines Cast welcomes back guests from across season two to dig into some of the questions inspired by our series with moving and funny takes on our big themes. Recorded live at Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2023, join Hannah and Caitlin for a discussion-based episode. Guests include musician Emma Pollock, poet and discussion group member Clementine E Burnley, playwright Maryam Hamidi and writer and activist Jessica Gaitán Johannesson.

How is our education system serving young women and non-binary people? What would a feminist approach to learning look like? How do we create a society that values curiosity over a lifetime?   Recorded live at Summerhall in June 2023 join Hannah and Caitlin for their end of term episode! Guests include crime writer Val MacDermid, musician Emma Pollock, Scottish poetry slam champion Angie Strachan and also featuring a short play written and performed by Nelly Kelly. https://stellarquines.co.uk/show/quines-cast

In a world where we can ‘have it all’, how do we prioritise pleasure? How do we gain a more nuanced understanding of what gives us pleasure? Recorded in front of a live audience at Glasgow Women’s Library in June 2023, the only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to women. Your hosts Hannah and Caitlin are joined by iconic musician Horse Macdonald, poet Liz Lochhead, sex educator Ruth Elliot and also featuring a short play written by Stef Smith. https://stellarquines.co.uk/show/quines-cast

What do we gain when we lose? How do we live and even thrive with loss in our lives? Are we living in a time of collective grief? Join your hosts Hannah and Caitlin for an evening of poetry, theatre, music and discussion on the theme of grief and loss. Featuring author Catherine Simpson, musician Rachel Sermani, poet Catherine Wilson Garry, and also featuring new short play by Apphia Campbell. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Traverse Theatre in May 2023. https://stellarquines.co.uk/show/quines-cast

What will it take for us to riot? How do we live when our whole life, our very existence is a protest? How do we take care of the inner riot that bubbles inside of ourselves? Recorded in front of a live audience at the Traverse Theatre in May 2023, Hannah and Caitlin are joined by writer and climate justice organiser Jessica Gaitán Johannesson, T.S. Eliot prize-winning poet, Joelle Taylor, musician PAIX and also featuring a new short play by 2023 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize shortlisted playwright, Maryam Hamidi.  https://stellarquines.co.uk/show/quines-cast

Join the Quines for a special bonus episode of women setting the world to rights. Guests from across the series return for a deeper dive into topics such as women’s safety, maternal rage, the embarrassment of success and the lifelong search for belonging. With special guests Arusa Qureshi, Denise Mina, Kirstin Innes and Victoria McNulty.

How do we feel at home when we find ourselves without a place to live? For this final episode of season one, hosts Hannah and Caitlin invite reflections on home from folk musician Jenn Butterworth, writer Kerry Hudson, poet Marjorie Lotfie and playwrights Alyson Woodhouse and Tim Barrow.

How do we deconstruct traditional ideas of success without selling ourselves short? Hosts Hannah and Caitlin are joined by rap trio The Honey Farm, writer Arusa Qureshi, activist and writer Sara Sheridan and also featuring a short play by playwright Isla Cowan. Recorded at the Traverse Theatre.

How do we root ourselves when the world around us is changing so much? Your hosts Hannah and Caitlin welcome reflections on the theme of change from musician Hailey Beavis, novelist Kirstin Innes, writer, Louise Welsh and a short play from Uma Nada Rajah. Recorded at the Traverse Theatre.