ceilidh  {Scots gaelic, "Kay-Lee" , kʲʰeːli} 

A community gathering and sharing event, often accompanied by music, dancing and storytelling

Put your dancing shoes on and dance the night away at our ceilidh, brought to you by the brilliant Science Ceilidh Band.

The Science Ceilidh Band is formed from the team of Lewis Hou (fiddle, calling), Lewis Williamson (fiddle), Gary Rafferty (guitar) and Helen Le-Mar (flute, calling). 

The band have played their high energy take on traditional Scottish music around Europe, incorporating elements from continental balfolk, quebecois and nordic traditions with a cheeky dash of techno and geek culture for good measure into their ceilidhs for festivals, events, weddings and conferences. Highlights have included TEDxGlasgow, the Royal Society, Physiological Society Conference, Big Bang Bash at National Museum Scotland, Green Man Festival (Einstein's Garden), headlining Solarsphere in Wales, Mugstock Festival and weddings in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Ireland. 

P. S. We love a good excuse to dress up so fancy dress/cosplay is encouraged!

Dancing time: 2.5 hours

Tickets: £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Quaker Hall

Scotland 2019. Student Kim Seeberg has compiled a book from translated letters depicting the brutality of the Norwegian witch trials on the arctic island of Vardø over three hundred years ago. 

Is Kim hearing voices, or are the stories of these lost women and girls the true account of those persecuted during The Witch Panic in Norway in 1662?

Vardø 1663. Ingeborg Iversdatter fights to save herself and her little sister from the stake. But Maren Olufsdatter is proud of the dark power she has inherited from her mother – at last, in a world ruled by men, Maren can have vengeance on all those who branded her a witch's get.

Written by Noelle Harrison and Becky Sweeney. Based on the novel Where the Ice Burns by Noelle Harrison, this 55-minute physical theatre show blends spoken word, film projection, music, and movement.

Throughout history, many women accused of witchcraft, accused of being in league with the Devil, have been silenced, subjugated, threatened and killed. The fear and horror surrounding witch panics created a terror with violent results.  The heritage of sensationalising women accused of witchcraft permeates through time, all the way to this day. Witch hunts still exist! The line between fantasy and truth is blurred. Did the accused really have access to magical powers? Where does the true horror in this story lie?

 About Aurora Writers

 Aurora Writers was reborn in 2016 in Edinburgh with the intention of running writing retreats and workshops in collaboration with other writers and creatives. Its previous incarnation was Aurora Theatre Company, based in Dublin in Ireland in the 1990s and founded by Noelle Harrison and Donna Ansley. During that time, the company produced four plays all of which focused on women’s stories: Northern Landscapes, Black Virgin, Runaway Wife and The Good Sister.

 For Witches’ Gets, women of different generations collaborate through storytelling, performance, dance, song, animation and film-making to raise the voices of some of the women who society believed were candidates for the stake.

Running time: 70 minutes

Tickets: £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Lomond Room

Ben Aaronovitch is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling PC Peter Grant series of novels ( starting with Rivers of London). He was born and raised in London, and his love for the city is reflected throughout the series. Ben has also previously written for television and worked as a bookseller.

Ben will be talking about his shiny new novella The October Man and you’ll be able to get your hands on pre-publication copies!

Find out more about: Ben Aaronovitch!

This event will have a BSL interpreter.

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Theatre

Handel Fledermaus has travelled from the distant town of Vondorvotteimittiss, where the cabbage is king and time is sacred. A supernatural invader has plunged his once idyllic home into chaos, and he seeks the help of anyone who would believe his tale. But with a giant clock, a flying fiddler and a horde of ravenous pigs, it’s a very tall tale indeed.

Edgar Allan Poe’s comical short grows arms, legs and teeth in a fantastical and frantic monologue by Dave Robb, directed by Flavia D’Avila.

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £10/ £8 concessions

Venue: Bar

James Oswald is possibly best known for his supernatural crime novels set in Edinburgh, or the lovely pictures of cows he shares on his Instagram. But before he became a bestselling crime writer, James wrote a classic fantasy series, The Ballad of Sir Benfro. Inspired by the language and folklore of Wales, it follows the adventures of a young dragon called Sir Benfro who lives in a land where his kind have been hunted near to extinction by men. It’s a magical tale of adventure, friendship, and (most importantly) DRAGONS!

Find out more about: James Oswald!

Chaired by David Bishop

Running Time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Theatre

Ciamar a nì thu saoghal ùr sa Ghàidhlig? Ciamar a chruthaicheas tu facail leithid stèisean-fànais, luathas-teichidh no saibeirneatach? Thig còmhla ri Tim Armstrong agus Daibhidh Eyre, a bhios a’ còmhradh air ficsean saidheansail ùr sa Ghàidhlig is mar a thèid a’ ghnè a bhrosnachadh is a leasachadh san àm ri teachd.

How do you create a new universe in Gaelic? How do you come up with Gaelic words for ‘space-station’, ‘escape velocity’ or ‘cybernetic’? Join Tim Armstrong and David Eyre as they discuss the new wave of sci-fi writing in Gaelic and how they see the genre progressing in the future.

Simultaneous translation will be provided at this event for non-Gaelic speakers.

Find out more about: Tim Armstrong and David Eyre!

Running Time: 60 minutes

Tickets £8/£6 concession

Venue: Lomond Room

In his new book, An American Story, Christopher Priest offers a powerful meditation on loss and memory seen through the prism of 9/11.

Science journalist Ben Matson lost the woman he loved in the 9/11 attacks. Or rather, he thinks he did. No body has ever been recovered, and Lil shouldn't have been on that particular plane at that time. But he knows she was.

Now nearly 20 years later, the recovery of an unidentified plane wreck has reignited Ben’s investigation into what might have happened that day. But when Ben starts to track down testimonies from engineers, scientists, and pilots connected to 9/11 and Lil’s disappearance, he sets off a chain of events that causes him to question everything he thought he knew…

Find out more about: Christopher Priest!

Chaired by Lee Randall

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Upper Hall

Kristina Pérez and Amy McCulloch discuss their work and make us wish we had a robotic pet or were able to shoot electricity from our fingers! In The Tesla Legacy (Pérez) and Jinxed (McCulloch), both touch on the importance of girls in STEM roles.

Find out more about: Kristina Pérez and Amy McCulloch!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/£6 concession

Venue: Pentland Room

Fire! Incest! Zombies! You might think fantasy is the opposite of science, but comedian and author of The Science of Game of Thrones Helen Keen would disagree

For a truly fantastical evening join Helen,  and fellow GRRM enthusiasts Edinburgh University Fire Scientist Dr Rory Hadden, Human Remains Conservator at the Surgeon's Hall Cat Irving, and Aberdeen's Gene Supremo Dr Jonathan Pettitt to dissect the jaw-dropping final season of Game of Thrones 

Find out more about: Helen Keen!

Running time: 90 minutes

Tickets: £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Bar

Music-loving monsters, magical Londons, pirate queens, fairytale witches, hungry ghosts and vengeful supernaturals – V. E. Schwab weaves intricate stories that span genres. Come along to hear her chat about her newly republished debut novel The Near Witch, defying expectations, and creating bestselling novels.

Find out more about: V. E. Schwab!

This event will have a BSL interpreter.

Please note that VE Schwab will be signing before her event instead of afterwards. The signing will take place in the Music Room from 1pm to 3pm.

Chaired by Eleanor Pender

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Theatre

Helen Grant’s book Ghost is set on a remote Scottish estate. Rachel Burge is the author of The Twisted Tree, a chilling ghost story inspired by Norse legend. Claire McFall’s latest book is Outcasts, which will conclude the lauded Ferryman trilogy. Hear these three authors chat about their fantasy books that deal with love and loss and the ghosts that haunt us.

Find out more about: Helen Grant, Rachel Burge and Claire McFall!

Chaired by Sarah Broadley

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Upper Hall

On an island at the edge of a country once known as Scotland, Griz has never met enough people to play a game of football. But he's never lonely – he has his family and his dogs. When a thief comes to the island and steals one of his dogs, Griz chases after him out into the ruins of the world. This is the story of A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World.

'Epic in scope, enthralling, and full of human warmth' – M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts

Find out more about: C. A. Fletcher!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Lomond Room

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. While money may not be the focus of their stories, these authors look at the consequences of unequal societies.

Claire North is the pen name of novelist Catherine Webb when she’s writing speculative fiction for adults. 84K is a novel about the consequences of the highest levels of society becoming so wealthy that they can literally get away with murder. Is it so different from real life?

Tim Major is a prolific author whose work has been featured across magazines, anthologies and numerous novels. His latest, Snakeskins, is set in a world where a select few individuals are capable of cloning themselves and thus rejuvenating their bodies.

Find out more about Claire North and Tim Major!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Theatre

Join Kim Curran and S. M. Wilson to talk about their demon and dinosaur filled works! Kim Curran is the author of six books for teens, including Slay and Slay: On Tour, about a boy band that slays demons in between gigs. S. M. Wilson’s The Extinction Trials is billed as Jurassic Park meets the Hunger Games!

Find out more about: Kim Curran and S. M. Wilson!

Chaired by Eleanor Pender

Running Time: 60 minutes

Tickets £8/£6 concession

Venue: Upper Hall

Hedera Felix is excited to bring Mycelia to the first Cymera Festival!

Mycelia is a Glasgow-based magazine dedicated to the weird and the eerie via weird fiction, experimental literature and visual art. The event will offer author readings followed by a Q&A, and conclude with a short discussion about setting up a new magazine.

We welcome everybody over the age of 16.

Hedera Felix will also have a table in the creator’s hall selling our wares and some of our authors will be bringing some interesting things along. Come and say hi! 

Tickets: £8/ £4 concession

Venue: Bar

With The Vorrh trilogy, poet, sculptor, painter, and performance artist Brian Catling has created literary dark fantasy which wilfully ignores boundaries, crossing over into surrealism, magic-realism, horror and steampunk. The Vorrh is a vast – perhaps endless – forest, a place of demons and angels, of warriors and priests. Sentient and magical, the Vorrh bends time and wipes memory. When a renegade English soldier aims to be the first human to traverse its expanse, events are set in motion that may destroy the world…or save it.

Find out more about: Brian Catling!

Chaired by Stuart Kelly

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/£6 concession

Venue: Lomond Room

There are those who stand apart in society, and it is not easy for them. In fantasy, even if you hold immense power, you may be shunned. These three writers explore what it means to fit in – or not – in society.

Leo Carew is an author and explorer. Hs debut novel The Wolf and its follow-up The Spider, are based in an alternative version of Britain where multiple species of humans have survived the Ice Age and find themselves in conflict with each other.

Den Patrick will be talking about his new novel Witchsign. Set in a world still reeling from a magical war against Dragons, the church has attempted to eradicate the arcane. Their Vigilants will take any who bear the ‘witchsign’ away, never to be seen again.

R. F. Kuang is a Chinese-American PhD researcher whose work focuses on Chinese military strategy, collective trauma and war memorials. The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic follow the last survivor of a minority warrior culture who must come to terms with the terrible powers she can unleash.

Find out more about: Leo Carew, Den Patrick and R. F. Kuang!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £10/ £8 concession

Venue: Theatre

Moira McPartlin’s latest book is Star of Hope, the third volume of the Sun Song trilogy, which is set in a dystopian 2089.

*Please note that London Shah unfortunately has had to cancel her appearance at #Cymera19. The event is going ahead with Moira McPartlin. Please contact us if you’d like to request a refund for your ticket for this event.

Find out more about: Moira McPartlin and London Shah!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Braid Room

Life isn’t always as it seems, and sometimes a darker reality is just around the corner. The protagonists of The Charmed Life of Alex Moore and Atlas Alone will soon find out just what this means.

Molly Flatt is a writer, journalist and Associate Editor of FutureBook. The Charmed Life of Alex Moore is her debut novel, following the story of a woman whose luck suddenly changes for the better. But her new-found success leads to an ancient and possible terrible secret.

Emma Newman is an industrious author of dark short stories, science fiction and urban fantasy, as well as being a professional audio narrator. The latest novel set in her Planetfall universe, Atlas Alone, sees her protagonist deciding if she can become a murderer in order to save humanity.

Find out more about: Molly Flatt and Emma Newman!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Upper Hall

The darkest horror comes from within. In the end you can’t escape your own nature.

Cassandra Khaw is writer across multiples forms of media but is best know for her short fiction and horror work. Her Persons Non Grata series (Hammers on Bone and A Song for Quiet) follows a number of characters who hold the key to unspeakable occult horrors within themselves.

James Brogden’s latest book The Plague Stones reminds us that every tradition, no matter how strange, has its origins in truth and that in the end, our past will always catch up with us.

Find out more about: Cassandra Khaw and James Brogden!

*Please note that Cassandra Khaw unfortunately has had to cancel her appearance at #Cymera19. The event is going ahead with James Brogden. Please contact us if you’d like to request a refund for your ticket for this event.

Chaired by Jim McLeod from #1 Horror Blog, Ginger Nuts of Horror

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Lomond Room

Cymera is excited to welcome three of America’s biggest YA fantasy writers to our inaugural festival. Don’t miss your chance to meet Justina Ireland, author of the zombie Civil War book Dread Nation, Dhonielle Clayton, author of lush fantasy The Belles (plus co-founder of Cake Literary and COO of We Need Diverse Books), and Zoraida Córdova, author of the forthcoming Incendiary and the Brooklyn Brujas trilogy.

Find out more about: Justina Ireland, Dhonielle Clayton and Zoraida Córdova!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Pentland Room

Cymera is extremely excited to welcome Tade Thompson and Aliette de Bodard to Edinburgh to chat about their work. So get up early and secure a front row seat to the action!

Tade Thompson lives and works in the South of England. He is the author of Rosewater, The Rosewater Insurrection, The Murders of Molly Southbourne and Making Wolf, as well as the short story, “The Apologists” and other works. He is a multiple winner of the Nommo Award, winner of the Golden Tentacle award at the Kitsches, a John W. Campbell Award finalist, a Shirley Jackson Award finalist, and a nominee for both the British Fantasy Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award. His background is in medicine, psychiatry and social anthropology. His hobbies include jazz, visual arts, martial arts, comics and pretending he will ever finish his TBR stack.

Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She is the author of numerous short stories which have garnered her two Nebula Awards, a Locus Award and two British Science Fiction Association Awards. Most recently she published In the Vanishers’ Palace, a dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast where they are both women and where the Beast is a Vietnamese dragon.

Her space opera books include The Tea Master and the Detective (2018 Nebula Award finalist).

She is also the author of the Dominion of the Fallen series, set in a turn-of-the-century Paris devastated by a magical war, which comprises The House of Shattered Wings (Roc/Gollancz, 2015 British Science Fiction Association Award, Locus Award finalist), its standalone sequel The House of Binding Thorns  (Ace/Gollancz, 2017 European Science Fiction Society Achievement Award, Locus award finalist), and forthcoming The House of Sundering Flames (Gollancz, July 2019).

Find out more about Tade Thompson and Aliette de Bodard!

Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: £8/ £6 concession

Venue: Theatre

Join our panel of industry experts as they chat about the ins and outs of the publishing industry.

The Writer: Laura Lam

Originally from sunny California, Laura Lam now lives in cloudy Scotland. Her next novel is the feminist space opera, Seven Devils, co-written with Elizabeth May. Lam is also the author of BBC Radio 2 Book Club section False Hearts, the companion novel Shattered Minds, as well as the award-winning Micah Grey series Pantomime, Shadowplay, and Masquerade. Her short fiction and essays have also appeared in anthologies such as Nasty Women, Solaris Rising 3, Cranky Ladies of History, and more. She lectures part-time at Edinburgh Napier University on the Creative Writing MA.

The Agent: Juliet Mushens

Juliet Mushens started her publishing career in 2008 at HarperCollins. She became an agent at PFD in 2011, and moved to The Agency Group in 2012 where she was head of their UK literary department. She has been shortlisted for Literary Agent of the Year four times. She represents a bestselling and critically acclaimed list, including million-copy no. 1 bestseller Jessie Burton (THE MINIATURIST and THE MUSE), NY Times bestseller Taran Matharu (THE SUMMONER series), Pointless presenter Richard Osman, and Sunday Times bestsellers Ali Land, Claire Douglas, Debbie Howells, Stacey Halls and James Oswald. On the non-fiction side she represents Very British Problems (@soverybritish). Her guide to YA creative writing was published by Hodder in 2015. You can find her on twitter as @mushenska

The Editor: Noel Chidwick

Noel Chidwick is co-founder, Editor-in-chief and Editor of Shoreline of Infinity Science Fiction Magazine and other science fictional happenings. He’s been reading science fiction since the early 70s and has found no reason to stop.

Running time: 90 minutes

Tickets: £5 (no concession)

Venue: Bar