NEXT EVENT: June’s McGonagall Salon(agall)

Tuesday the 24th of June, 2025, 7pm, Live and on Zoom 

For June’s Salon join us for an interactive celebration of the life of William McGonagall (the worst poet in history…)

This month we’ll be joined by the International Ghost Society – Edinburgh’s newest and most easily-distracted paranormal investigation society! They’ll be presenting an interactive journey through the life of William McGonagall (a man generally known as the worst poet ever to have lived) whose 200th anniversary falls this year.

We’ll hear readings of some of his ‘finest’ poems, follow in his footsteps as he travels to Balmoral to accost the Queen, and learn about his tendency to end up covered in all the ingredients of a cake after most of his readings. The Presentation will last around 45 minutes, and will use of a variety of formats, including a playable big screen RPG, hidden Easter eggs, and a virtual McGonagall experience.

The International Ghost Society creates immersive events like this in Edinburgh and elsewhere. They last celebrated William McGonagall as part of their Best Bad Poetry Competition. You can read how that went here, follow them on YouTube here, and join their mailing list here.

We will be at our usual home, The Outhouse, and tickets are free as always, but we ask for donations towards Salon costs. Several parts of the presentation are interactive, participation is entirely optional, you can just watch if preferred. If you can’t make it to the venue, you can watch on zoom instead as we’ll livestream the presentation.

How it works

6.30: Doors Open – reception in the Function Room at the Outhouse  

6.50: Open the Zoom meeting (details emailed to all ticket-holders)

7.00: Welcome, and Introduction

7.05: Interactive Presentation

7.45: Notes of Interest and Further Mingling

Registration can be found on Eventbrite – it is free to register for all of our events.

Sadly, we are unable to offer a glass of wine on arrival, but we hope to re-continue this tradition in the future. 

We ask for donations and encourage people to buy us a coffee to help fund our work. If you can’t afford to donate, you are still welcome. Our two anthologies are on sale here, and books will be available to purchase on the night.

We look forward to seeing you in person or in the zoom-room.

Accessibility Notice

Edinburgh Literary Salon is open to all those with an interest in all aspects of Literature, whether professional or personal, and to all parts of the industry: writers, publishers, booksellers etc. All are welcome, and events have free registration. While we aim to hold some events at accessible venues, our regular salon is in an upstairs room at The Outhouse. For this reason, we aim to livestream most events. If there is a problem accessing zoom, we will do what we can to assist. We strive to ensure adequate audibility, and straightforward registration. We invite positive feedback on how we can improve, even within our limitations as a non-funded organisation. We welcome open conversation.

FORTHCOMING SALONS...

We've got some great Salon Events planned for the rest of the year...

JULY: our Festival Preview Salon will look at August's three International Festivals and one of our own local festivals later in the year. Tuesday the 29th of July.

AUGUST: we always celebrate our birthday in August, and this year we'll be looking at our past achievements and future projects. Tuesday the 26th of August.