Wordfringe presents two evenings at the Aberdeen Arts Carnival showcasing new writing from Aberdeen and North-East Scotland

Admission £3
one ticket covers both nights

Maureen Ross lives and works in the North-East of Scotland where she was born and brought up. She mainly writes poetry and is published in various anthologies and journals. In 2006 her first collection of poems Day Moth was published by Koo Press. She is a member of the Huntly Writers and regularly takes part in readings and event. Recently she has become interested in collaborative work with other artists.

Leán Coetzer is an established contemporary dancer and choreographer from South Africa. Her choreography is characterised by collaborations between dance and various mediums like video, poetry, projected animation and experimental music. Her productions are acclaimed as being of ground breaking and innovative nature.

Haworth Hodgkinson is a poet and playwright, but appears tonight as a musician, accompanying Maureen Ross and Leán Coetzer. He has composed, performed and improvised for many theatrical projects, and has recently been playing with Susanne Olbrich's Strange Little Orchestra in Forres and Findhorn and running improvisation workshops in Banchory.

See www.haworthhodgkinson.co.uk for more.

Russ Alexander has been a member of the Portal Creative Writing Group from its conception in November 2006. He is a writer of poetry and short stories.

I've lived in Scotland for 34 years,
I've had loads of laughs and shed a few tears,

My day job is glass artist designer and maker,
Writing is a challenge and an ice breaker,
I've dabbled a bit over the years,
Poems with a few laughs and some with tears,

I live in Fintray not far from the Don,
I am widowed with a daughter and two sons,
They all have fun and like a few beers,
Mostly they laugh sometimes there are tears.

Jane Bayliss

H. F. Calder is 36 years old and is married with two children. She writes a novel every November, crochets the rest of the year and occasionally plays poker. She's been known to try all three at once but not with much success. Find her crochet at www.badgerarts.etsy.com and her writing at Anything Prose Writers.

Grant Fraser lives in Aberdeen. He is a member of Spring Tides Poetry Group, and some of his poems have recently been published in Granite and Gravel (2008).

Catherine Jaraszkiewicz has spent her life doing what she had to do. Now in retirement — the best years of her life — she does what she wants to do. Her Polish roots feature strongly in her work.

Olivia McMahon writes novels, poems and quirky books about language. Her poems have appeared in a range of magazines including Stand, Mslexia, Northwords Now and Pushing Out the Boat. Her collection Domestic Verses is available from Koo Press.

When Keith Murray reached ten his English teacher reported "...when it comes to composition Keith has no imagination." Nevertheless he found work in advertising. His poems have appeared in Radical Scotland, Open Space, Scratchings, New Writing, Leopard Magazine and elsewhere. He has published a number of chapbooks. His play The Lum Hat (co-written with his late uncle Alasdair MacPherson) won an SCDA award for the best depiction of Scottish life and character (1991).

His long term project The Arch, a science fiction novella, is now in its eighth year of writing. It will probably take another eight years to complete. He is currently commissioned to have a chapbook published by Koo Press.

Annie Peart has loved reading and writing poetry since she was young. Her poems are based on experiences that she hopes have meaning for others. Annie has a background in counselling and psychotherapy. She's particularly interested in Jungian analysis, with its focus on symbolism, the unconscious and dreams. Annie lives in Aberdeenshire and has a son and a daughter.

Gina Sherratt is enhancing her creative writing skills both as a recent member of Aberdeen Writers' Circle, and by studying with the Open University. She writes short stories and, occasionally, poetry. Gina and her husband are keen travellers, currently enjoying long stays in South-East Asia.

Gráinne Smith says she writes because she can't stop... fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. Whatever she writes about, whether prose or poetry, according to a friend she ‘always has a story up her hand-knitted sleeve’!

For more information on what keeps Gráinne out of mischief (well, mostly) check out her website www.grainnesmith.co.uk.