I don't often find time to write an 'afterwards' blog, but the world should know what a great new venue Sanquhar's got in its spanking new, shiny white A' The Airts. And what a great night the final Poetry Doubles of 2010 delivered there.A minibus load of poets disembarked onto frosty pavements and tottered in under the weight of banners and booze (well, and orange juice) to a fantastic welcome from Sanquhar. There is a beautiful cafe, with big windows and little tables. Shelves of attractive hand-crafted goods warm up one side of the room. Dennis O' Driscoll and JoAnne McKay performed in a great space upstairs where the tall 19th century ceiling has been retained above the new raked seating. It all felt very clean and white and new, but has been made warm and local by lots of vibrant framed paintings (I'm guessing from the schools).
Dennis O'Dris
coll mentioned that he was known for his gloomy poetry, then read us a set which frequently had the audience in giggles. Then he said he'd better ensure his reputation stood, and read us 'someone is dressing up for death today'. It was read on radio after 9/11, though written 20 years earlier. It's about all of us really. Sanquhar loved him. Dennis's 4am start in Ireland and transport by Ryanair prevented there being any books to buy, but get online everyone, and buy one.JoAnne's set was really well judged for both humour and her own kind of unsparing honesty. As she admitted, the ones about the Old Bill do go down well. Impossible to listen without picturing a feisty younger JoAnne pinning down machete-wielding villians... And Venti is a very good (and amazingly beautifully crafted) pamphlet.
Well, that's Poetry Doubles for 2010. I'm looking forward to next year's already...
