Huge Congratualtions to Rab Wilson who has just won the McCash Scots Poetry Competition.

Rab said of his success: "It makes me feel three inches taller."
Below is the winning poem, "Lambs".

Lesley Duncan writing in the Herald saidof the poem;"It deals in an emotionally powerful way with that most disturbing of themes, the slaughter of innocents."

The Lambs.

Weeks eftir the atrocity itsel,
When aince the service in the kirk hud skailed,
An left us ‘not another tear to shed’,
Ah cycled oot alang ma usual route.
Criss-crossin thon twa brigs that span the Nith,
A snell wuin blawin throu skeletal trees,
Whiles tryin tae dispel thon ugsome grue,
That lately sae wis etcht upo ma mind;
The dreid o parents rushin tae the schuil,
Thae anguisht cries at the gymnasium,
O thaim whaes lives hud juist bin torn apairt.
Thon lass at wark, wha tell’t us her seeck joke –
“No!” ah said, ma haund raised tae admonish –
Then walkt awa. Ah couldnae bear tae hear.
The day wis cauld, sae cauld, air burnt ma lungs,
Grey clood hapt ower the taps o snaw cled hills.
Approachin nou the straicht afore South Mains,
When, faur aheid, some muivement claucht ma een,
And suin, abune the wuin, ah heard the skirl
That weirdlie won oot frae the distant flock,
Relentlessly advancin doun the road.
Ahint thaim cam a shepherd, oan his quad,
An, dairtin at their heels, his collie dowg.
Their skraich grew, exponential decibels,
Until their bleatin fillt the air, lik screams.
Lambs brent new separated frae their dams,
Descendin frae heich pastures they hud shared.
Transfixed, ah haltit, ruitit tae the spot,
A grim realisation at aince dawned,
Whilst roond me thrangt a woolly, writhin mass,
A dowie, sad, heirt-rendin leevin sea,
That seemt tae tak eternity tae pass,
Then, like some eldritch dwam, wis gane at last.
Ah noddit tae the Herd, but couldnae speik,
Then cycled oan, past buddin catkin trees,
Pale snawdraps, wanin nou, wha hung their heids,
An tried tae fuil masel wi knotless lees;
It wis the drivin sleet that blear’t ma ee.

Postcards From The Hedge

Postcards from the Hedge

Penpont based writer Hugh McMillan is launching his new book of poetry this month. The collection, ‘Postcards from the Hedge’ is a limited edition Artist’s Book designed and illustrated by Hugh Bryden. The limited edition collection is based on a frenetic tour of Scotland and comes along with a specially designed tour map! A poster version of the map is also available with the poems printed on the back. The book is to be launched at Gracefield Arts Centre on Friday September 19th at 7.00pm and in Thomas Tosh, Thornhill on Saturday September 6th at 3.30pm.

Hugh McMillan is a well published, prize winning poet with five full collections of poetry to his credit. He has been anthologised widely in Scotland and abroad and has been awarded several Scottish Arts Council Bursaries, including one last year to help write the present collection.

Hugh Bryden took early retirement after 30 years as an Art Teacher in August 2005 to concentrate on Printmaking and Artists Books. He was a regular exhibitor in national and international exhibitions and was involved for a number of years in the gallery business in Dumfries. In 2005 he founded Roncadora Press to allow him to concentrate on personalised artist’s books.

“A desire to get at the truth is at the heart of every genuine writer’s work. I see this genuineness everywhere in McMillan’s writing, even at its most light hearted…he is a born writer.” Gerry Cambridge



My Feet

Tuesday: the birds softly bugle
end of day. I look at my feet,
bare and wriggling on hot concrete.
They are pitted, spurred, I see,
cracked as white wood.
They are at the business end, my feet,
still dodging, chasing lost causes,
up in the night silent as slippers.
To my head, at the other extreme,
they are mere beasts of burden.
Though they work for the same body
there is no camaraderie there,
no joint sense of mission.
My feet think my head’s had it easy,
up there in the fresh air all these years,
talking crap. Where would it be without
them to do the donkey work?
No fancy products wasted on their upkeep,
just soap and water, cheap socks.
I think if my feet ever met my head again
they’d give it a good kicking.

Not only have Hugh Bryden and Hugh MCmillian had poems published in the Herald but another Dumfries and galloway Poet, Mary Smith had her poem published in the Herald that very same week. Well done Mary, in fact well done all of you! What an incredibly creative place Galloway is.

Lost in translation

Once, people spoke their maps.
Everyone knew where lay
rough moorland of the perilous region,
the hill of the eagle,
mountain of awesome grandeur.

Once, people were wary of the crag
of the storm-swept range, made pilgrimage to
the hill of the memorial pile or that other,
above the hollow of the warrior’s tomb

Once, people spoke their land
and what it meant to them,
before strangers, with inflexible tongues,
bringing pen and parchment, plotted

names which whisper only an echo
of what they once were:
Palgowan, Benyellery, Mulwharchar,
Craigmasheenie, Pinbreck,
Corrafeckloch.

The "Project Ten" initiative from Wigtown have just announced their 2008-9 Programme. Please see below

Their 2008-2009 programme kicks off next week on Saturday 13th September with "The Green Event", a timely reminder of the benefits of recycling. D&G Council's Waste Management Department will be putting on their Composting display with information on The Three R's - Reduce, Recycle, Re-use.

The group is delighted to have secured the appearance of author Mandy Haggith ('The Last Bear') to run a poetry workshop in the afternoon while the evening session is a reading and discussion of environmental issues based around Mandy's book 'Paper Trails' with Chris Ballance compering the evening.

The Wigtown Youth Forum is also getting involved by helping to build another Book Maze, using up old books which would otherwise be destined for the skip.

Saturday 25th October sees a double event within the "Project Ten" initiative. Come to Byre Books between 2-4 pm for "Spooks, Kooks and Galloway Ghosts" where story-teller Renita Boyle will be on hand to help you record or write your memories - Daleks? Snakes under the bed? Things that go bump in the night? What were you afraid of when you were ten? Then join the group again at 6.30pm for spooky tales and kooky treats. Bring a lantern with you! All welcome.

On the same evening, Anne Dunsford will be leading The Wigtown Scribblers in a writing event at The Swallow Theatre with a "Landscapes and Seasons"
theme.

November's event will encompass a Human Rights and Amnesty International theme and, into the New Year, Renita Boyle will lead another story-telling event under a "Kith & Kin and Glory Stories" banner.

As befits the month celebrating St Valentine, the February event will have a "Love" theme, "Inspirational Women" will be feted in March to coincide with International Women's Day and "Wild Geese" will be the topic for April 2009.

Further information on these later events will be published at a later date.

Mimi Khalvati's workshop is on Tuesday 2nd September!

Whoops! The Poetry Doubles brochure has a missing date!

Please note that the Writing Workshop led by Mimi Khalvati is due to take place between 10am and 12 noon on Tuesday 2 September, the morning after her reading at Poetry Doubles. The workshop is in the Drama Studio at Glasgow University Crichton Campus. This promises to be a really great workshop, comes highly recommended. Please just ring Catriona on 01387 253383 if you'd like to come along - still a few places left.


Please note too, that Jean Sprackland's Writing Workshop takes place on the same day as her Poetry Doubles reading, Monday 8 September between 2pm and 4pm at Gracefield Arts Centre.

Published in the Herald!

Dumfries & Galloway poets have been filling the Poem of the Day slot at The Herald this month.
First up was Hugh Bryden on 30 July, with his poem, Shaving.

Shaving

Its ma faither in the mornin’ greets mi
Razor in hand wi a smile he meets mi
An ah mind whin as a wee laddie there
Ah watcht him scrapin awa the hair
Mirrored the faces that he pu’ed
Learnt the skin-taut flexin move
Longed fur the day whin ah would
Shave masel jist as smooth


Ma Faither watcht me draw first blood
cutting the ties o’ childhood
Noo it’s the act that ties us the gither
Faither an’son reflecting each ither
in the actions of a daily chore
that each day draws us present an’past
closer,tighter - and more-
tae be the same face in the glass.

Then came Mary Smith, whose poem Lost in Translation, was published on 31 July:

Lost in translation
Once, people spoke their maps.
Everyone knew where lay
rough moorland of the perilous region,
the hill of the eagle,
mountain of awesome grandeur.

Once, people were wary of the crag
of the storm-swept range, made pilgrimage to
the hill of the memorial pile or that other,
above the hollow of the warrior’s tomb

Once, people spoke their land
and what it meant to them,
before strangers, with inflexible tongues,
bringing pen and parchment, plotted

names which whisper only an echo
of what they once were:
Palgowan, Benyellery, Mulwharchar,
Craigmasheenie, Pinbreck,
Corrafeckloch.

And then on 12 August Hugh Macmillan's poem Lost Garden:

The Lost Garden

There’s a garden in the heart of the school,
lost under the lidless gaze
of a hundred empty windows.
A quadrangle it would have been,
‘the Cherry Tree Quadrangle’,
now two walls are lined by skips,
broken brick, benches rotting in the sun.
Just here though, years of tinkering by children
too green fingered for exams have spawned
a thumbnail patch of feral orient.
In a daze of heat, palms and fronds
loll from fat pots. Trellis dry as tinder sags
with acer and bamboo. Ivy tongues stone
and the little plaques remembering the dead.
Below bleeding willow, a map of the world
fades, seismic weeds splitting continents
and seas, and cherry blossom is everywhere,
like the tender hint of wasted time.

Congratulations all!

Stop Press; New Date for Lucy Burnett

Lucy Burnett will now be reading with Robert Crawford and John Burns at the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre on 25th August at 7pm.

Could I remind everyone that Robert Crawford is doing another event at 2pm at the Drama studio at Crichton Campus on the 25th August where he will be talking about and reading from "Scotlands Books". Tickets only £3.
For tickets please phone Catriona on 01387 253383 or email catriona@dgaa.net

URGENT! Roy Fisher Poetry Doubles Cancelled

Please note -

We regret to tell you that Monday 18 August Poetry Doubles event is cancelled. Roy Fisher is unwell.

However, we are expecting to arrange for Lucy Burnett to take part in one of the forthcoming Poetry Doubles evenings. We will keep you updated.

We apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment.

Andy Forster nominated for Forward Prize!!!

Andy Forster, Literature Development Officer for Dumfries & Galloway until this spring, and now working for the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere has been nominated for a prestigious prize following the publication of his first collection of poems. Andy's book "Fear of Thunder" has been shortlisted for a Forward Prize for the Best First Collection of poetry. It was published late last year by Flambard Press.
Andy now organises the Wordsworth Trust's programme of poetry readings that brings some of the best poets to Cumbria to read their work. He has also set up a poetry workshop and organises occasional outdoor poetry readings for visitors to Dove Cottage, including reading his own work. Michael McGregor, Director of the Trust said: "We are all delighted to see Andrew's talents as a poet recognised. The trust has a long tradition of encouraging an interest in poetry and nurturing new talents, and it is great to see that Andrew is achieving this level of recognition for his work."

Andy's poems have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies since 1993. He has also written essays and reviews of poetry and was awarded Scottish Arts Council writer's bursaries in 1998 and 2002. In 2001 he was Writer in Residence for North Lanarkshire council museum department, which lead to editing the anthology Imagining Industry. He is currently completing the MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Describing his work in "Fear of Thunder", Andrew said: "The poems in the collection look at what makes us human: The father who can't escape a childhood fear; the airforce pilot who refuses to fly; Elizabeth Bishop taking stock in North Carolina. The wide range of characters speak to us of our common experience."

Many congratulations Andy, from all your supporters in Dumfries & Galloway!

Short Short Story Competition

Here is another interesting opportunity for all you writers out there:

Short Short Story competition
In association with BBC Radio Scotland's Book Café
Wigtown Book Festival 10th anniversary short story competition “On the Edge”
To celebrate its 10th birthday, the Stena Line Wigtown Book Festival is launching a “short short” story competition in conjunction with BBC Radio Scotland’s Book Café. Each “short short” story must be 100 words or less, though they can be as short as desired. These “short short” stories can be playful or serious but the important thing is that they should have a real narrative.
The theme of the competition, “On the Edge”, recognises Wigtown’s geographical location: on the edge of Scotland, in sight of the Lake District on a good day and jutting out into the Irish Sea.
But it’s also intended to mark the way that the creative life of Scotland’s rural places – areas that not so long ago might have been regarded as peripheral to the nation’s mainstream arts scene – now invigorates and enriches the whole national culture. From Orkney to Wigtown, the people “on the edge” have as much to give as those in the Central Belt. Entrants are free to interpret the title however they like, but might like to bear the above in mind.
Why short short stories?Because although life is pleasurably slower in Wigtown we recognise that most people outside th area don't have as much time as us!
What might entrants read for inspiration?The “short short” story, sometimes called “flash fiction” or “mini-fiction” has a long history. Some of the more recent books showcasing the form include Dan Rhodes’ Anthropology, Dave Eggers’ Short Short Stories, and “New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond” which has stories by Yann Martel, Sam Shepard, and Tobias Wolff among many others.
1st Prize - Win a free pair of tickets to every event at the 2009 festival
Every entrant will also receive a free pair of tickets to an event of their choice at this year's festival *
(*see conditions below)
The practical stuff
Entries must be made by email only to shorts@wigtownbookfestival.com. Entries must include name, address and telephone number. Wigtown Festival Company will endeavour to acknowledge all entries but cannot be held responsible for any that go astray.
Entries must be in by Monday 15 August, 12 noon. The winner will be announced on the BBC Book Café programme, which will broadcast from the Wigtown Festival on Monday 29 September.
The winner will receive a pass that gives free entry to all festival events (subject to availability) in 2009. There will also be one runner-up prize offering a free pair of tickets to all events on one of the two festival weekends in 2009. The winning story may be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland’s The Book Café if of appropriate quality.
A selection of the best stories will be put on the Wigtown Festival website (www.wigtownbookfestival.com). Copyright will remain with the author but entry allows the Festival reasonable use of all material submitted.
We are also offering a free pair of tickets to an event at 2008’s festival (subject to availability) to every person who enters. Only one pair of tickets per individual, not transferable. Please mark on your entry which event you would like to attend and whether you require one or two tickets.
Judging will be done by the festival’s programmer, in conjunction with Stuart Kelly, literary editor of Scotland on Sunday, and the poet Tom Pow.
The judges’ decisions – including regarding eligibility for free tickets – are final and no correspondence will be entered into. For any queries please email.
For more information go to http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/short-story-competition.asp