Crichton Plays in a Nutshell this weekend

The very latest in new drama from Dumfries and Galloway is being presented in an evening’s entertainment at the Rutherford-McCowan Building, Studio Theatre, Crichton Campus on Saturday 26 September at 7pm.

Crichton Plays in a Nutshell has been enabled by Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association, and has been created by one of Scotland’s most dynamic young directors, Kate Nelson, who has been working with experienced local writers to help hone their playwriting skills. Playwrights involved are Vivien Jones, Catherine Forbes, Linda Powell, Isobel Mary Gibson, Leonie Ewing and Carolyn Yates for Crichton Writers, and Janette Walkinshaw, Kriss Nichol, Patricia Comb and Grace Fenwick from Wigtown Scribblers.

The resulting quirky, ambitious and entertaining short plays will be performed by Kate Nelson’s ensemble of professional actors in tandem with the winner of this year’s McLelland drama prize in a special one-off event to coincide with the start of the Wigtown Book Festival. The following day the Wigtown Scribblers’ contributions will be performed by Kate’s ensemble at The McLellan Prize Showcase at the Swallow Theatre in Sorbie at 5pm.

Tickets for the performance in Dumfries are £6, available from Dumfries & Galloway Arts Association at the Midsteeple, Dumfries or for the performance at The McLellan Prize Showcase at Swallow Theatre from the ticket office in the County Buildings, Wigtown 01988 403222, also £6.

Poetry Doubles this Monday!

Poetry Doubles this Monday 21st will bring you visiting poet Alan Riach and popular local bard Rab Wilson.

A friendly welcome and great poetry guaranteed! Tickets from the Midsteeple, call 01387 253383 or on the door at Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre.

Arts in the Steeple - short stories from Vivien Jones on Friday

Come along to hear local writer Vivien Jones read from her new book of short stories, Perfect 10 on Friday 18 September as part of our new Arts in the Steeple events series. Vivien's short stories have been widely published and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Scotland.

The theme of Perfect 10 is the fat girls, the large females, the big girls, the big women everywhere across Britain, overlooked, mocked and despised. Their strategies for survival can be inspired, funny or desperate but survive they do. In these stories their inventiveness is celebrated, their sadness acknowledged and a challenge thrown out to each of us to examine our tendency to judge the book by its cover. Vivien's stories are quirky, unexpected and enjoyable!

You can drop into the Midsteeple to hear Vivien on Friday 18 September at 1.30pm. Tickets are £2 from the Midsteeple, or 01387 253383.

Arts in the Steeple features JoAnne McKay this Saturday

Come along to The Midsteeple at noon this Saturday to enjoy JoAnne McKay's poetry. Arts in the Steeple aims to get culture right into the town centre, so it's very much open to all.

JoAnne will be reading poems from her well-received recent pamphlet, The Fat Plant, on the first floor of the Midsteeple. The Fat Plant (not a diet book!) reflects JoAnne's childhood and family - she says she was born into a family of Wholesale Butchers and Slaughterers. These are punchy poems laced with dark humour - to be recommended. Tickets £2 on the door.

Wigtown Book Festival Programme Launch at Midsteeple

Come along to help us launch our region's lovely book festival at The Midsteeple next Thursday 10 September! Adrian Turpin, Director of Wigtown Book Festival, will be at The Midsteeple to launch this year's programme. 6pm to 7pm - free.

Vivien Jones - new short stories reading at The Midsteeple

As part of our new Arts in the Steeple events series, local writer Vivien Jones will be reading from her new book of short stories, Perfect 10. Vivien's short stories have been widely published and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Scotland.

The theme of Perfect 10 is the fat girls, the large females, the big girls, the big women everywhere across Britain, overlooked, mocked and despised. Their strategies for survival can be inspired, funny or desperate but survive they do. In these stories their inventiveness is celebrated, their sadness acknowledged and a challenge thrown out to each of us to examine our tendency to judge the book by its cover. Vivien's stories are quirky, unexpected and enjoyable!

Come along to hear Vivien on Friday 18 September at 1.30pm. Tickets are £2 from the Midsteeple, or 01387 253383.

Tree this weekend

Don't forget 'Tree' this weekend - Saturday 29 August at Threave Gardens, Castle Douglas. Tickets £8, includes refreshments.

'Tree' is a musical response to wood, the tree and the forest. It's a programme of new writing and music created by writers Vivien Jones and Jackie Galley, with musicians Richard Jones, Michael Hendry and Rebecca Hendry.

These are the folk who brought you 'Making Waves', and just on previous form then, 'Tree' is not to be missed!

Rab Wilson's 'Lambs' becomes September SAC Poem of the Month

Congratulations Rab! (I'm always saying that these days). Rab's McCash prize-winning poem, a powerful reflection on the Dunblane massacre, 'The Lambs', has been chosen to be Scottish Arts Council's Poem of the Month for September. The Poem of the Month is a prestigious acknowledgement, the chosen poems nominated by staff at the Scottish Poetry Library. So come September, don't forget to click on http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/1/artsinscotland/literature/features.aspx and read 'The Lambs'. After that it'll be in their archives by October, for ever and ever, another claim by Rab on posterity!

'Tree' - New Poetry and Music Inspired by Woodlands

After the success of their 2007 project 'Making Waves', poets Vivien Jones and Jackie Galley are back with a new performance 'Tree'.
Most people will know the tune of ‘Norwegian Wood’, some people will know its lyrics, a few will know what a Norway Maple tree looks like but it’s unlikely that many will have combined the lyrical structure of the song with instruments made from the tree to create a new words-and-music piece for performance. This is just one of the pieces in a new work, 'Tree', linking words and music inspired by woodlands, wood and trees that will be performed in the beautiful surroundings of NTS Threave Gardens, Castle Douglas.
This form of collaborative programme (first performed in the much admired Making Waves) which weaves music through and around the spoken word, develops a new direction in the performing of poetry by the writers, Jackie Galley and Vivien Jones and musicians Richard Jones, Michael Hendry and Becky Hendry. Poetry and music are natural companions – both rely on rhythm and lyrical power to become memorable - together they can make more than the sum of their parts. This will be a must-see performance which you can catch at 7.30pm on Saturday 29 August at Threave Gardens, Castle Douglas. Tickets are £8.00 including interval canapés and drink. Phone 0844 4932245 or e-mail: threave@nts.org.uk or e-mail vivien@freeola.com.

Don't panic if you can't get to Threave on the 29th, you can also catch performances of 'Tree' on -

Sunday 30 August 7.30 pm Sedbergh Flower Festival. St Andrew’s Church. Sedbergh Tickets : £5.00 including refreshments Sedbergh Tourist Information, Main Street Tel : 015396 20125

Saturday 3 October 4.00 pm Wigtown Book Festival. St Ninian’s Hall. Isle of Whithorn. Tickets : £6.00 including interval refreshments. Festival Box Office : Tel :01988 403222 or 402036 or online www.wigtownbookfestival.com

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Rab's 'Life Sentence' in poetry at DG One

Our new poetry season brings you none other than Rab Wilson, winner of the McCash prize for Scots poetry this year. Part of Poetry Prizewinners and their Craft, Rab will be at DG One in Dumfries on Friday 17 July. Rab's a rightly popular and entertaining performer of his own work – this will be a treat, and a chance to catch the living legacy in modern Scotland of the poetry of Robert Burns.

‘Poetry Prizewinners and their Craft’ aims to bring high quality poets to the region, and encourages audiences to enter into discussion with them, creating a rare opportunity to ask questions about sources of inspiration, drafting, form and meaning. It’s a way in for readers new to poetry, as well as regular readers and writers.

Rab Wilson’s event, which takes place at DG One at 7.30pm, will also be a launch for his new collection, ‘Life Sentence’. Tickets are available from DG One on 01387 243550.

Rab is writing some of the finest and most innovative contemporary Scottish poetry, above all because it is inspired by life, as Rab Wilson highlights in the title poem, ‘Fir life is whit we are sentenced to’.

In this new collection Rab investigates Scottish ancient legends, conflicts throughout history, and contemporary political issues; is inspired by a cultural exchange visit to Ireland; and, presents a powerful sequence containing nine sonnets entitled "Quake", based on the themes and ideas suggested to him by earthquakes. Like Burns before him, Rab writes in traditional south-west Scots, and also in standard English.