For Scotland I sing,
the Knox-ruined nation,
that poet and saint
must rebuild with their passion…
—George Mackay Brown, “Prologue”
This poem introduced his first poetry collection, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴 (Orkney Press, 1954)
2/10
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Orkney #20thcentury #GeorgeMackayBrown
My father passed with his penny letters
Through closes opening and shutting like legends
When barbarous with gulls
Hamnavoe’s morning broke…
—“Hamnavoe”, by George Mackay Brown (1921–1996) – born #OTD, 17 Oct
“I have never seen his poetry sufficiently praised.”
—Seamus Heaney
A 🎂 🧵
You can listen to George Mackay Brown read his poem “Hamnavoe” online via the Poetry Archive
1/10
https://poetryarchive.org/poem/hamnavoe/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Orkney #20thcentury #GeorgeMackayBrown
Listen to John Burnside read “The Good Neighbour” ☝️ on the Poetry Archive:
Somewhere along this street, unknown to me,
behind a maze of apple trees and stars,
he rises in the small hours, finds a book
and settles at a window or a desk
to see the morning in, alone for once,
unnamed, unburdened, happy in himself…
—John Burnside, “The Good Neighbour”
published in DRIFTWORK (Cape, 2026)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/481482/driftwork-by-burnside-john/9781787336667
… and wrapping things up for those who hae meat but canna eat it, Gina Lyle ends the issue with a fruitful exploration of “Vegetarianism in Contemporary Scottish Fiction”!
6/6
https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2024/10/vegetarianism-in-contemporary-scottish-fiction/
#Scottish #literature #cooking #food #WorldFoodDay #vegetarian #vegetarianism
… while Amy Wilcockson offers a palate cleanser of “Oysters and Aqua Vitae: Food and Drink in Robert Fergusson’s Poems”, washed down with a Tavern Rat cocktail brewed especially for the 250th anniversary of Fergusson’s death …
5/6
#Scottish #literature #cooking #food #WorldFoodDay #18thcentury #RobertFergusson #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #cocktail
… Amanda Edmiston entices us into The Scots Kitchen to explore the legacy of Florence Marian McNeill’s classic cookbook in “Dreaming Bread and Flourishing Folklore” …
4/6
https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2024/11/dreaming-bread-and-flourishing-folklore/
#Scottish #literature #cooking #food #WorldFoodDay #folklore
… then Roslyn Potter serves a historical hors d’oeuvre in “‘Better byde the cuiks, nor the mediciners’: food and poetry in medieval and early modern Scotland (c. 1400–1650)” …
3/6
#Scottish #literature #cooking #food #WorldFoodDay #medieval #earlymodern #history #historyofmedicine #medicalhumanities
For starters, Dr Lindsay Middleton gives us a taste of “Gender, Gastronomy and Intertextual Play in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦’𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭” …
2/6
#Scottish #literature #cooking #food #WorldFoodDay #19thcentury #Victorian #genderstudies
16 October is World Food Day, & 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘱 invites you to an all-you-can-eat literary feast of Scottish literature – from medieval health food to vegetarianism in contemporary fiction, via gender, folklore, oysters, cocktails & more!
May contain nuts.
1/6
Autumn, and the nights are darkening.
The old lady tells us of her past once more.
She muses on the days she spent nursing
at ten shillings a month…
—Iain Crichton Smith, “The Old Lady”
published in NEW COLLECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2011)
https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781857549607/new-collected-poems/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #20thcentury #IainCrichtonSmith #autumn
Allan Ramsay (1684–1758) – poet, playwright, founder of modern #Scots writing, & with a fair claim to be the father of Romanticism – was born #OTD, 15 October. A 🎂 🧵 …
1/6
🖼️ Allan Ramsay, 1684–1758, by William Aikman – Scottish National Portrait Gallery
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/3526
#Scottish #literature #18thcentury #romanticism #Scots #Scotslanguage #poetry #drama #theatre #theatrehistory
“Though it may be going too far to call all memoirs fictional, ultimately, what readers take to be ‘truth’ from a memoir, as for any work of literature, is down to them”
Dr Craig Lamont & Dr Emily Hay consider truth & fiction in memoirs, & discuss their new project, “Memory & Care Experience in Scottish Life-Writing”
https://theconversation.com/can-memoirs-ever-tell-the-whole-truth-293248
Heroic long-dead creature, waiting in death
To be discovered, uncovered, recovered, recalled from the cold
solid soil that never felt your breath…
—Edwin Morgan, “The Bearsden Shark”
published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)
https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781784109967/centenary-selected-poems/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Bearsden #Glasgow #EdwinMorgan #fossil #fossils #NationalFossilDay
The Scottish Geology Trust discusses 𝘈𝘬𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘻𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪, the 330-million-year-old Bearsden Shark, celebrated in Edwin Morgan’s poem ☝️
The fossil is on display in the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian museum
https://www.scottishgeologytrust.org/geology/scotlands-geology/scotlands-fossils/bearsden-sharks/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Bearsden #Glasgow #EdwinMorgan #fossil #fossils #NationalFossilDay #sciencefiction #scifi #scifipoetry
Diving in the warm seas around Bearsden,
cased in our superchitin scuba-gear,
we found a world so wonderfully clear
it seemed a heaven given there and then…
—Edwin Morgan, “Carboniferous”
published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)
A time-travelling science-fiction poem for National Fossil Day
https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781784109967/centenary-selected-poems/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Bearsden #Glasgow #EdwinMorgan #fossil #fossils #NationalFossilDay #sciencefiction #scifi #scifipoetry
Mary Shelley’s Hidden Scotland
13 December, Edinburgh – £18.60
The time Mary Shelley spent as a girl in Scotland – an “eyry of freedom” – helped shape her writing, in FRANKENSTEIN as well as in her less widely-known THE FORTUNES OF PERKIN WARBECK and THE LAST MAN. Dr Emily Alder explores the influence of Scotland on Shelley & her fiction.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/pintsofknowledgeedinburgh/2458119
#Scottish #literature #Scotland #MaryShelley #Frankenstein #gothic #romanticism #18thcentury #19thcentury
Nam bhodach liath a-nis
a’ streap gu mullach a bhràighe,
chan eil mi a’ còrdadh riut, a Llywarch,
mun bhata càm is riatanach gach là…
—Uilleam Nèill, “Freagairt Do Llywarch Hen”
published in FRIENDS & KANGAROOS: New Writing Scotland 17 (ASL, 1999)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #Welsh #Cymraeg #CelticStudies
Walter Scott’s Chapbook Collection
22 October, Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh – free
Walter Scott owned at least 2500 chapbooks & items of popular print, making the Abbotsford chapbook collection one of the most significant anywhere in the world. Professors Gerard Carruthers & Alison Lumsden will explore the collection, discuss how Scott used it, & suggest what it can tell us about him & his legacy.
https://www.scottsabbotsford.com/about/from-the-baskets-of-travelling-pedlars-to-abbotsford
#Scottish #literature #WalterScott #romanticism #bookhistory
WRITERS!
New Writing Scotland seeks a new co-editor for English- & Scots-language work. Applicants should be currently based in Scotland & have a strong publishing record, with a focus on poetry. Post is up to 3 years: stipend £1500 per issue.
Please share! 👇
https://asls.org.uk/new-writing-scotland-seeks-co-editor/
#Scottish #Scotland #literature #poetry #poet #poets #writingcommunity
