Poetry News – Scotland, August 2016

The thing I love most about festival season as a whole is the welcome it gives to fresh faces as much as seasoned ones. Edinburgh International Book Festival is a treat all by itself, naturally featuring what I’m starting to call the Big Three – Kay, Duffy and Lochhead – but not as eclipsers; just a great slice of what’s turning out to be a colossal range of talent.

It opens with four of the poetry world’s most recent successes, T.S. Eliot prize-winner Sarah Howe and Scottish star William Letford, in a double act called Roots and Roofs (Aug 13), closely followed by Outspoken Women (Aug 13) Claire Askew and Helen Mort. 

It seems the double act approach is very popular; Carol Ann Duffy is teaming up with both Jackie Kay (Aug 17) and Gillian Clarke (Aug 18) on separate occasions. Again, this is great to see because most poets aren’t completely isolated pods (funnily enough a common mistake), and letting them bounce off one another occasionally creates a much more realistic impression of the dialogue that goes on between different artists and styles all year round.

Carol Ann Duffy

There’s lots to get topical with as well, if you like your poetry tailored to more of a set theme. The animalistically-inclined among us should definitely aim to catch Jenni Fagan and Andrew McMillan for their foray into Unflinching, Sensual Poetry (Aug 19), and anyone who has, or is thinking of having children, would do well to go and hear Hollie McNish’s Poetry for Parental Beginners (Aug 20) – part of the Babble On spoken word strand of the festival – based on her own rollercoaster of discovery and the questions it brought up.

For political beans, 80s ranters Attila the Stockbroker and Tim Wells will be throwing the gauntlet in Stand Up And Spit (Aug 20) alongside newer ranters Bridget Minamore and Luke Wright, and Lemn Sissay’s Poetry With A Sharp Edge (Aug 21), travels between the smaller circle of family and the wider one of Thatcherite Britain. If you’re interested in the technical side of literature, Gerry Cambridge, editor of Dark Horse magazine, will be talking about how to typeset poetry, along with punctuation expert Keith Houston, In Praise of Books and Typography (Aug 16).

On the spoken word side, one show which sparks my interest is Speaking With Feeling (Aug 16), part of a series of events called Migrant Stories. It is shared, again, between two artists, both of whom have moved from their countries of origin to live and work elsewhere – Swedish born Agnes Török, a politically-flavoured performer with a wry wit, and South African born Chimwemwe Undi, who has Chewa heritage and powerfully opens audiences’ eyes to the immigrant experience.

Another in the series that looks promising is Poems That Cross The Atlantic (Aug 15), in which Métis writer Gregory Scofield and Scottish poet Peter Mackay explore the links between language and identity.

The Hazey Janes

Finally, don’t forget that the Unbound section of the Festival has some fantastic – and completely free – evenings in store too. Neu! Reekie! are performing from #UntitledTwo with their usual dose of fizziness (Aug 26), Liz Lochhead and The Hazey Janes are showcasing their new album, The Light Comes Back (Aug 16), and the experimental improv/lit/music show Tongue Fu (Aug 20), starring the likes of Ross Sutherland and Deanna Rodger, will also be well worth seeing.

In Print

Hot on the heels of Shore to Shore, a new anthology triggered by the tour – Off the Shelf: A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse – has just been released. It’s what you’d expect – an anthology of mostly well-known names, all with their own take on bookshops. But that doesn’t detract from its quality, or how much it will resonate with anyone who enjoys reading. Unlike other, rather tired themed anthologies I’ve seen done for the sake of a good package, this drives home, acting both as paen and elegy to an institution which is ever more at risk, and which so many are desperate not to lose.

In addition, Picador have also recently released a new collection, Say Something Back by Denise Riley, whose voice is such a spellbinding combination of plainspoken grief and haunting music that it was all I could do not to weep. The collection explores absence and invoking those lost to us; Part Song, a documentary spanning her own personal loss, is fast becoming one of my favourite long poems, and opens up new avenues in the mind every time you go back to it.

I’ve also been reading spoken word artist Liam McCormick’s debut pamphlet Why Do People Never Snap and Think They’re Buddha, released earlier this month, and was sad not to make it to the launch, because I’d really love to hear it aloud, as was meant. While the style is very different to Riley’s, the subject matter is no less piercing; a display of urban social issues, education and backdrops through the eyes of several young, interlinked characters, who will seem familiar to anyone listening.

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Edinburgh International Book Festival runs from 13-29 August
Off the Shelf: A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse is out now, published by Picador, RRP £10
Say Something Back is out now, also published by Picador, RRP £9.99
Why Do People Never Snap and Think They’re Buddha is available through liammccormick.bigcartel.com for £3