Poetry News – Scotland, March 2016
This month brings one of the most anticipated events in the Scottish literary calendar – now a growing fixture on the UK and global poetry scene. It could only be StAnza Festival.
Held in the ‘auld grey toon’ of St Andrews, just at the turn between winter and spring, StAnza is a joyful celebration of all things poetic. Since she inherited responsibility in 2005, festival director Eleanor Livingstone has tirelessly spent the last decade cultivating it as the unique hybrid of small-town intimate and wide-reaching curious that it is today.
At StAnza, readings, discussions, book sales and performances come side by side with innovative digital installations and exhibitions, and many of the featured artists and displays combine the art of words with dance, film and music to add an extra dimension to each year’s particular tagline. This year, the festival has not one but two major themes: City Lines (presumably in answer to last year’s Islands theme), a foray into urban verse, architecture and the connecting power of poetry between different cities; and Body of Poetry, an exploration of how poetry deals with human and other bodies, both literally and metaphorically, in terms of appetites, strengths and weaknesses.
As if that weren’t enough to be chewing over, there’s also a new ‘translated language’ theme being introduced this year – a nod to StAnza’s international presence – with a series of events showcasing German poetry. It’s a strong sign of the festival’s standing worldwide that, as well as UK poets, names from Australia, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Georgia, Ireland and the USA will all come together to make up the programme.
Headline poets for the week include visitors Lemn Sissay, Pascale Petit, Jane Yolen, Jo Shapcott and Matthew Sweeney, as well as local bards Don Paterson and John Burnside. Award-winning poet and activist Jo Bell will be sharing some of the techniques that made global workshop Group 52 such a driving force, and, with the focus on bodies, it’s no surprise that Costa shortlister Andrew McMillan is also present, following the recent success of his collection Physical.
John Burnside, appearing at StAnza Festival this March
On the spoken word side, the likes of Scott Tyrrell, Kirsten Luckins, Kevin McLean, Katie Ailes and Jemima Foxtrot are performing, and the StAnza slam is sure to be as wacky a word rollercoaster as anyone could wish. A first-time event is the London Laureates showcase, courtesy of writers’ charity Spread the Word, which features this year’s current Young Poet Laureate for London, Selina Nwulu, along with fellow shortlisters Zia Ahmed and Harriet Creelman.
Among the highlights not to be missed are Saturday's collective poetry reading about refugees, which anyone can participate in, and the ever-popular poetry breakfast discussions. The breakfasts, along with certain other events, will be broadcast live on the internet for those who can't get tickets.
In other news, later this month will see Rally & Broad putting on yet another two spoken word extravaganzas, First Editions, on 18 and 20 March at the Bongo Club (Edinburgh) and Stereo (Glasgow) respectively. Artists featured include Janice Galloway and Ross Sutherland, as well as two of the best poets from the ground-breaking Words First project from BBC 1Xtra/ The Roundhouse in 2015, Ellen Renton and Liam McCormick.
Claire Askew: This Changes Things
Finally, I was very excited to read This Changes Things, Claire Askew’s first book-length collection, which was recently published by Bloodaxe. As ever, it’s a challenge to sum up just what threads any collection of poems together thematically without killing several trees. The closest I can come for now is that it’s a series of voice-drawn portraits, mainly depicting the real and imagined life experiences of women. Many of them are self-portraits, featuring aspects of the poet’s life and youth.
There’s an emphasis on the various angles of economic and social frustration that come with any ‘ordinary’, small-town upbringing. Witch, Frank and Picker introduce us to marginalised characters we often see or are aware of on the edges of our vision, and The picture in your mind when you speak of whores addresses the area of privileged assumption, while Hometown and The Lucky Little Girls dig into the ins and outs of growing up, and what the word ‘fortunate’ really means.
Family crops up with all its irreverent, roughshod warmth, in the delightful I’m sorry I’m still in love with my grandmother and Catalogue of my grandmother’s sayings, plus a chilling new angle on everyday life and death is provided through Poltergeistrix, the story of a phantom who becomes disillusioned with her lover after haunting his apartment. However, predictably, it was the poem High School, with its portrayal of girl cliques and bullying, which most resonated in my scarred brain, and which I think would make most women shudder in recognition, either of something they once suffered or contributed to at some point: 'What you learned best/ was the fact of your disgustingness./ How vile you were. Your every flaw... It’s women who first learn the throw that hurts…'
StAnza runs from 2-6 Mar in St Andrews
This Changes Things is out now, published by Bloodaxe Books, RRP £9.95
rallyandbroad.com