Poetry News – Scotland, December 2015
2015 has been a fine and fit year for poetry – here we first look back at key moments on both page and stage, then forward to what 2016 holds. Plus there's the small matter of some major spoken word events for you to attend between now and then
It’s been a thumping good year, and I can’t quite believe five months have passed since I first upped quill for our Skinny-sponsored event with Kate Tempest at Edinburgh International Book Festival. Similarly, the highlights of StAnza Festival way back in March 2015 seem very fresh, but, astonishingly, time-wise we’re already far closer to the next instalment. Not much has been revealed about the 2016 programme as yet, but headliners will include Lemn Sissay and Pascale Petit. Spring 2016 will also launch some interesting activity from the latest four Faber New Poets – Elaine Beckett, Crispin Best, Sam Buchan-Watts and Rachel Curzon – as they head on tour. Keep your eyes open for dates.
So, what have we got to look forward to in the nearer future? Well, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a party and, as ever, the award-winning crew at Neu! Reekie! are on hand to throw a blinder. Tickets are now on sale for their Xmas Kracker at Central Hall, Edinburgh on 17 December, both in honour of the season and their 5th Birthday. June’s event was a 1,000-person sell-out, and this one looks all set to head in the same direction. The stars of the show will be Irvine Welsh, WHITE, Liz Lochhead and Hector Bizerk, recently joined by Rachel Maclean and the Moon Hop DJs. Rally & Broad are also putting on their two Takeover Editions, which should be a treat for audiences who enjoy poetry with a generous glug of belly laughs; you can choose between a night out at the Anti-Slam! at the Bongo Club in Edinburgh, featuring amongst others our Skinny 10th Birthday performer Iona Lee (18 Dec) or Poets Against Humanity! at Stereo in Glasgow (20 Dec).
Books-wise, my read of the month has been Coogit Bairns, the posthumous collection by Rebel Inc poet Sandie Craigie, which was published by Red Squirrel Press in September this year. Craigie wrote during an era where punk rock was making waves, and, rather than rejecting or falling completely into the fad, seems to have used it as a megaphone through which a hard-hitting, honest female voice could really come into its own without being militantly feminist. Comfortable it certainly isn’t (and I’d advise against reading a few of the poems if winter melancholy is getting to you) but neither does it leave you too bruised. The vernacular burr of the writing is at once harsh and warm, and she tackles topics like homelessness, institutional greed and politics with a wry humour that makes you smile despite the content. Tragically, Sandie committed suicide in 2005, having received far less professional recognition in life than she deserved; this collection should be a big step forward in bringing her work to light and Red Squirrel Press should be applauded. It should also be noted that their Commissioning Editor and esteemed name on the poetry scene Kevin Cadwallender runs the monthly poetry event 10RED in Edinburgh, where ten poets are each given ten minutes to impress. Information for those wishing to attend upcoming gatherings can be found on their Facebook page.
Also in page news, the much-anticipated shortlists for the Costa Book Awards have also been released, and this year the judges for the poetry category are poet and children’s author Julia Copus, poetry critic Adam Newey and co-owner of The Poetry Bookshop in Hay-on-Wye, Melanie Prince. The shortlist is impossible to do justice to in similarly short terms but, in a nutshell, is a gorgeous mixture of the visceral and ethereal, with each collection displaying a different take on the art of self-reflection in one way or another.
Physical by Andrew McMillan (Jonathan Cape) is a raw tribute to all aspects of the male body and its different loves, flavoured by the earthy notes of the poet’s Yorkshire roots; this sits very well alongside Talking Dead by Neil Rollinson (also Jonathan Cape), a sensual celebration of the human condition, pinpointing the ritualistic, wondrous elements of everyday life and experiences, and discussing what it actually means to exist.
On a less fleshy note, 40 Sonnets by Don Paterson (Faber & Faber) very smoothly adopts the sonnet form as a means of addressing a huge range of figures – both familiar and strange – and as a vehicle from which he explores his central themes of divided self, dreams, contradiction, tension and transformation. The Observances by Kate Miller (Carcanet) completes the spectrum at the more misty end with its focus on watchfulness and remembrance, recording the shifting elements of a very vaporous world with linguistic snapshots. It’s impossible to tell which collection will come out on top, but one thing’s for certain – all should be contenders for your Christmas poetry book list.
Neu! Reekie's Xmas Kracker is on 17 Dec at Central Hall and tickets are available from brownpapertickets.com
Rally & Broad are in Edinburgh's Bongo Club on 18 Dec and Stereo in Glasgow on 20 Dec. Tickets are available through the venues or eventbrite