News
Cèilidh at Brownsbank
The cèilidh is a literary entertainment where stories and tales, poems and ballads, are rehearsed and recited, and songs are sung, conundrums are put, proverbs are quoted, and many other literary matters are related and discussed. Dancing is a rather dubious accretion, probably introduced – like kilts and tartanry – for the benefit of the 19th century tourist trade. Genuine cèilidhs are traditionally held in private houses in remote rural hinterlands and during busy festivals.
Join the Brownsbank Fellow, Tom Bryan, and Biggar Writers for an authentic cèilidh around the fire at Brownsbank Cottage. Bring your favourite tale to tell or poem to perform or song to sing, or just sit back and enjoy the craic in the cosy atmosphere of the traditional 19th century farm labourer’s cottage that was last home to the world-renowned poet Hugh MacDiarmid.
Monday 20th and Wednesday 22nd October
7.30pm till we all go home
£4.00 (£3.00 concessions)
It’s just a wee cottage, so numbers will be limited and booking is essential.
To reserve a ticket, contact:
01899 221743
or
brownsbank@googlemail.com
Doors Open Day at Brownsbank Cottage
Visit the last home of the poet Hugh MacDiarmid. The cottage will be open to the general public from 12-5pm on Sunday 14th September. Informal poetry readings will take place under the rowan tree throughout the afternoon from 2-4pm. Bring a picnic and enjoy the atmosphere and beautiful views. Some light refreshments will be provided.
A Writing Competition for South Lanarkshire
A Writing Competition
for South Lanarkshire
organised by
Biggar Writers Group
open to anyone who lives or works in
South Lanarkshire
1st Prize £25
2 x Runners Up £10
Judge: Tom Bryan
Brownsbank Fellow
Closing Date: 31st October 2008
South Lanarkshire embraces a wide variety of landscapes, from the urban backdrops of East Kilbride, Rutherglen and Hamilton to the dramatic hills and valleys of the Southern Uplands and the well-watered gardens of the ClydeValley.
To pay homage to – or bemoan! – the part of the world in which we live and work, Biggar Writers are inviting original writing, in any genre, on the theme of ‘Landscape’. Poems should be no longer than 40 lines, prose pieces no longer than 2,500 words.
Since the competition is to be judged anonymously, the entries themselves should bear no identifying mark but should be accompanied by a separate sheet with the name of the piece and the writer’s contact details, together with the appropriate entry fee.
Entry Fee
£3.00 for single entry
+ £2 for each additional entry
Proceeds will contribute towards the costs of a reading event
for writers and friends to be held
early in 2009
Entries and enquiries to:
Biggar Writers Group
14, Boghall Park
Biggar
ML12 6EY
biggarwriters@googlemail.c om
Britain's Favourite Storyteller at the Little Festival
Biggar Little Festival organisers have staged something of a coup by bringing former Mid Road resident, Alexander McCall Smith, back to Biggar to appear in this year's Kulturfest. A fabulously prolific writer, McCall Smith will be appearing at the Corn Exchange on Thursday 23rd October to talk about his books and answer questions from the audience. Due to the limited capacity of the Corn Exchange theatre, the advice is to book early. Tickets will be available from Atkinson Pryce bookshop and from the Festival website
Biggar Writers Bloc
Biggar Writers are joining forces with Writers Bloc from Edinburgh to present an evening of readings in Biggar Corn Exchange from 8-10pm on Tuesday 27th May. The evening promises wit and irreverence with some serious stuff thrown into the mix as well. Join us if you can! £3.00 (£2.00 conc.) at the door.
Anne Armstrong, Margaret Dunlop, Fiona Gibson and Andrew McCallum will be the Biggar Writers appearing on the night.
A Yorkshire Lass
Group member Dee Yates' second novel, A Yorkshire Lass, has been published by Harlequin.
For Sarah-Louise, life in the big city of York is all she's ever wanted. Working as a maid, she is given education and respect. But when her employer decides to move away, he helps Sarah-Lou find a new position. As Sarah-Lou tries to find her way in life, she realises that the excitement of the big city may not be where her heart really lies.
An involving saga, Dee’s prose brings 1880s Yorkshire to vivid life.
Andrew Greig in Biggar
Poet, novelist and mountaineer Andrew Greig will be talking about his new novel Romanno Bridge in Biggar on Wednesday 9th April.
One of the finest writers in Scotland today, his first novel, Electric Brae: A Modern Romance (1992), was shortlisted for the McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year. His next novel, The Return of John McNab (1996) was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Award and is being filmed for the BBC. That Summer (2000), is set in June 1940 on the eve of the Battle of Britain. His fifth novel, In Another Light (2004), won the 2004 Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award.
The event will take place at the Elphinstone Hotel. Tickets are free and are available from Atkinson-Pryce Bookshop in the High Street.
Strawberry Yield
A poem by Biggar Writer, Sandy Laird, is to be included in this year's New Writing Scotland anthology.
New Writing Scotland is the principal forum for poetry and short fiction in Scotland today. Every year it publishes the very best from both emerging and established writers, and lists many of the leading literary lights of Scotland among its past (and present) contributors. Over the last twenty-five years New Writing Scotland has published early material by Iain Banks, Anne Donovan, Janice Galloway, A. L. Kennedy, James Meek, Ian Rankin, Suhayl Saadi and Irvine Welsh, along with a host of other talents.
Sandy's poem, 'Strawberry Yield', can be found in the Showcase section.
A Searching Glance
A Searching Glance, the long-awaited second collection from one of Scotland’s leading short story writers – the former Brownsbank Fellow, Linda Cracknell – will be published on 1st March.
The worlds inhabited by the characters in these stories are diverse: a hillwalker unknowingly watched over as he lies dying on a Highland hill; a Glasgow party-goer searching years later for a woman who may have mistaken him for a monster; a mysterious prize sought in the perpetual daylight of midsummer Orkney.
Linda’s stories are multi-layered and brooding with longing and loss, allowing the reader a ‘searching glance’ at their characters’ lives. With touches of the surreal and hard strokes of reality, these stories will linger in the mind.
A Searching Glance is published by Salt Publishing.
Posted 27/1/08
Mummy Said the F-Word
Fiona Gibson’s new novel, Mummy Said the F-Word, is published by Hodder on Feb 21. It’s the story of Cait, a mother of three, whose husband left her for the fluffy young thing who serviced his office water cooler. When Cait is offered the job of agony aunt on an impossibly smug parenting magazine, she thinks she’s the last person qualified to offer advice. Then the mysterious emails start coming, signed simply from ‘R’. Is he a stalker, a fan or the key to her happiness?
Posted 20/11/07
Poem of the Month
Andrew McCallum's poem, aonghas macneacail mows e's meadie, is to feature as 'Poem of the Month' on the Scottish Arts Council website. The poem was nominated by the staff at the Scottish Poetry Library and will appear in the Scots area for the month of December.
Posted 24/10/07
Fear of Thunder
Former Biggar Writer Andrew Forster’s first collection, published by Flambard Press, confronts wideranging themes with clarity and artistry. In Fear of Thunder the reader meets a diverse selection of characters and situations: the young girl in a cul-de-sac who dreams she is a horse; a father unable to shake a childhood fear; the air force pilot who refuses to fly. Yet whether Forster is conjuring up a horse-whisperer hounded for his gifts or thinking about the poet Elizabeth Bishop taking stock in Carolina, he is at all times asking us to consider our common experiences.
Flambard Press launches Andrew Forster's Fear of Thunder at the Scottish Poetry Library 5 Crichton's Close, Canongate, Edinburgh on Wednesday 31st October at 7pm. Please book at reception@spl.org.uk or call 0131 557 2876
£5 (£3 concessions)
Posted 24/10/07
Biggar Writer Takes 3rd Place in McCash Scots Poetry Competition
Andrew McCallum's poem Ryan's Auld Man's Oot o Saughton... has taken third place in this year's prestigious James McCash Scots Poetry Competition, run jointly by The Herald and Glasgow University and judged by a panel headed by Edwin Morgan, Scotland's poet laureate.
The poem is based on snatches of various conversations Andrew overheard in an Edinburgh pub, concerning the release from Saughton prison of a local man, and the form of his poem reflects the manner in which the story came to him through these 'many voices'.
The winning poem, called My Land, by Ayrshire poet Sheila Templeton, who also won this year's Robert McLellan Poetry Award, offers a series of terse but immensely lyrical images of Scotland, while hinting too at darker aspects of the national character.
Second prize went to William Hershaw from Fife, for an atmospheric poem called The Swallow, which integrates traditional and contemporary Scots vocabulary to original effect.
Poetry aficionados are invited to an open celebratory evening for the McCash Competition. It will be held in the Scottish Literature Department of Glasgow University, 7 University Gardens, at 7pm on Thursday, November 1. All are welcome.
Posted 26/07/07
Markings invites unsolicited submissions of poetry and fiction
Markings – a bi-annual Arts Magazine - is now in its eleventh year, offering a synergy between the written word and performance.
Since its inception Markings has gone from strength to strength and is now one of Scotland’s most popular literary magazines. What started as a slim pamphlet with a paper cover is now a hardbound volume funded by The Scottish Arts Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council, running to around 150 pages. It contains poetry, contemporary art, short stories, criticism and reviews.
The current edition features Stewart Conn, Edinburgh’s first Poet Laureate, Diana Hendry a former Whitbread Prize Winner, A C Clarke, winner of the prestigious Petra Kenney Prize, Eeva Kilpi, one of Finland’s leading writers (translations by Scottish poet Donald Adamson) and Bernard Kops whose international reputation as poet and playwright needs no introduction. It also includes work from writers we believe you hear much more of in the future!
Markings invites unsolicited submissions of poetry, fiction, artwork and critcism. Submissions in any language are welcome providing they are accompanied by either an English or Scots translation. Markings is distributed widely across Scotland, into England and abroad. It has printed more than 20 poetry pamphlets and expansion into full-sized publications is currently under consideration.
Submissions and subscriptions to:
The Bakehouse, 44 High Street, Gatehouse of Fleet, DG7 2HP
Tel: 01557 814196 Mob: 07801801204
Email:johnhudson@markings.org.uk
Posted 17/7/07
Marching in Scotland, Dancing in New York
Local writer Margaret Dunlop, perhaps better known locally by her married name Margaret Wiener will have her first book, 'Marching in Scotland, Dancing in New York' published on 3 August. There will also be a launch of the book at Atkinson-Pryce bookshop in Biggar later that month (date not yet fixed). Margaret lives in Biggar and she has lived in South Lanarkshire for around 40 years. Some information about the book and Margaret herself can be found on www.margaretdunlop.com
Posted 18/6/07
Scottish poems for children win national award
The CLPE Poetry Award for 2007 was presented on Thursday to Julie Johnstone, editor of The Thing that Mattered Most: Scottish poems for children (Black and White Publishing/Scottish Poetry Library, 2006).
The Thing that Mattered Most - which includes poems by Anne Armstrong and Andrew McCallum, as well as the current and two former Brownsbank Fellows, Tom Bryan, Matthew Fitt and Gerry Cambridge - is the first Scottish collection to win the prize since the CLPE Poetry Award was established in 2003 to honour excellence in poetry written for children. Previous winners include such well-known names as Roger McGough, John Agard and Grace Nichols.
This year’s judges were poet and BBC radio presenter Ian McMillan and last year’s winner, anthologist Fiona Waters. Waters commented:
‘This is such an imaginative and exciting collection of new poems, and you don’t need to Parliamo Glesca to understand them either for while this is an intensely Scottish selection, and justly proud to be so, the poems reach out far beyond the borders of that nation. Full of the sights and smells of the countryside, the hustle and bustle of the city and the tumultuous tumble of thoughts in the reader’s mind, this is a unique and compelling selection.’
Beautifully designed and illustrated by Iain McIntosh (best known for the covers of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Lady Detective series), The Thing that Mattered Most includes poems in Scots, Gaelic and Shetlandic as well as English and features a preface by former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo.
Editor and award-winner Julie Johnstone, who is also the librarian at the Scottish Poetry Library, said:
‘From the start The Thing that Mattered Most has been about celebrating the rich variety of poets working in Scotland today. We hear a lot of gloomy news these days about poetry publishing – in particular about children’s poetry publishing. Scottish children had very little access to new poems by Scottish poets; this book is unique and fills a real gap. It was a joy to edit the collection and to play my part in bringing Scottish poets and children everywhere together in a fresh and exciting way.’
A copy of The Thing that Mattered Most was sent to every school in Scotland by Learning & Teaching Scotland, funded by the Scottish Executive, when it was published in August 2006.
The CLPE Award is administered by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education