Shore Poets OCTOBER: Patricia Ace, Ian McDonough, Katie Ailes, Rachel Rankin + thepuregallus

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Against the backdrop of the backstop, Brexit and Boris, celebrate or commiserate the eve of our departure from the European Union with an eclectic union of diverse talents so good we’re sure you’ll choose to remain with us for the evening.

Wednesday 30th October 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Canons’ Gait cellar bar 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: PATRICIA ACE

Patricia Ace is the author of the poetry collections First Blood and Fabulous Beast. Since 1993 her poems have been published widely in a great number of magazines and anthologies and have found success in many international poetry competitions, including being long-listed in the National Poetry Competition three times. This year she published In Defiance of Short Days, and a new collection, The Lido at Night, will be published by Red Squirrel Press in 2020. She has been teaching yoga for 18 years and is currently training to be a yoga therapist. She lives in rural Perthshire with her husband.

SHORE POET: IAN MCDONOUGH

Ian McDonough was brought up on the East Coast of Sutherland in the North of Scotland. He has published four poetry collections, most recently A Witch Among The Gooseberries (Mariscat 2014). His work has appeared widely, including Poetry Review, Acumen, Times Educational Supplement, Physics Review, New Writing Scotland and The Scotsman. When not writing he works in Edinburgh as a mediator and conflict trainer.

NEW POETS:

KATIE AILES

Katie Ailes is a researcher, artist, and producer focusing on performance-based poetry. She is currently completing her PhD at the University of Strathclyde on authenticity in contemporary UK spoken word. She organises events, performs, and tours with Scottish company I Am Loud Productions (Loud Poets). Her poem “Outwith” was chosen as one of the Scottish Poetry Library’s Best Scottish Poems of 2016.

RACHEL RANKIN

Rachel Rankin is a poet from Coatbridge, currently based in Edinburgh. Her writing has appeared in Gutter, The Scotsman, The Scottish Review of Books and Multiverse: An International Anthology of Science Fiction Poetry, among others. In 2019, Rachel was the recipient of a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. She completed and MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, from which she graduated with Distinction in 2018, and in 2017 she received a Dewar Arts Award and was shortlisted for the Jane Martin Poetry Prize. As well as being a poet, she also works as a Norwegian to English literary translator and has taught Norwegian language and literature at the University of Edinburgh.

MUSICIANS: THEPUREGALLUS

Pop star for the surrealists, denizen of the absurd, thepuregallus brings seedy slices of oddness to life on his debut album Did Ye Aye? – from stolen babies on a sunbed to the Second Coming at Ayr beach, as well as that bloke who hangs around the edge of the pool but never swims. Once described as David Byrne, played by Harry Dean Stanton, directed by David Lynch, thepuregallus marries synth pop, Vegas lounge and reggae bass to weirdly charming and darkly humorous wordery.

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

We should have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat (ideally we will ask you, but sometimes we forget to ask and then we feel sad once we remember our omission). Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. (Occasionally, we also have poetry books in the raffle, and are very grateful to the donors thereof.)

SHORE POETS SEPTEMBER: STEWART CONN, JANE MCKIE, JANE BONNYMAN, MAX SCRATCHMANN + FIRE IN THE GRATE

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Shore Poets is back for a new season, at our new, central location – the Canons’ Gait cellar bar on the Canongate.  We have even more poetry for you this season – each event will feature four poets, instead of three. We’re delighted to begin our 2019-20 season with a reading from Shore Poet’s Honorary President, Stewart Conn, alongside Shore Poet Jane McKie and two new poets, Max Scratchmann and Jane Bonnyman.

Join us at –

Wednesday 25th September 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Canons’ Gait cellar bar 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: STEWART CONN

Stewart Conn has for many years lived in Edinburgh whose inaugural makar he was from 2002 to 2005.  The city has played an increasingly dominant albeit ambivalent role in his poetry and his affections – one enriching aspect of which has been his warm association with individual members of Shore Poets, whose Honorary President he is.

Publications include The Luncheon of the Boating Party, The Breakfast Room and a new and selected volume The Touch of Time, all Bloodaxe Books, and from Mariscat The Loving-Cup, Estuary and Against the Light. Aspects of Edinburgh, a selection of his poems with drawings of the city by John Knight, was recently published by the Scotland Street Press.  He can be heard reading from his work on The Poetry Archive.

SHORE POET: JANE MCKIE

Jane McKie’s collections of poetry are Morocco Rococo (Cinnamon Press, 2007), When the Sun Turns Green (Polygon, 2009), and Kitsune (Cinnamon Press, 2015). In 2011 she won the Edwin Morgan poetry prize and published a pamphlet, Garden of Bedsteads, with Mariscat Press, a PBS Choice. Her most recent pamphlet is From the Wonder Book of Would You Believe It? (Mariscat Press, 2016). She has an academic background in Psychology, Anthropology, Philosophy and Literature, and is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh and an Advisor to the Edwin Morgan Trust.

NEW POETS:

JANE BONNYMAN

Jane Bonnyman is from Edinburgh and was a Clydebuilt 7 mentee. Her first pamphlet, entitled ‘An Ember from the Fire: Poems on the Life of Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson’, was published by Poetry Salzburg in 2016. Her poems have appeared in The Dark Horse, The Interpreter’s House and Magma.

MAX SCRATCHMANN

As well as being the crazed genius behind all of the Edinburgh-based spoken word theatre company – Poetry Circus’ – shows, Max Scratchmann is a writer, performer, life model and general theatrical dogsbody in his own right; not to mention clinging grimly to the now-fading title of award-winning illustrator. He can also be found at festivals and events in his doppelgänger persona of Professor Max – Takeaway Poet.

MUSICIANS: FIRE IN THE GRATE

(There may be snow on the roof but there is still a Fire in the Grate-proverb)

A four-piece acoustic American roots and country music band, Fire in the Grate do everything from from Bob Wills, to Hank Williams, Tim Carroll to Gillian Welch. They recently had a very successful Edinburgh Fringe show -“The Americana Songbook” and are touring in Fuertaventura this winter.

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. (Occasionally, we also have poetry books in the raffle, and are very grateful to the donors thereof.)

We will have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat (ideally we will ask you, but sometimes we forget to ask and then we feel sad once we remember our omission). Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

 

Shore Poets JUNE: Em Strang, Angela McSeveney, Lauren Pope, Calum Roger + Tuesday Rose McDonough

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Our final readings of the season take place next week – and we’ve four poets to amuse, surprise and stir. Don’t forget we’ll be at out new venue – we now meet on the final WEDNESDAY of the month, at the Canons’ Gait cellar bar on the Canongate.  Times are the same (7.00-9.30) and our mix of excellent poetry and music is guaranteed.

Wednesday 26th June 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Canons’ Gait cellar bar 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: EM STRANG

Em is a poet and Open Book lead reader. She also facilitates workshops in Embodied Poetry, looking at the relationship between psychology, somatic experience and creative practice. Her writing preoccupations are with ‘nature’, spirituality and the relationship between the human and nonhuman. Em’s work has been published widely in anthologies and journals. Bird-Woman, her first full collection, was published by Shearsman in October 2016, was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Best First Collection Prize and won the 2017 Saltire Poetry Book of the Year Award. Her second collection, Horse-Man, will be published in September 2019.

SHORE POET: ANGELA MCSEVENEY

Angela McSeveney is Shore Poets’ treasurer. She lives in Edinburgh and works very part time as a Care Assistant. Most recently she had two pamphlets published by Mariscat Press: Slaughtering Beetroot and Still Bristling.

NEW POETS: LAUREN POPE + CALUM ROGER

Lauren Pope’s poetry has appeared in various journals and online publications including Gutter, Magma, The North, The Rialto and Eyewear Publishing’s Best New British and Irish Poets. Her poetry pamphlet, Announce This, was published by Templar Poetry, and shortlisted for the 2018 Callum Macdonald Memorial Awards. Her poetry was Highly Commended in last year’s Wigtown Poetry Competition and Soutar Writing Prize.

Calum Rodger is a Glasgow-based poet in print and performance. He is current Scottish National Slam Champion and recent finalist in the Poetry Grand Slam in Paris. His most recent pamphlet PORTS – classic twentieth century poems reimagined as video game instructions – is currently available from SPAM Press.
MUSICIANS: TUESDAY ROSE MCDONOUGH

Tuesday Rose McDonough has been playing clarsach and singing since she was eight years old. Her repertoire extends from traditional Gaelic songs to Nirvana and Bob Dylan. She is a fluent gaelic speaker and won the medal for self-accompanied singing at the National Mod in Stornoway while still at primary school. She’s sung and played the clarsach live on radio and in a number of venues including The Queen`s Hall, The Usher Hall, The Royal Scots Club, and The Edinburgh Society of Musicians. She’s received awards from the EMI Foundation and The Verdi Trust.  In her spare time she’s a guide for Ghost Tours in the Royal Mile.

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. We may also have some excellent poetry books to raffle. If you’re lucky, you may get to choose – cake, or poetry?

We will have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat. Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

 

 

 

Shore Poets MAY: Claire Askew, Kate Hendry, Dorothy Lawrenson + William & David Hershaw

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We’re moving! From this month onward, Shore Poets will be on the final WEDNESDAY of the month, at the Canons’ Gait cellar bar on the Canongate.  It’s a great, central venue which we’ve used before and we’re delighted to be returning. The evening will begin and end at the usual times (7.00-9.30) and, of course, we’ll be bringing you the same mix of excellent poetry and music. We hope you can join us on the 29th at the Canon’s Gait.

Wednesday 29th May 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Canons’ Gait cellar bar, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh, EH8 8DQ

Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: CLAIRE ASKEW

Claire Askew is the author of poetry collection This changes things (Bloodaxe, 2016), which was shortlisted for an Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and the Saltire First Book Award, among others.  She is also a novelist, and her debut novel All The Hidden Truths won the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize as a work-in-progress.  The novel was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2018, and was a Times Crime Book of the Month.  Claire’s second novel, What You Pay For, is coming in August 2019.  Claire currently works as Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.

SHORE POET: KATE HENDRY

Kate Hendry is a writer, teacher and editor. She has taught English and creative writing universities, prisons and schools. She is a trustee of StAnza, Scotland’s international poetry festival. Her poetry and fiction has been widely published in magazines and anthologies. Her first poetry collection, The Lost Original was published by HappenStance Press in 2016. She has edited three anthologies for the Scottish Poetry Library: The Poem Goes to Prison(2010), Tools of the Trade: Poems for New Doctors (2016) and To Learn the Future: Poems for Teachers (2018).

NEW POET: DOROTHY LAWRENSON

Dorothy Lawrenson was born in Dundee and grew up in Fife. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Texas State University, and is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. She has published in journals including Gutter, Edinburgh Review, Irish Pages and Lallans, and in the anthologies Whaleback City, Double Bill, Be the First to Like This and A Year of Scottish Poems. In a previous life she was a painter and graphic designer, and the editor of Perjink Press.

 MUSICIANS: WILLIAM & DAVID HERSHAW

Father and son duo William and David Hershaw are two of the main creative forces behind The Bowhill Players, a group who celebrate their homeland Fife and its mining heritage through music. William is an acclaimed poet who has published multiple collections. His pamphlet Winter Song won the Callum MacDonald Memorial Award in 2003, and he won the McCash Prize for Scots Poetry in 2011. David is a popular songwriter, guitarist and producer known for playing with fiddler Sandie Forbes and with Edinburgh-based americana trio Paper Sparrows.

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. We may also have some excellent poetry books to raffle. If you’re lucky, you may get to choose – cake, or poetry?

We will have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat. Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

 

 

 

Shore Poets APRIL: Peter Mackay, Miriam Gamble, Nick-e Melville + Fiona Forbes

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Join us for a spring evening of poetry and music at the Outhouse Bar. We’re delighted to welcome Gaelic poet, Peter Mackay to Shore Poets. We’re also excited to announce that Miriam Gamble has joined our team – so this is her first reading as a Shore Poet.

This is our last meeting at The Outhouse Bar. They’ve been brilliant hosts, but we’re ready to try something different – a new day and venue. From May 29th, Shore Poets will be on the final WEDNESDAY of the month, at the Canons’ Gait cellar bar on the Canongate.  Same time (7.00-9.30) and mix of excellent poetry and music.

Sunday 28th April 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Oh! Outhouse, 12a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3LY
Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: PETER MACKAY

Chaidh Gu Leòr, a chiad chruinneachadh le Pàdraig MacAoidh, fhoillseachadh le Acair ann an 2015; bha sin air gearr-liosta na Duaise Saltire airson Leabhar Bàrdachd na Bliadhna. Tha a chuid bàrdachd air nochdadh fad ’s farsaing ann an irisean ’s paipearan-naidheachd agus air an rèidio, agus chaidh a thionndadh gu Gearmailteach, Frangais, Gaeilge, Seicis, Slòbhacais agus Beurla. Tha e cuideachd na cho-dheasaiche air An Leabhar Liath (Luath 2015). Rugadh agus thogadh e ann an Leòdhas; tha e a-nis a’ fuireach ann an Dun Èideann agus ag obair na oraidiche aig Oithigh Chill Rìmhinn. Bu chòir gum bi dàrna chruinneachadh leis, Nàdur De, a’ nochdadh ann an 2019.

Peter Mackay’s first collection Gu Leòr was published by Acair in 2015, and was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the year. His work has appeared widely in magazines, newspapers and on radio, and been translated into German, French, Irish, Czech, Slovak and English. He is also co-editor of An Leabhar Liath (Luath, 2015). He was born and raised on Lewis, and now lives in Edinburgh and works as a lecturer at the University of St Andrews. His second collection, Some Kind Of, should appear later in 2019.

SHORE POET: MIRIAM GAMBLE

Originally from Northern Ireland, Miriam Gamble lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. Her collections are The Squirrels Are Dead (2010), which won a Somerset Maugham Award, Pirate Music (2014), and What Planet(2019), all published by Bloodaxe. She has been a mentor on the Clydebuilt and Ledbury Emerging Critics programmes and a judge on the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize and the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year Award.

NEW POET: NICK-E MELVILLE:

nick-e melville is a poet, teacher and occasional artist with a PhD in creative writing from the University of Glasgow.

he has had 13 small press publications, and has been anthologised in various publications, been exhibited and been an exhibitionist.

one future book will be ABBODIES COLD, hopefully Autumn this year, as well as the anthology Makar/Unmakar: 12 Poets in Scotland (Tapsalteerie) in a couple of months.

MUSICIAN: FIONA FORBES

Fiona Forbes is a member of the long-standing vocal trio Sangsters, and is a recording artist on Greentrax. With an eclectic musical taste, Fiona has sung jazz and popular contemporary music but is best known for singing Burns and Traditional material.

Fiona was involved with the award-winning Far, Far from Ypres show, which won “Event of the Year” at the 2019 Trad awards and which was a hugely enjoyable project for all the show’s cast. Fiona was the only female singer in the “Pals” regiment CD which preceded the show.
Well known locally as a compere and volunteer in Kirkcaldy Acoustic Music Club which completes the list of Fiona’s wide-ranging involvement and interest in music.

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. (Occasionally, we also have poetry books in the raffle, and are very grateful to the donors thereof.)

We should have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat (ideally we will ask you, but sometimes we forget to ask and then we feel sad once we remember our omission). Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

See you on 28th April!

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SHORE POETS MARCH: Helena Nelson, Martainn Mac an t-Saoir, Roseanne Watt + Andy Shanks

We’re back at The Outhouse at the end of March for a terrific line-up of poets; Helena Nelson, Martainn Mac an t-Saoir and Roseanne Watt, supported by fantastic singer-songwriter Andy Shanks.

Sunday 31st March 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Oh! Outhouse, 12a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3LY
Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: Helena Nelson

Helena Nelson is a poet, critic, editor and publisher (HappenStance Press). Her first collection was Starlight on Water (Rialto 2003). This was followed by Plot and Counter-Plot (Shoestring, 2010), and a light verse collection Down With Poetry! (HappenStance, 2016). Another light verse pamphlet (Branded) is due out from Red Squirrel later this year.

SHORE POET: Martainn Mac an t-Saoir | Martin MacIntyre

Martin MacIntyre

Màrtainn Mac an t-Saoir (Martin Macintyre) and his family live in Edinburgh. He has been a Shore Poet since 2010.  He works as a medical doctor and a writer and is involved in a number of Gaelic initiatives in the city. He was brought up in Lenzie near Glasgow, his father being originally from South Uist.

He is an author, bard and storyteller and has worked across these genres for many years.  His early poetry was published in Let Me Dance With Your Shadow in 2006, and in 2007 he was crowned ‘Bard’ by An Comunn Gàidhealach. He has been interested in Gaelic songs and singing for many years and has competed at various National Mods and reached the final on a number of occasions including 2017.

Besides his poetry and two novels he has written two collections of short stories: the first in 2003, Ath-Aithne (Re-acquaintance) – recently translated into French – won The Saltire Society First Book Award; while his latest collection, Cala Bendita ’s a Bheannachdan (Cala Bendita and its Blessings), was shortlisted for both The Donald Meek Award and The Saltire Literary Book of The Year in 2014.

NEW POET: Roseanne Watt

Roseanne Watt is a poet, filmmaker and musician from Shetland. She was the winner of the 2018 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award, and runner-up in the 2018 Aesthetica Creative Writing Award. Her first collection, Moder Dy, will be published by Polygon in May 2019

MUSICIAN: Andy Shanks

Andy Shanks is an award-winning singer-songwriter from the North East of Scotland. He is best known for his work with Jim Russell on their critically acclaimed album ‘Diamonds in the Night’ and for his songs which have been recorded by many artists, most notably June Tabor.

His solo set is a journey though stories and characters he has met on the way, often moving from traditional to jazz and country depending on the tale. Lyrically, his songs conjure up close observations of the characters and landscapes of Fife and Aberdeenshire, often taking a swipe at contemporary Scots culture. Andy has toured extensively in Scotland and as far afield as North America, recording and performing with many fine musicians. He most recently worked with Christine Kydd on her new album ‘Shift and Change’.

He is also a passionate advocate for Scottish writing and culture, most recently appearing in the BBC documentary ‘The Promised Land’ championing MacDiarmid’s ‘A Drunk Man Looks at a Thistle’ and its place in Scotland’s cultural revolution.

‘A remarkable talent … beautiful, sinewy, meaningful songs, lovely stuff’ The Scotsman

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. We may also have some excellent poetry books to raffle. If you’re lucky, you may get to choose – what will it be? Cake, or poetry?

We will have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat. Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

 

SHORE POETS 2nd MARCH: JIM McGONIGAL, ANNA CROWE, VICKI FEAVER, TOM POW + THE WHOLE SHEBANG

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Our next Shore Poets event will celebrate the last ever Mark Ogle Memorial Award (MOMA). Over twelve years, the award has commissioned work from some of the UK’s finest poets. Their poems have been gathered together in a pamphlet of all the stimulus and response poems. Watching Sunlight will be launched at the event, with copies available for a donation to a cancer charity.

Please join us on Saturday March 2nd, at the Cornerstone Centre, St John’s to hear the 2019 winner of the Mark Ogle Memorial Award: Jim McGonigal.

Jim will be joined on stage by previous winners: Anna Crowe, Vicki Feaver and Tom Pow. Angus Peter Campbell hopes to be with us, as does Meg Bateman, if the tide is right. Music will be provided by Shore Poets favourites, The Whole Shebang.

Please note the different day, time and venue:

  • Saturday 2nd March, 7.30pm – 9.45pm
  • The Cornerstone Centre, St John’s (at the junction of Princes Street & Lothian Road). 
  • Admission: £5 (includes a drink and some nibbles)

MARK OGLE (1948-1999)

Mark was one of the earliest members of Shore Poets and one of the first to read at the group’s original venue, the Shore Gallery in Leith. His untimely death left his considerable poetic talent under-realised. His family decided to commission an annual award in which a poet, selected from the poets who had read at Shore Poets in the previous season, responded to one of Mark’s poems.

The Mark Ogle Memorial Award

 

JIM McGONIGAL

His poetry includes the prize-winning Passage/An Pasaíste (2004) and Cloud Pibroch (2010), both from Mariscat Press, and The Camphill Wren (2016) from Red Squirrel Press. His most recent work is Turning Over in a Strange Bed (Mariscat Press, 2017). His biography Beyond the Last Dragon: A Life of Edwin Morgan (2012) won a Saltire Award, and he co-edited The Midnight Letterbox (Carcanet Press, 2016), a selection of the poet’s correspondence 1950–2010.

ANNA CROWE (winner 2013)

photo credit: Swithun Crowe

 

VICKI FEAVER (winner 2016)

TOM POW (winner 2012)

and hopefully…

ANGUS PETER CAMPBELL (inaugural winner 2008)

MEG BATEMAN (winner 2014)

MUSIC: THE WHOLE SHEBANG

The Whole Shebang is an Edinburgh-based collective, formed in 2011, who play good-time music, from show tunes and standards through blues, country and western to contemporary pop.

The full line-up is: Kerry Houston (vocals), Fiona Shivas (vocals), Gail Turpin (vocals), Frank Glynn (fiddle and viola), Doug Govan (guitar and ukelele), Al Gray (bass), Bill Haddow (mandolin), and Hamish Whyte (percussion).

Shore Poets JANUARY: DIANA HENDRY, HAMISH WHYTE, REX SWEENY + TRIBAISER

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Happy New Year! The first Shore Poets event 2019 season is almost upon us and we’d love you to join us! Please come along and help us celebrate our first selection of poets for this year. We’re delighted to welcome back honorary Shore Poet and much-loved Edinburgh poet Diana Hendry. She’ll be reading alongside her partner; the poet, publisher and current Shore Poet, Hamish Whyte. If you haven’t heard them read together before, you’re in for a treat. They’ll be joined by Rex Sweeny who is this month’s new poet and our musicians – the talented trio, Tribaiser.

Sunday 27th January 2019
7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
The Outhouse, 12a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3LY
Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

MAIN POET: DIANA HENDRY

Diana Hendry

Diana has published six collections of poems, including Making Blue, Borderers and Late Love & Other Whodunnits (all Peterloo Poets) and The Seed-Box Lantern: New and Selected Poems (Mariscat). Her most recent collection is The Watching Stair (Worple Press, 2018). In 2015 she collaborated with Douglas Dunn and Vicki Feaver in Second Wind (Saltire Society/Scottish Poetry Library): poems on ageing.

She has also written over 40 children’s books, including the Whitbread-winning Harvey Angell and recently The Seeing which was shortlisted both for the Costa Prize and Scottish Book of the Year. A junior novel, Out of the Clouds, came out from Hodder in 2016, with a sequel, Whoever You Are, in 2018. Her short stories have been widely published and broadcast.

She was the first writer in residence at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and from 2008 to 2010 she was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Edinburgh.  She has recently co-edited New Writing Scotland.

Janice Galloway has commented: ‘Diana Hendry’s poetry has a wonderful sense of the author’s voice, dark and bitterly sweet at the same time, like high-grade chocolate.’

Diana will be reading at StAnza on March 9th.

www.dianahendry.co.uk

SHORE POET: HAMISH WHYTE

hamish1s

Hamish has had three collections of poems published by Shoestring Press, A Bird in the Hand, The Unswung Axe and Things We Never Knew (the last published 2016). A pamphlet Now the Robin came out from HappenStance Press in 2018.

He has also edited many anthologies of Scottish literature, including Mungo’s Tongues: Glasgow Poems 163-1990, An Arran Anthology, Kin: Scottish Family Poems, Scottish Cats (Birlinn 2013) and most recently Ten Poems About Robins (Candlestick Press, 2018).

He runs Mariscat Press, publishing the poetry of Edwin Morgan, Stewart Conn, Douglas Dunn, Jackie Kay, Gael Turnbull, Christine De Luca, Diana Hendry and Jim Carruth among others. In 2015 Mariscat won both the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award and the Michael Marks Award for poetry pamphlet publishing. He is an Honorary Research Fellow in Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, a member of Edinburgh’s Shore Poets and plays percussion with the band The Whole Shebang.

His long poem Window on the Garden was reviewed in Scotland on Sunday as ‘impossible to describe, like Joni Mitchell and James Joyce deciding to rewrite Thomson’s The Seasons in the style of Sappho.’

www.mariscatpress.com

NEW POET: REX SWEENY

rex sweeny

Originally from Sussex, Rex Sweeny spent twelve years in Oxford before moving to Scotland and has lived in Edinburgh since 1989. He organises and hosts the annual CultFusion poetry event for Leith Festival and his work has appeared in The One O’Clock Gun, Torn Pages and the 2013 anthology New T@les From The Old Town.

MUSICIANS: TRIBAISER

A group of three Heriot-Watt musicians, and more so very good friends, comprising of Fraser Sharp, Kyle Kinnear and Jack Lodge playing drums, jazz keys and trombone respectively. The trio is set to enjoy its second consecutive year playing at the event following a year of musical road trips and music courses around the West and North coasts of Scotland!

AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, and of course provides one lucky winner with a very excellent lemon cake. Sometimes we have poetry pamphlets in the raffle too.

Useful information:

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Shore Poets NOVEMBER – Open Night, Ian McDonough + Simmerdim

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Once again, it’s our Open Night!

Sunday 25th November 2018
7pm (doors open at 6.30pm)
The Outhouse, 12a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3LY
Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

Yes, it’s time for Shore Poets’ Open Night, where much of the event is handed over to up-and-coming poets. The signup period has closed, and we’ll be drawing names out of our poetry hat and contacting everyone in due course. (If you have any questions or need to snatch your name back out of the hat, please contact us at shorepoetsedinburgh @ gmail.com.)

SHORE POET: IAN MCDONOUGH

Ian McDonough was brought up in Brora on the East Coast of Sutherland. He has published four collections of poetry, most recently A Witch Among the Gooseberries published by Mariscat in 2014. His work has appeared widely, including Poetry Review, Times Educational Supplement, Physics Review, New Writing Scotland and The Scotsman.  A member of Shore Poets, Ian lives in Edinburgh with his partner and daughter. When not writing he works as a mediator and trainer.

MUSICIANS: SIMMERDIM

Simmerdim is an Edinburgh-based a cappella trio; named after the long summer twilight in the far North of Scotland, when the sun briefly dips below the horizon and it’s never truly dark.  We sing mostly original arrangements of an eclectic mix of songs.  We’re currently working on a programme for house concerts; so if you have a big living room and want to fill it with a cappella music for an evening, here’s the website for more information:  http://simmerdim.weebly.com/

SHORE POETS RAFFLE

The raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. Place your bets for our famous Lemon Cake. It’s truly delicious. (Occasionally, we also have poetry books in the raffle, and are very grateful to the donors thereof.)

 Useful information:

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Shore Poets OCTOBER: TOM POW, CHRISTINE DE LUCA, TAMMY ADAMS + DAVID HEAVENOR

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We’re back at the Outhouse bar this month, on Sunday 28th, for a vibrant and varied evening of poetry and music. We’re delighted to welcome Tom Pow as our headline poet. Alongside Christine de Luca and Tammy Adams, we’re in for an entertaining and lively evening. But don’t forget that the clocks go back this weekend!

Sunday 28 October 2018
7pm (doors open at 6.30pm)
Oh! Outhouse, 12a Broughton Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH1 3LY
Admission: £5 (concessions £3)

LOOKING AHEAD:

Our Open Night will be on November 25th, when much of the evening is handed over to up-and-coming poets.

The signup period is now open. Please throw your name in the hat for two, 3-minute readings by email only to shorepoetsedinburgh @ gmail.com by the end of the day on Saturday 10th November. We’re looking for ten poets and will select on a first-come-first-served basis.

MAIN POET: TOM POW

Tom Pow has written across a range of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, drama and works for children. But he is primarily a poet. His work explores the domestic, but it also travels to other places and other periods. Dear Alice, Narratives of Madness concerns the legacy of a nineteenth century lunatic asylum, while A Wild Adventure is a speculative poetic biography of Thomas Watling, a Dumfries forger transported to Botany Bay. In The Becoming, New and Selected Poems, was published in 2009 and Recolectores de Nueces, a bi-lingual selection of poems, translated by Jorge Fondebrider, was published in Mexico in 2016. He can be heard at The Poetry Archive. His most recent publication is Barefoot: the collected poems of Alastair Reid of which he was editor.

Credit: Sophie Kandaouroff

SHORE POET: CHRISTINE DE LUCA

Christine De Luca lives in Edinburgh.  She writes in English and Shetlandic, her mother tongue.  She was appointed Edinburgh’s Makar for 2014-2017.  Besides several children’s stories and one novel, she has had seven poetry collections and four bi-lingual volumes published (French, Italian, Icelandic and Norwegian).  She’s participated in many festivals here and abroad.  Her poems have been selected four times for the Best Scottish Poems of the Year (2006, 2010, 2013 and 2015) for the Scottish Poetry Library online anthologies and her pamphlet collection Dat Trickster Sun was short-listed for the Michael Marks pamphlet prize.  Paolozzi at Large in Edinburgh, co-edited with Carlo Pirozzi, is being launched at Blackwell’s on Thursday 31st – it includes new poems in English.

NEW POET: TAMMY ADAMS

Tammy lives in Dunbar and is a member of Tyne and Esk writers. She started writing poetry in 2014 and has seen poems published in The Interpreter’s House and on Lighten Up Online. She has also provided poems to no-poetry magazines The Scottish Planner and Full Potential, the magazine produced by Downs Syndrome Scotland. She was longlisted in this year’s Plough Poetry Prize and has previously been a top 10 finalist in a Poems on a Beermat competition. Some of her poems are inspired by her work as a town planner. Other spring from random thoughts or events. She loves writing poetry as a way to shoo words and worries out of her brain, and to bring a smile to people’s faces.

MUSICIAN: DAVID HEAVENOR

David Heavenor is a Scottish singer songwriter based in Edinburgh. He has produced six albums plus two EPs and can often be heard on BBC Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson programme. ‘I’m Watching Rosanna’ was described as ‘an insightful song…. beautifully written and observed’ by Iain Anderson on BBC Radio. Ricky Ross, of Deacon Blue, named ‘Jenny & the Cold Caller’ as ‘one of the best songs ever written…’

WILDCARD SPOT AND THE LEMON CAKE RAFFLE

We will have a wildcard spot this month. Please mention to the person selling tickets that you’d like to put your name in the hat (ideally we will ask you, but sometimes we forget to ask and then we feel sad once we remember our omission). Bring a poem to read in case you’re chosen! You’ll have three minutes (this includes any preamble or introduction – it’s a good idea to time yourself in advance to make sure you’re within the time limits).

The lemon cake raffle provides us with much-needed funds, so we very much appreciate your support. And it is a most excellent lemon cake. (Occasionally, we also have poetry books in the raffle, and are very grateful to the donors thereof.)

 Useful information:

If you would like to be notified of our monthly events, please follow this blog, by clicking the follow button in the corner. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.