tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1091341583837869592024-02-19T16:10:23.178+00:00Writers' FreedomScottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-34649379222246746582013-12-16T16:18:00.001+00:002013-12-16T16:18:17.409+00:00The Clutha crash - and poet John McGarrigle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtS88pqHLMGQw9RlBa6ZpH4zpElKo960imxsqHudXsvDkD-Z7UFCa0ZnOhMn0FwivN3LX3g_ltB4z7vXJq-_uhV4MXfHS2JLp5QiDSGEIJnz6PO4TfW0xXuXA2dg6vN52mj61TJWFwB_bL/s1600/Jean+Rafferty+B&W+own+pic+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtS88pqHLMGQw9RlBa6ZpH4zpElKo960imxsqHudXsvDkD-Z7UFCa0ZnOhMn0FwivN3LX3g_ltB4z7vXJq-_uhV4MXfHS2JLp5QiDSGEIJnz6PO4TfW0xXuXA2dg6vN52mj61TJWFwB_bL/s320/Jean+Rafferty+B&W+own+pic+edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Clutha
crash<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and poet John
McGarrigle</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div align="center">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Author and journalist Jean Rafferty shares her reflections on the Clutha
helicopter crash and the Scottish poet John McGarrigle, one of those who died
in the wreckage of the Glasgow pub. Jean's sister manages the Scotia, sister
pub to the Clutha.</span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Tm_jNn3PpeKZZTr7eEz4lKa_hfGkaoColAFY1Hz9Q5k-QkDEQZGLyCBbuSPcYRBpuMMrFbdPEqtrnkWltli7a2j3fCtm_fQKWmh43O4ogGUyJTYxormw_Dm9pOA3xbu4swmR3nwm6ofI/s1600/edit+-+mcgarrigle_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Tm_jNn3PpeKZZTr7eEz4lKa_hfGkaoColAFY1Hz9Q5k-QkDEQZGLyCBbuSPcYRBpuMMrFbdPEqtrnkWltli7a2j3fCtm_fQKWmh43O4ogGUyJTYxormw_Dm9pOA3xbu4swmR3nwm6ofI/s1600/edit+-+mcgarrigle_edited-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The picture of Billy Connolly on the front of this week's paper says
what most of us in Glasgow feel. There's a heaviness about him, as if grief is
a physical presence he carries with him. He flew from New York to be here,
wearing a jacket with the American eagle on the front, but his presence at the
Clutha said that however far he has gone from his native city, it is always
there inside him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">His journey was over 3000 miles and took nearly six and a half hours,
and at the end of it he laid some flowers on the ground beside a pub he used to
go to and walked away. You wondered had he come straight from the airport<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> he</span> had the weary look of a man who might have
done so<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">und</span> where he had bought the
flowers, a mixture of white roses, gerbera and unopened lilies, whose scent, so
powerful in an enclosed space, would be lost in the open air beside the river,
would be lost amongst the thousands of bunches of flowers already there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But Billy Connolly's gesture will not be lost. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On the weekend of the Clutha Vaults helicopter crash a London paper ran
several articles criticising the way our media refract tragedy through
celebrity, but, as usual, they failed to understand Scottish reality. Both the
Clutha and its sister pub, the Scotia, define themselves through their
customers and history and Billy Connolly was a huge part of that for both of
them. You wouldn't talk about either of them without mentioning Connolly and
James Kelman and Gerry Rafferty. It would be perverse <i>not </i>to. Connolly
is not really regarded as a celebrity in the normal sense at all here. He's not
seen as someone elite and apart; he's seen as one of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I vividly remember John McGarrigle, who died in the crash, talking about
a short story competition in the Scotia Bar. Billy Connolly had heard some of
the heats and had asked, 'Did McGarrigle's story win? It should have.' I don't
think it did, but Connolly's endorsement was enough for McGarrigle. It was a
token of its authenticity and as such, more valuable than any prize or medal
could be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I can't claim to have been a very close friend of John McGarrigle but I
had a real soft spot for him. Since it happened, his death is with me all the
time. I can't stop thinking about his last moments and hoping he died
instantly, that he wasn't gasping for breath as he was entombed in dust. I
can't stop thinking about his son, who stood outside all night waiting for news
that some instinct already told him was the worst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When the current manager took over the Scotia Bar eight years ago, she
revived the famous writers' group, which had finally petered out under the last
owner, the legendary Brendan McLaughlin. John was one of the first wave of
writers to come to the re-formed group, reading baroque stories of banshees in
tower blocks and classical characters in Castlemilk. Apparently he was known
originally as a poet, but it was prose he was focusing on then and the prose
that I liked, with its surreal fusion of the gritty and the imaginative. So
much so that I've become addicted to the banshee as a literary idea and wrote
my own banshee story some time later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">McGarrigle always believed in telling it like it is and I'm going to
too. He had sometimes been violent, sometimes caught up in the compelling world
of Glasgow's gangsters. No doubt it was something to do with where he lived,
something to do with being a man in the west of Scotland, or maybe just a writer<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> sometimes</span> criminals have the best stories. But
underneath he was a gentle person who got angry for the right reasons. He cared
for his elderly mother and always asked about mine, when she was alive. Once he
spent a whole day with a friend of mine who was researching a book, taking her
all over the Cathkin Braes to show her a forgotten well. 'I had the best of
him,' she said simply. When I wrote a story about someone he knew, a gangster
who lived next door to me, it was enough for me that he said I'd got it right.
His endorsement was as much an endorsement for me of the authenticity of the
story as Billy Connolly's was for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We relate in such profound and unknowable ways to each other as human
beings. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I will miss John though I didn't see
him often. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What drew Billy Connolly to travel all those miles for all those hours,
bringing him to a pub he probably hadn't been in for years? He hasn't been in
the Scotia for years either, the other pub his name is inextricably linked with
in this city. Neither pub can ever be to him what it was before<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> the</span> people are different, he is different<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> but</span> in coming, he reminded us of how<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People have been making big claims about how the behaviour of people
after the crash said something about the nature of Glaswegians, the nature of
Scots. People were trying to return to the pub to help those trapped inside,
they were forming a human chain, they were tending as best they could to the
wounded before the emergency services got there. Afterwards, a few young lads
acted the goat for the television cameras as Labour MP Jim Murphy was talking
with quiet dignity about his experiences of the crash, but for the most part
people were selfless and self-effacing that night. As ever, the professionals
behaved with dogged courage, but it was the ordinary people who didn't have to
do any of it who behaved with something more, with grace. Is it really just
Glaswegians or Scots who do such things? I preferred the man who said the
people behaved with humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yet there is no doubt all of us in Glasgow are connected in mourning.
Even for those of us who never went to the Clutha, there's something very
poignant about this tragedy, that people were out having fun, enjoying
themselves, when disaster struck. Strange how little we think of the joy in
that everyday word, <i>enjoy</i>. Could there be any more joyous sound than
that of a ska band? But joy was taken away that night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That night I saw the
police helicopter hovering in the sky, as it often did<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> it</span> always seemed to be in the East End though I'm sure people
commit crimes in other parts of the city too. I suppose it made a noise, though
from my house it was silent, simply a cluster of lights winking in the darkness
above the orange glow of the city. I lost track of it after a while, didn't see
it tumbling eerily to the ground, didn't hear any loud bang. There was no
harbinger of death that night, no banshee predicting the horror that was to
come. But if McGarrigle was here, I think he might have written one in.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-71710913564096632292013-12-09T15:27:00.002+00:002013-12-09T15:27:50.207+00:00Home and identity | my journey...so far<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zBKX1A1MgSgtln-F_TEUQNDOdVmomP3n3AaCNlH7fmvIpGtlm54ArvIOyFQRuk9kzmao9ruSSAZ3p6fB-SatskpoNeqgFLL2DPww454SYrGIbMA4U7km8raBOhDz6dJW-wfOZhuS3VhL/s1600/Nalini+final+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zBKX1A1MgSgtln-F_TEUQNDOdVmomP3n3AaCNlH7fmvIpGtlm54ArvIOyFQRuk9kzmao9ruSSAZ3p6fB-SatskpoNeqgFLL2DPww454SYrGIbMA4U7km8raBOhDz6dJW-wfOZhuS3VhL/s320/Nalini+final+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Home and identity | my journey...so far<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nalini Paul, poet
and writer - India-born and later brought up in Canada before moving to
Scotland twenty years ago - describes her personal journey in which themes of
home and identity feature in her writing: poetry, a novel, and work for the
stage and film commissions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">My
writing journey began the moment I first heard people speak. It was already
forming in my mind, long before I could read or write.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I
was surrounded by at least three different languages, while growing up. I was
born in India and my parents spoke Punjabi and Hindi as well as English; and
apparently I spoke Hindi while living in India, but I do not remember this. I
was only two-and-a-half years old when we moved to Vancouver, Canada. When I
first began to speak, apparently, I could switch from Hindi to English; and in
Canada, there were still a few residual Hindi words—some of which have stayed
with me. They often relate to food, such as <i>cutta</i>, meaning sour or
bitter tasting. But it is a particular flavour, for which “bitter” and “sour”
do not quite suffice. My paternal grandmother, who lived with us for several
years in Vancouver while my two brothers and I were growing up, used old
colonial English words that she had brought with her from India; such as
“compound” and “frock”. She pronounced “clerk” the English way (“clark”),
which—as Canadians—my brothers and I found odd and foreign sounding. I also
enjoyed studying French at school for six years, which came in handy as I
travelled around Europe for two months at the age of 20, staying in youth
hostels and soaking up the atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I
have lived in Scotland for nearly 20 years, so people no longer mistake me for
an American, based on my accent. I have lost a lot of the West-coast Canadian
twang that I miss. Flights “home” always remind me of what I’ve lost, as soon
as I hear the air stewards’ relaxed, friendly tones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">While
in primary school in the 1970s, I wrote countless stories, which the teacher
would ask me to read out to the class. But when I got to my teens, I switched
to poetry. Despite reading a lot of Shakespeare and poems from anthologies of
20<sup>th</sup> Century English verse, my poems were quite awful at that stage.
I continued writing poetry into my 20s, and slowly, it began to improve. When I
started studying Philosophy and English Literature at the University of
Edinburgh, I did not write as much, being so absorbed in my studies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Poetry
Scotland</span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">
published my first poem, “Street Musician”, in 2000, around the time that I had
started the MLitt in Creative Writing at the Universities of Strathclyde and
Glasgow. An extract of my short novel was published in an anthology of new
Scottish fiction: <i>Word Jig: New Fiction from Scotland</i> in 2003, while I
was studying for my PhD on Jean Rhys at the University of Glasgow. The thesis
explored issues of home and identity (I prefer the word “subjectivity”), which
fed into my poetry. More of my poems began to get published in various
anthologies and magazines, which led to my first pamphlet collection, <i>Skirlags</i>
in 2009. The following year, it was shortlisted for the Callum Macdonald Award.
At that time I was working in Orkney as the George Mackay Brown Writing Fellow,
a life-changing experience. I made many friends and was thrilled to work on various
collaborative projects—with the RSPB, World Heritage and Orkney traditional
dancers, to name a few. Themes of memory, migration and landscapes started to
develop more fully in my writing, feeding into my second poetry pamphlet, <i>Slokt
By Sea</i>, published at the end of 2010.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhgtAQE78jjpUfw7IEJ6NmBklfKkVT_tbqQWJCA8Y_HaO6AAnF_WL55biJUzrvDX9pmWRgRwVDQoET7Ax2_6IWnZ7EO4lXrunQte_daolYWR7H7_8ymzcO9E2lWaRbPr9TcBd6MvZfqOV/s1600/Slokt+by+Sea+-+Cover_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhgtAQE78jjpUfw7IEJ6NmBklfKkVT_tbqQWJCA8Y_HaO6AAnF_WL55biJUzrvDX9pmWRgRwVDQoET7Ax2_6IWnZ7EO4lXrunQte_daolYWR7H7_8ymzcO9E2lWaRbPr9TcBd6MvZfqOV/s320/Slokt+by+Sea+-+Cover_Page_1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Midwinter<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Crow, you were a living shadow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">whose darkness made daytime brighter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Your call was forced <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">from that black, croaky place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">like midnight purpling itself<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">into dawn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">a slow, sad, time-stilling song.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">No melody sprung from your throat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">just a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">caw</i>
that even the ducks mocked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But the echo returns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">far off and white:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">a winter’s full moon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">that you broke into stars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">the bones of a creature licked clean<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">a lamb dying under a tree<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">with marble-black eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and a head full of grief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">You wait for the prize<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">fluttering soot and ashes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">and the black-on-white typescript<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">of words that tried to contain you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">the coal-stained sweetness <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">that will turn up diamonds in time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">As
a keen walker and photographer, I enjoy the intensity of being immersed into a
natural landscape and the elements, which can really heighten the senses (such
as rain and wind, of which there is plenty here!). The physicality of the
experience finds its way into my poetry in a very visual and sensory way. This
visual element has led to a number of collaborations with artists, including my
most recent project with the Scottish Poetry Library and Edinburgh Printmakers,
<i>The Written Word</i>. More than 30 poets have been paired with visual
artists to produce pieces for EP’s annual Christmas exhibition. My contribution
is a poem I’ve based on a Shetlandic myth about Hrafn Floki, the first Norseman
to sail deliberately from Norway to Iceland. The artist Catherine Hiley has made
a beautiful limited-edition book out of the poem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Since
2010, I have written a few pieces for stage. While in Orkney, I was asked to
write the script for the annual community-led production, the <i>Johnsmas Foy</i>.
The narrative incorporated dance, live music (including fiddle, harp, guitar and
bodhran); my own poetry, as well as that of George Mackay Brown; and visual art
that formed part of the stage set. It was a very fruitful project that was a
pleasure to help develop in collaboration with artists from various practices. Over
the last year I have written a couple of pieces for Ankur Productions in
Glasgow, working with asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants from the South Asian
Diaspora. The <i>Ankur Ha-Ha</i> (Citizens Theatre, 2012) and <i>Jukebox</i>
(Tron, 2013) were based on scripts I wrote as narrative poems, using interviews
from the participants. These were staged and performed by dancers in 2012 and
amateur and professional actors in 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">This
year also marked my first commission for film. My poem, <i>Seeing in Colour</i>,
was made into a short animated film by David Galletly for Glasgow Film’s <i>For
All </i>project, which examines the role of cinema in society. The film
includes a short extract of the poem, and was shown at the Glasgow Film Theatre
for two weeks in August.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I
have recently completed material for a full collection of poetry, and look
forward to writing more for stage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">I
currently teach Creative Writing in Edinburgh and in Glasgow, and run my own
business, <i>Write Here, Write Now</i>: <a href="http://www.whwn.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue;">www.whwn.co.uk</span></a>.
A website featuring my writing is currently in progress.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-75626437059348053752013-11-17T18:03:00.002+00:002013-11-18T19:06:05.583+00:00A Voyage to Babylon - a story of The Killing Times<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3XvaI5ASyzbjlAINYnLc6RtY_TYv8CExsEHsFOfN0YDZYr3BQeo_9YCXvUNfzPZOLnTKEn3Qil6KzrOWWYPvrwS_3p6H2zO9MEQy3uH0jDEDzEUeTCiTTb23mhB1m3OO1xxrWxWdj_jt/s1600/HenryPortrait+(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3XvaI5ASyzbjlAINYnLc6RtY_TYv8CExsEHsFOfN0YDZYr3BQeo_9YCXvUNfzPZOLnTKEn3Qil6KzrOWWYPvrwS_3p6H2zO9MEQy3uH0jDEDzEUeTCiTTb23mhB1m3OO1xxrWxWdj_jt/s400/HenryPortrait+(1).jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few years
ago, at Fotheringhay Church, I attended the first performance of ‘Sunlight on a
Pale Green Ocean’, a work written by Christopher Brown who had set some of my Uist
poems for four part choir. After the performance someone in the audience asked if
I would write a piece on Mary, Queen of Scots who had been executed at
Fotheringhay Castle. All that remains of the site is a mound. But as I had stood
there that afternoon, I had been filled with great indignation – how dare they,
I thought, how dare they execute a Scottish Queen. I was then moved to write a
sequence on Mary – in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Goodman’s
Daughter</i> – and one thing leading to another, my next collection, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hammer and the Fire</i>, began with
poems on John Knox and the Scottish Reformation. It was just a short step,
then, to find myself caught up in stories of the Covenanters and the Killing
Times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Voyage to
Babylon<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a story of the Killing Times</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZ31uQKbXfNB2b2sT-_7sPnCGw_ocY3nmaBBzL36lLh4EfUtqRTNn4Iey6tqp1CMVsFvJPvL6nEdC5Moz4N2TPiqX4ZqcY2GcqcVmImumsaDBOxAWdUknC7ZEaG103dKLq3VHgoShyphenhyphenCHk/s1600/VtoBcover_Page_2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZ31uQKbXfNB2b2sT-_7sPnCGw_ocY3nmaBBzL36lLh4EfUtqRTNn4Iey6tqp1CMVsFvJPvL6nEdC5Moz4N2TPiqX4ZqcY2GcqcVmImumsaDBOxAWdUknC7ZEaG103dKLq3VHgoShyphenhyphenCHk/s400/VtoBcover_Page_2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There
are covenanters buried in our local churchyard – casualties of the action at Rullion
Green - and a woman from our hamlet, Old Pentland, prepared the corpse of James
Renwick, Minister of the Moors, for burial after his execution in the
Grassmarket in Edinburgh in 1688 – the last of the Covenanter martyrs. The
final nudge was a visit to the magnificent Dunnottar Castle where, in 1685, 160
Covenanters were incarcerated in appalling conditions for three months before those
who remained alive were transported to North America. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>In the Vault<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">A floor of undressed stones. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">No tub for the relief of nature.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">They stood, took turns to sit, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">envied the bold freedom of the
rats. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">Some passed, in these summer
days,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">into their mind’s winter… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">On the Sabbath they’d sing their
Psalms,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">take up the precentor’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>line,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
bu</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">ild a wondrous tracery <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">intricate as the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gothic they’d destroy –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">till God’s light burst <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">into the chambers of their
captive hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">At one stage, to alleviate
conditions in what is now known as the Whig’s Vault, 30 men were moved to an
even worse situation. Deprived of light and air...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">Man after man<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">they lie on their bellies<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">by a slit in the wall,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">suck in the summer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">And fears fly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">into their heads<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">like bats into darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">A farmer sits<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">rocking in his excrement<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">weeping for his mother.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">A boy is babbling<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">by a wall, his scrabbling<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">fingers worn<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">to flesh. John Fraser<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">of Pitcalzean has been seized<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">by the bloody flux....<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I got a list
of the prisoners at Dunnottar from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Covenanters Index</i>, stuck a pin in three names and, following a few slender
leads, traced John Fraser from Dunnottar to Connecticut and then, after the
Glorious Revolution, back to Scotland where, to my astonishment, I discovered
he had been Minister at Glencorse Church just two miles from where we live. After
his church burned down he was called to Alness, ending his days by the Cromarty
Firth where he had been born and raised.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My account
of his experiences is almost entirely fictional but I have used some of the
graphic details from Robert Wodrow’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A History of the Sufferings of the Church of
Scotland…</i>’. Writing in the seventeenth century, Wodrow was still able to
access eye-witness accounts of the hardships and atrocities of what he called, ‘The
Killing Times’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">These events
arose out of what is often casually designated, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">English</i> Civil War but that was only part of the Wars of the Three
Kingdoms which also engulfed Ireland and Scotland with horrendous loss of life.
It has been said that perhaps 9% of the population of Scotland died directly or
indirectly as a consequence of these wars, 3.7% of the population of England
and a staggering 41% of the population of Ireland. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arguably,
the fault line runs from the Scottish Reformation of 1560 through civil wars
and the Killing Times to the debacle at Culloden in 1746 and on into
sectarianism in contemporary Scotland. You catch, at moments, how frighteningly
close history is. We ignore it at our peril.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
Voyage to Babylon</span></i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
also contains more general poems as well as material written on themes from my
beloved Uists. I try to achieve some balance by including poems on my native
habitat, the east of Scotland. I keep working away at the differences between
west and east coast seascapes. Something to do with wind and light, I think.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>North Sea <o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">This is the sea where night
gathers –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">where thin-lipped, winter dawns <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">mouth cold beginnings, where
short,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">thrawn waves are Sunday-suited, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">grey even under the summer sun. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">Its seascapes shaped minds that
praised<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">a jealous God. Even its
serenities <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">are deceptions, summon the haars
that drew <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">the dragon ships, their bear-sarks
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">howling out of the chill. So why
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">does it lift the heart, disclose
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">in its turbulence a spirit’s
haven? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;">I remember horizons wider than
the edge<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">of
rain, the sea<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>inscrolled in parables of
light.</span></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-48774429779492359702013-11-17T17:35:00.001+00:002013-11-17T17:35:55.387+00:00Poets in Moominland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpcoBhzqF-zRwc2igacX1lzwb-fuMwcFuuPi7rrOgC0SoDgn-g_pxLfUo0vtoDJrbOkQc7mUrvTnhszuhpBJHiEfJykxw1hnj2Sl629zT5zevS26jJ0qwXTXApwtdJ5ijtg44ubvysIpp/s1600/adamson+photo+28+Oct+2013_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpcoBhzqF-zRwc2igacX1lzwb-fuMwcFuuPi7rrOgC0SoDgn-g_pxLfUo0vtoDJrbOkQc7mUrvTnhszuhpBJHiEfJykxw1hnj2Sl629zT5zevS26jJ0qwXTXApwtdJ5ijtg44ubvysIpp/s1600/adamson+photo+28+Oct+2013_edited-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Starting
off as ‘The Three Poets on Tour’ – Chrys Salt, Liz Niven and Donald Adamson
undertook what Donald Adamson described as a 'whistle-stop tour of Finland. Later,
joined by poets Mike Horwood and Aila Juvonen they became ‘Four Brits and a
Finn’, and were designated locally as a ‘A Cavalcade of Prizewinning Poets’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donald Adamson describes their experiences on
their seven day adventure in 'Moominland.</span></span></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">POETS IN MOOMINLAND, 9–15 OCTOBER 2013</span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b><span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">We
started off as ‘The Three Poets on Tour’ – meaning Chrys Salt, Liz Niven and
myself. By the end we had grown like a rolling snowball, with poets Mike
Horwood and Aila Juvonen added to our number. Now we were ‘Four Brits and a
Finn’, and were designated as ‘A Cavalcade of Prizewinning Poets’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amazingly,
this mad whistle-stop tour of Finland, to the cities of Turku, Tampere and
Helsinki passed off without mopes or mishaps. There was time to form relations
with Finnish poets, journalists, literary figures, PEN members. There were many
hugs, tears at the making of connections and the parting of new friends, and on
many, many occasions, hoots of raucous laughter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finns
tend to stereotype themselves as a silent and gloomy people – ideal
characteristics for writing about love and death, the eternal grist to the
poetic mill. It may be no coincidence that Finland is a land filled with poets.
But – as a long-term resident of Finland – I would say that the natural stance
of Finns is one of understated wry humour, a kind of lightly-worn irony,
accepting of the vagaries of life and of the fact that plans inevitably gang
agley. That indeed is the attitude of the national epic, the Kalevala (from
which Liz Niven read Scots translations), and it is an attitude that chimes
wonderfully with the Scots temperament. This common way of embracing life may
have been one of the factors behind the warmth of our reception. Also, there is
the fact that in Finland, English almost has the status of a second rather than
a foreign language. Thus, in a literary tour the barriers to comprehension are
not that great, so long as the reader makes a few allowances in pace and
articulation, and chooses themes that cross national boundaries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
appreciation of our audiences (many books sold!) and the generosity of our
hosts was overwhelming. Particular thanks go to Kaarina Ojasti, Vice-Chair of
the Federation of Finnish-British Societies and Secretary of the Tampere branch.
With her practical good sense and the hospitality she offered at her home,
small difficulties melted away like frost on a spring dyke; thanks also to
Risto Ahti, multiply-awarded Tampere-based poet, critic and translator, and
prime mover of Tampere Poetry Week (of which by pure chance we found ourselves
part). And long Scots miles of thanks to Risto’s wife, Ritva Hokka-Ahti, who as
well as being a warm and calming presence, was responsible for integrating many
aspects of Poetry Week in her capacity as Information Coordinator.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Helsinki reading was notable for its large and distinguished audience, and for
the attendance of Eeva Kilpi, Nobel-prize candidate, one of whose poems we
read, adapted as a two-voice piece. Eeva (born 1928 and still fully active as a
writer) is one of Finland’s most distinguished poets and novelists, a Nobel
Prize candidate, and a national treasure. She talked to the poets afterwards,
dispensing hugs accompanied by warm words of encouragement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’d
also mention a meeting with Marianne Bargum of Finnish PEN. Marianne is passionate
and compassionate. She knows pretty much all there is to know about Finnish
publishing and how poetry fits into it. But more importantly, she is a person
committed to the ideals of PEN, and fully aware of the struggles of writers in an
international context. Talking to Marianne reignites one’s sense of why writing
is important, one’s anger at the difficulties and oppressions that many writers
face, and one’s urge to do something to improve the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally,
I’d like to quote a poem sent to us afterwards by Pekka Kytömäki, who describes
himself as a ‘translator and wannabe poet’. The poem (my translation from
Finnish) is included with his permission.</span></span></div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> An evening with Donald Adamson, Liz Niven and
Chrys Salt; by Pekka Kytömäki</span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></b></span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bT-unzSu6-3NsSqcfwp_f2Zq5hS5U4OrPwPkZzOj-Re-pPG5VYn2FSBkxZ1p4oTkI8zbBprk0qEGSMPz0sAHLWIeOa7K11gwbfqGvI9CDv2dYaMgw9pKT17KfNhv7q_Qf1qOZuADF8Bb/s1600/Three+poets+on+a+telegraph+pole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bT-unzSu6-3NsSqcfwp_f2Zq5hS5U4OrPwPkZzOj-Re-pPG5VYn2FSBkxZ1p4oTkI8zbBprk0qEGSMPz0sAHLWIeOa7K11gwbfqGvI9CDv2dYaMgw9pKT17KfNhv7q_Qf1qOZuADF8Bb/s320/Three+poets+on+a+telegraph+pole.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three Scottish poets in the library<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">wiped away the smudges of the week from my
mind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Liz read in Scots,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chrys and Donald performed together and
separately,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">they read Eeva Kilpi in Donald’s translation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A lot went on in my head.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I closed my eyes, stared,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">laughed, pursed my lips.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was present, for once.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxtextexposedshow"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“If you buy our books, we will eat.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxtextexposedshow"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I bought one from each,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I pattered into the café to get change,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I asked for signatures,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I spelt out my name to the women.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My stiff tongue bent<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">to talk to Liz<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">about Irvine Welsh<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">who apparently is a fine fellow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Donald asked if I was a student,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">he was keen to hear about my job.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He also asked if I was a poet,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I said I’d like to be,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">he decided I was one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I pedalled home with sweaty armpits<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and my skin all goose pimples,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">not from the warmth, not from the cold.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the shower I washed my hair twice<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">since I didn’t notice I’d already washed it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now it’s midnight,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I lie on the sofa with my diary<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">and I know what I want to be when I grow up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The clock is ticking,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I lie awake and grow older,<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="ecxusercontent"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’ve got time.</span></span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-54978554120009800522013-11-17T17:06:00.002+00:002013-11-17T17:06:25.539+00:00Travels with a Pen: In Search of Skerryvore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNiGxvv7uV6h36Hirept3sS-jVckRGmgv5vpnPfhAQbMaq4t0ZQ9P1uSezn3gHYE9R1bYrfssEp0N9xrK2ZIcwG8QZfvi1TQ6VmOd9MIQULAfJRch_Q4e3D1S9nz7pbHVJbmBaC2JbG1_/s1600/B&W+2++-+Edit+-+IMG_0427_edited-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNiGxvv7uV6h36Hirept3sS-jVckRGmgv5vpnPfhAQbMaq4t0ZQ9P1uSezn3gHYE9R1bYrfssEp0N9xrK2ZIcwG8QZfvi1TQ6VmOd9MIQULAfJRch_Q4e3D1S9nz7pbHVJbmBaC2JbG1_/s320/B&W+2++-+Edit+-+IMG_0427_edited-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sian Mackay founded Moubray House
Publishing in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile (1980-90) and wrote several non-fiction
books (as ‘Sheila Mackay’). She contributed regularly to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Herald</i> ‘Weekend’ and lived in Spain for thirteen years where
she wrote fiction and was shortlisted for an Ian St. James award. These days
she lives in Edinburgh and Morayshire and acts as a mentor for other writers.
She describes her own writing practice as ‘a continual wrestle with fact and
fiction - the one a mirror for the other’ that has influenced her recently
published fictive biography <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The House on
the Chine: Robert Louis Stevenson at Skerryvore</i> as well as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Blue File</i> her </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">work in progress due to be
published next year.</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Travels with
a Pen: In Search of Skerryvore</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Ogx-mWmBEWc9E8rJrPIJjplBjOmuiau6cHjpG1N9qy9lrqy1yCGCTuyrRRJa1Q8qmxwKjWKczaKNY6nUBgXwjd-s4QgaCskO8nq1WWVseIxY5yhcP4Vq65ddeMGrUwIPFamC-2QKPDOp/s1600/The+House+On+The+Chine+Book+Cover+jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Ogx-mWmBEWc9E8rJrPIJjplBjOmuiau6cHjpG1N9qy9lrqy1yCGCTuyrRRJa1Q8qmxwKjWKczaKNY6nUBgXwjd-s4QgaCskO8nq1WWVseIxY5yhcP4Vq65ddeMGrUwIPFamC-2QKPDOp/s320/The+House+On+The+Chine+Book+Cover+jpeg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b> </div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This week
Edinburgh ‘City of Literature’ celebrates the birth of one of its most
treasured sons. Robert Louis Stevenson was born on the 13th of November 1850 at
8 Howard Place in ‘a comfortable ground floor bedroom overlooking the back
garden’ in the Canonmills district of Edinburgh where I was born a century
later. The address of Stevenson’s last home in the British Isles (before his
odyssey to Samoa) was 61 Alum Chine Road, Bournemouth, England, to which Louis
appended the name ‘Skerryvore’ after the mighty lighthouse the Stevenson family
firm constructed in the Irish Sea. In 1885 he moved into the villa with his
wife, Fanny, their French maid, Valentine, and Bogue their Skye terrier.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What led the
Scottish author to settle in Bournemouth of all places, I wondered, and why did
he set aside his work in progress that year (the ‘boys’ adventure story’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kidnapped)</i> to write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</i>? At Skerryvore Stevenson’s
network included several Americans: his wife, Fanny Van de Grift Stevenson, her
son, Sam Lloyd Osbourne, the novelist, Henry James, the artist, John Singer
Sargent, the illustrator, Edwin Austin Abbey and the entrepreneurial
millionaire, Charles Fairchild. To what extent did they influence the author's
decision to close up Skerryvore and emigrate to North America in 1887? And what
did the house that fostered one of the most extraordinary transitions in
literary history look like? The fact that<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Jekyll and Hyde </i>had been written in the seaside town of Bournemouth amused
and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>intrigued me to such an extent, I
found myself travelling south one blustery November to see Skerryvore for
myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As
it turned out, the villa had been blown to smithereens in the second world war.
In Bournemouth Library I found a photograph captioned 'Skerryvore After German Air
Raid, November, 1940'. The lower half of the photo shows a monumental pile of
bricks, lumber and debris. Above it, peeling wallpaper droops forlornly on
gable walls rooflessly exposed to the elements: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">None who saw it can have forgotten the aspect of the gable: here it was
plastered, there papered, according to the rooms; here the kettle still stood
on the hob, high overhead; and there a cheap picture of the Queen was pasted
over the chimney. </i>Stevenson's description of a demolished tenement he saw
in the High Street of Edinburgh serves for the extinction of Skerryvore. Like
the Edinburgh tenement, Skerryvore was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">suddenly
cut off from the revolving years</i> and would have been forgotten altogether
had Robert Louis Stevenson not written prodigiously there.</span></div>
</span><div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Skerryvore
was the only building in Bournemouth to be hit by a Luftwaffe bomber before it
swerved high and away over the English Channel. After the ruin had been
cleared, the gap site was recreated as a memorial garden in the 1950s by
Bournemouth Corporation. To find it, I took a bus from the city centre to the
suburb of Westbourne, walked down Robert Louis Stevenson Avenue (Middle Road in
Stevenson's day) and found myself on Alum Chine Road beside a signpost marked
'Skerryvore'. ‘Chine’, by the way, rhymes with ‘dine’. Nowadays, the original
low wall fronting the street and the sturdy stone gateposts are all that remain
of the built landscape Stevenson knew. Beyond the gateposts, bricks set into
the ground delineate part of the original villa. The only other features on
site are a wooden bench beside a bin for visitors' rubbish and a touching three-feet
high stone replica of the Skerryvore lighthouse. In truth, there isn't much of
a garden, and I blessed the fact that leaf-littered November day when I first
set foot in Stevenson's domain and explored the space outlined by the bricks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Soon I found
myself re-inventing the villa: the dining room here, the living room next to
it, the bedrooms upstairs, the kitchen with a door to the stable yard, the
rubbish bins and the coal hole. And was there a bathroom? Where the line of
bricks deviated from its oblong course, I guessed there must have been bay
windows giving wide views of the garden and, not far from the gateposts, an
entrance porch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A thick
carpet of copper beech leaves obliterated every distraction lurking underfoot
the day I first stood at the edge of the long garden above the chalky ravine of
Alum Chine where Stevenson liked to sunbathe while Fanny created 'labyrinthine
paths' on the slopes below. I explored the deep, dank Alum Chine from its
source below Skerrvore’s garden to the sea. On a bronze plaque set into a
bridge spanning the rivulet of the chine, Stevenson's haunting likeness stared
back at me above these evocative lines: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Robert Louis Stevenson<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lived at Skerryvore<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Overlooking This Chine</span></i></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My morning
research continued in Bournemouth library and the bench in the memorial garden
became my afternoon sanctuary. One day<em> </em>the
archivist found a photograph of Skerryvore taken (by 'S. J. White') three years
before the bombing. It was a sweet moment, staring at an image of the very
house where <em>Kidnapped</em> and <em>Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</em>
had been written.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The villa
was one of many put up in Westbourne in the 1860s by entrepreneurial builders
with an eye to giving value for money: homes of English bricks, their tall
chimney stacks proclaiming abundant fireplaces within. On the sunny day in 1937
when the villa was photographed the windows and their louvred shutters had been
flung wide open and a game of croquet set out on the lawn. A second photograph
showed the white-painted entrance porch, unusually situated at the side of the
house, with light and dense shadows playing on the ivy-covered walls. Swerving
wheel marks in the gravel hinted at comings and goings by bicycle or with
wheelbarrow, a scene unaltered since the Stevenson family and their visitors
had entered Skerryvore fifty years before S. J. White. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wandering
down Alum Chine Road and its neighbouring streets, I took a close look at extant
villas built around the same time as Skerryvore. White's 1937 photographs
helped me to identify identical bay windows, louvred shutters, gateposts and porches.
I needed all the clues I could muster in my search for Skerryvore, but it was a
drawing in the library that captured an atmosphere more telling than any
photograph. In 1912, <em>The Bookman </em>sent<em> </em>a well-known caricaturist for magazines
including <em>Vanity Fair</em> to Westbourne
to make a drawing of Skerryvore: 'A good memory, an eye for detail, and a mind
to appreciate and grasp the whole atmosphere and peculiarity of the 'subject'
are of course essentials,' Leslie Ward wrote of his caricaturist's art. When
Ward visited Skerryvore, eighteen years after Stevenson’s death, 'everyone' had
read his ‘tale of terror’ and it must have influenced the artist’s perception
of the place where the story was incubated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ward's
Skerryvore is a house of secrets, its brooding 'atmosphere and peculiarity'
palpable in his Arthur Rackham-like rendering of the elevation facing the
garden and the chine. He depicted his imaginary Louis and Fanny Stevenson
standing tête-à-tête under a cypress. Fanny wears a crinoline, Louis leans on
his walking stick, and the Skye terrier lurks nearby. Three long shadows edge
across the grass. Perhaps Ward went to Bournemouth in cold November as I did.
The louvred shutters of the Skerryvore he captured with his pencil are firmly
closed over an upstairs window. A belching chimney sends curlicues of smoke
into threatening clouds. A flight of birds caws above the sharply delineated
cypress. The cypress casts its shadow over the façade. The façade wavers, half
in sunshine, half in shadow:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>All the wicked shadows <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><em>Coming tramp, tramp, tramp,<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span><em>With
the black night overhead</em> </span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In April
1885 the Stevensons were settling down and the atmosphere was cheerful, as
their neighbour and friend, Adelaide Boodle, recorded in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flashlights from Skerryvore</i>. The black autumn night has yet to come
when the author will waken, startled by his nightmarish inspiration for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jekyll and Hyde.</i> That summer, another
eyewitness, John Singer Sargent, painted Fanny and Louis at home with the
drawing room door open to reveal the dark hall and the staircase rising to the
second floor in his enigmatic portrait, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Robert
Louis Stevenson and his Wife</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
lineaments of the house were taking shape in my mind. Now my challenge was to
bring to life its inhabitants and listen-in to conversations between Stevenson
and Henry James, John Singer Sargent and all the other visitors to Skerryvore that
year. When I felt ready to take the artist's cue, cautiously, I slipped behind
my invented façade and stood in the silent hall. On my tremulous way through its
rooms, I evoked Louis working at his desk and felt the soft sleeve of his
velvet jacket, I smelled his delicious lunch roasting in the oven and heard the
tick of the grandfather clock he named Old Faithful. Upstairs a door slammed:
Fanny in one of her moods. Through careful reading of the many letters they
wrote that year, I hoped to comprehend, at least a little, Stevenson's complex
relationship with his magnificently eccentric wife (who rescued him from
death’s door that summer) and with Fanny's son, Sam, whose over-identification
with his stepfather verged on the pathological.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eventually,
the Robert Louis Stevenson of my imagination blurred the edges of fact and
fiction and came to sit beside me on the bench in the memorial garden. It was
the thirteenth of November 1885, his thirty-fifth birthday, and he had just
signed the publishing contract for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strange
Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</i>. Well-wrapped against a chilly breeze and
threatening rain, he hummed the tune he intended to play on the piano during
his birthday celebration: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Träumerei</i> -
'Dreaming' from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scenes from Childhood</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stevenson
was fond of Schumann. His otherworldly song transported me back to our
childhood roots at Canonmills and a dream took shape that became a book about
the momentous year when the 'doomed and dazzling' Scottish author took
possession of the house on the chine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The House on the Chine: Robert Louis Stevenson at Skerryvore</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> is
published by Sancho Press and can be purchased at Blackwell’s, Edinburgh or
ordered via <a href="http://www.booksfromscotland.com/"><span style="color: blue;">www.booksfromscotland.com</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><u><span style="color: blue;">. </span></u></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The link to
Sian Mackay’s Author Page on Amazon is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00BS8EJYG" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00BS8EJYG</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">www.sanchopress.co.uk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div align="center" class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="Default" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; tab-stops: 27.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-5872188179480908642013-11-17T16:32:00.002+00:002013-11-17T16:32:52.309+00:00Poets of Protest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgkgITlzvwYY747ZgpTU24Y7nRromrsnhWlJ-dPua0B_Z4vgdSOaAOPA-3C0rUT2WHxCuIF6F1JUaerBqIXJGbSg8fYkToVxSl623BgNLZfk6ivI0Qqev-FcB3WPLyRXByRim2KjRLa3w/s1600/Mario_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgkgITlzvwYY747ZgpTU24Y7nRromrsnhWlJ-dPua0B_Z4vgdSOaAOPA-3C0rUT2WHxCuIF6F1JUaerBqIXJGbSg8fYkToVxSl623BgNLZfk6ivI0Qqev-FcB3WPLyRXByRim2KjRLa3w/s320/Mario_edited-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A number of films
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Al Jazeera </i>are made by the (now
Edinburgh-based) young Iranian filmmaker, Roxana Vilk. On Wednesday 20
November, she will be presenting and discussing her work at a meeting of the
Scottish Poetry Association, that will take place at the Scottish Poetry Library,
Canongate, Edinburgh. Dr Mario Relich introduces her work and that of other filmmakers
making films for Al Jazeera.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Poets of Protest</span></b><span style="font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MK3VBBfRokRB07uGF9jYNsqvKRg4QLgpJw6DFFAE1Lj230IjtPKEK4qXPqp-QHX68ylJwpPJzPz3CGU24OOyZwaElVV67YVyBbEuSHgcVubDJ7BFuzrJmmjV2vLpEvMHMNJSTSK5gXQn/s1600/Al+Jazeera+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MK3VBBfRokRB07uGF9jYNsqvKRg4QLgpJw6DFFAE1Lj230IjtPKEK4qXPqp-QHX68ylJwpPJzPz3CGU24OOyZwaElVV67YVyBbEuSHgcVubDJ7BFuzrJmmjV2vLpEvMHMNJSTSK5gXQn/s1600/Al+Jazeera+logo.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span> </div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It may be of interest to Scottish PEN members,
especially the ones who are poets themselves, that by merely clicking on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'An Jazeera: Poets of Protest'</i>, you gain
access to some of the most remarkable films about contemporary poetry and
poets. I'll mention two of the films.</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinp95sTbUu0XFgVS62rd8R7SxmsaOOnFLDe4JJ1EGZ_jzVpXvuWWU4_YwnW6pV2xbnXfa0RycOHKA8a5dmw0UN1jc_ANMyGE8uy8AUhed028v5sP7z9xq1rSwe11_isMdy1UL-5-eTzdVo/s1600/Roxana+Vilk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinp95sTbUu0XFgVS62rd8R7SxmsaOOnFLDe4JJ1EGZ_jzVpXvuWWU4_YwnW6pV2xbnXfa0RycOHKA8a5dmw0UN1jc_ANMyGE8uy8AUhed028v5sP7z9xq1rSwe11_isMdy1UL-5-eTzdVo/s200/Roxana+Vilk.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One is about Hala
Mohammed, Syrian poet exiled in Paris, and the Palestinian Mazen Maarouf,
exiled in Norway. Under half an hour long, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'Hala
Mohanned: Waiting for Spring'</i>, directed by Yasmin Fedda, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'Mazen Maarouf: Hand Made'</i>, directed by
Roxana Vilk, are exemplary documentary cameos of the two poets. It emerges that
they are not just representatives of any political positions, though both
express criticism of the Syrian regime, but primarily poets practicing their
craft. They do so not only as a way of dealing with their own personally
distressing situations, nor even as 'unacknowledged legislators', but because
writing poetry is, in my view, the most significant part of their identities.</span></span></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Unlike in most
documentaries, there is no voice-over narrator in either film. The poets speak
for themselves, and read their poetry on camera, and sub-titles are presented
in various ingenious ways which avoid strain on the eyes. Conversations with
their hosts in Paris and Norway are also highlighted. But best of all, both
filmmakers, zero in on images which counterpoint the poems most lucidly. Both
are British filmmakers, with Yasmin Fedda based in Newcastle, and Roxana Vilk,
a young British Iranian who lives in Edinburgh. Both are filmmakers to watch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-32148907503824828692013-10-19T13:37:00.001+01:002013-10-19T13:41:41.716+01:00PEN International Women Writers Committee | Reykjavik 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTriVKd7vzRmtcvDCHgkuNbutaIzbpOGnfnPgx0nVWtao80bShzJdGGHOoa7DjrnP9Dv8FBGV6X3Iw7OB1MCyekgNLag2cncQ0mD83enMEUQqLuwGYfx0X3JwEYtd7ZhuyZy9q2VUGErS/s1600/PEN+Rekyavik+Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRTriVKd7vzRmtcvDCHgkuNbutaIzbpOGnfnPgx0nVWtao80bShzJdGGHOoa7DjrnP9Dv8FBGV6X3Iw7OB1MCyekgNLag2cncQ0mD83enMEUQqLuwGYfx0X3JwEYtd7ZhuyZy9q2VUGErS/s320/PEN+Rekyavik+Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Minutes of meeting of PEN
International<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Women Writers Committee<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reykjavik,
September 9, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The meeting, part of PEN's
International Congress,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was chaired by Ekbal
Baraka, Chair, assisted by former chairs Judy Buckrich and Lucina Kathmann; the
Minutes were prepared by Lucina Kathmann.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9vgGyQLmd1G_6rOInRw89nCpQAk_3OB5bMp5xw2mN-njUqfdIY0eLRrGhz52U4zbdpeMvfc0nIdcjJQlmS-_gssm4uN4CTkpWdw5qAq68ppOzVa7QXXSn_2IHKUbxvf7CZ9FdOo_AXHu/s1600/1+Womens+Committee+Rekyavik+2013_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9vgGyQLmd1G_6rOInRw89nCpQAk_3OB5bMp5xw2mN-njUqfdIY0eLRrGhz52U4zbdpeMvfc0nIdcjJQlmS-_gssm4uN4CTkpWdw5qAq68ppOzVa7QXXSn_2IHKUbxvf7CZ9FdOo_AXHu/s400/1+Womens+Committee+Rekyavik+2013_Page_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The pamphlet about the history of
the Women Writers Committee was passed out. The new website </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.piwwc.org/"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: navy;">www.piwwc.org</span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> was introduced. An idea to create a
directory of individual women writers in all areas was changed and refined to
result in a call for reports on the conditions for women writers in each area.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There was a spirited discussion
of the fact that in almost 100 years of its existence, PEN International has
never had a woman president. How do we change this? Some of the women attending
said that even if a woman is elected soon, which we all hope, it is still a
scandal that this situation has gone on so long. Many ideas were floated as to
how to help get a woman elected at the next presidential election. We all
agreed to talk about this matter with our centers and other contacts. We would
like at least one strong candidate, if not more. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Diversity website page
devoted to members of the women writers committee is now functioning again. The
site was hacked this year, delaying this project. This page is for the purpose
of the women writers of PEN getting to know each other through our work. Anyone
may participate. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How to participate:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Choose a text in English that will help readers
understand who you are as a writer, put it with a photo of yourself and a few
lines of biography mentioning which PEN center you belong to and send it to
Marija Simokovic:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">gustav47@gmail.com </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We reviewed the standing orders
of the committee. Paul Finegan from the London office joined us in this phase.
We made a few changes. Judy Buckrich will circulate the new standing orders
with the changes. One effect was that according to the revised standing orders
we needed an elected secretary, treasurer and other board members. We have had
an informal executive, which we can keep, but this is a formal structure.
Elections quickly put the following in place: Lucina Kathmann, secretary,
Judith Buckrich and Sarah Lawson, executive members. We were unable to find a
treasurer as we have no experience with a budget, though we understand that we
might be getting money and thus requiring someone responsible to account for it
and we will find a way to fill this post.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sarah Clarke from the London
office then joined us to talk about using international organizations,
particularly the UN. Tsung Su of the Chinese Writers Abroad PEN and Lucina
Kathmann of San Miguel,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mexico, PEN have
been attending the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in New York since 1996. This last year PEN
was able to read a statement in a formal meeting, the first time PEN has been
able to get the floor in that body. The theme this year was violence against
women, a theme of universal importance with which PEN has a particular
competence: violence against women writers. Getting the floor was a great
advance. Sarah's professional help and expertise in this organization certainly
was instrumental in the PIWWC's enhanced powers.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Haroun Siddiqi joined us in
representation of the International Board to tell us that there is finally
money raised for staff and other help specifically for the committees. We are
invited to think of ways that the board can help us. Later John Ralston Saul and
Takeaki Hori joined us briefly. Their message was like Haroun's, that now there
is staff and resources to help the committees and they invite us to make
requests. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ekbal proposed a conference in
Egypt for next January, this would be a case in point of a way the office could
help the PIWWC and it is being followed up. Paul Finegan is the particular
staff person in charge of committees.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We began the individual reports
which are always the highlight of the PIWWC meetings. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">He Xiangyang from Chinese PEN spoke,
translated by Wi Xinwei. She said there were many literary prizes won by women
writers in China, that since 1919 there has been gender equality in China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Clara Franceschetti, from the
French-speaking region of Switzerland, talked of a subtle discrimination that
persists against women writers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ayako Sato, from Japan PEN, said
that more women are being published in Japan now. Her center is going to
feature the Mexican women journalists who have been killed in their next
Women's Day program. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Icelandic PEN delegates
reported that, though there is a good situation in Iceland in general,
newspapers have fired seasoned women and hired boys and there have been other
forms of economic discrimination. They said “Sometimes we are blind to issues
in our own country.” Women are not equally represented in important literary
prizes, and a new prize especially for women has been instituted. At first that
was controversial as perhaps being thought of as “second rate” but now it is
popular. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Zeinab Diallo, from Guinea,
talked about a new project, a compendium of testimonies about FGM, which are
now in book form. Zeinab is looking for a publisher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Itxaro Borda from Basque PEN
lives on the French side of the France/Spain border. She talked about her
situation as a Basque writer. Her center is now interested in LGBT rights and
normalizing diversity among its members. She said “We come from a macho
Christian society but are now liberating ourselves.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nancy Phiri from Malawi, is a
librarian, writes children's books, sometimes in the Chichewa language. Her
organization sponsors reading groups among girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Women are more frequently journalists in
Malawi and find it hard to have their writing taken seriously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Joyce Caplan
from Scotland is a professor of Scottish literature. Her center is making a bid
for the 2016 PEN World Congress. The issue of independence is currently
important in Scotland. Her center does programs for International Women's Day.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Judy Buckrich spoke of an
exciting literary and artistic subculture now active in Australia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Women from Swedish PEN
underscored the Icelandic women's observation that the majority of readers are
women. They said the 90s were the golden era for poetry in Swedish, many of the
poets of that era were women. The center does a Women's Day program and is
involved in a project for the education of women in Afghanistan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lina Morselli from the Trieste
center is interested in the Italian language and other minority languages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ekbal talked about the terrible
civil unrest in Egypt, which she lives in. There have been three years of
turmoil. In March of 2011 some women trying to celebrate International Women's
Day in Tahrir Square were pushed out of the square. The people pushing them
were the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi won his election illegally, then dismissed
the only woman judge in the Constitutional Court. Insofar as the Islamic
Brotherhood allows any women in public office, they are veiled and say nothing.
They promote segregated schools with veiled women teachers for girls. Ekbal
said, “The Islamic Brotherhood has two enemies, women and Christians.” She
spoke of the churches that have been burned. “There are 10 million Christians
in Egypt,” she said, “They are not a 'minority,' they are citizens.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Berivan Dosky from the Kurdish
PEN center, who was posted to Damascus and now is in Baghdad, talked of the
terrible situation for Kurdish people (and everyone else as well) in Syria.
Islamists are attacking and their preachers are condoning horrible things which
have never happened in Syria before. For example, women are being encouraged to
have sexual relations with many male fighters, whether by choice or by force,
to help their morale to fight, the women's contribution to jihad. She also
mentioned a woman writer in the Iraqi region of Kurdistan, Suzanne Jamal, who
has been threatened by Islamists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finnish PEN delegates reported
that in the last two years their Women Writers Committee has had an event to
talk about motherhood and writing, how these claims can be reconciled in one's
life. They have also had Valentine's Day events celebrating diverse
sexualities, as well as writing letters for prisoners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sarah Lawson spoke of the history
of English PEN vis a vis the Women Writers Committee, why it is that she, an
active mainstay of the PIWWC, nonetheless is almost always the only woman from
English PEN at meetings. This time another delegate from English PEN was
present, Fathieh Saudi, who is on the board of that center, so perhaps this
situation can be improved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 70.9pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A long-range idea was suggested:
to generate a Declaration of Women's Rights parallel to the Girona and Peace
Committee's manifestos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The meeting lasted a half hour
longer than scheduled. Hardly anyone was willing to leave even though
organizers of the next events kept encouraging us. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-26382404504670020452013-10-12T10:38:00.001+01:002013-10-12T10:38:29.915+01:00Still transmitting: why Nam June Paik matters<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEh3u-Cn3-9a_-_Oo7A7iW1rC4kPLbBli9YXBJ1q8CD1St7dr_8Vk7vxDB4qxUa2MH7MNeRUcQL8uAes4F0xIylGA00ql7WvhxYIggRflQu27mNo3jnKYZtKBM-shd2v6W02kHwatG6U9L/s1600/Mario.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEh3u-Cn3-9a_-_Oo7A7iW1rC4kPLbBli9YXBJ1q8CD1St7dr_8Vk7vxDB4qxUa2MH7MNeRUcQL8uAes4F0xIylGA00ql7WvhxYIggRflQu27mNo3jnKYZtKBM-shd2v6W02kHwatG6U9L/s320/Mario.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dr Mario Relich, poet, academic, Secretary of the Scottish Poetry Association, and member of the Executive Committee of Scottish PEN, reflects on Korean American artist Nam June Paik's exhibition at the Talbot Rice Gallery. Considered by many to be the founder of video art, Paik died in 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 22pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Still transmitting<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Why Nam June Paik Matters</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi82CTfSd8bvwP6L5gIHJ6vgit-RySncQaptjQgtFsd1Y4HPry0co8F0wL2WJIK2SzDG_l_BOTUjqq3NgMsYp2524tPPgT7ZXRN6S_V0A6OkiC1t5_LZE3C_vV-xPEZajdTPKj191IqR3C/s1600/Nam+June+Paik+pics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi82CTfSd8bvwP6L5gIHJ6vgit-RySncQaptjQgtFsd1Y4HPry0co8F0wL2WJIK2SzDG_l_BOTUjqq3NgMsYp2524tPPgT7ZXRN6S_V0A6OkiC1t5_LZE3C_vV-xPEZajdTPKj191IqR3C/s320/Nam+June+Paik+pics.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I recently visited the only remnant of this year's Edinburgh International Festival, namely the exhibition of 'Transmitted Live: Nam June Paik Resounds'. I expected something in the way of possibly uninspiring installation art. In fact, it's a wonderful display of all kinds of musical/technological art-work inspired by Paik's 1963 exhibition 'Exposition of Music -- Electronic Television' in Wuppertal.</span></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Paik in the programme notes is described as 'a pathfinder of media art, turning such technologies as television, video, satellite broadcast and laser into creative and experimental forms of art.' Highlights for me were a small, enclosed area devoted to the music of the Beatles at the time, and in the Georgian Gallery of Talbot Rice, a film exploring dance, from various cultures, together with shots of the likes of John Cage and Allen Ginsberg edited in visually intricate and really beautiful patterns. The exhibition in a way celebrates freedom of expression at its most playful, and the artist's legacy lives on at the Nam June Paik Art Centre in South Korea.</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You still have time to see it, and give yourself at least an hour to appreciate its splendours, until 19 Oct.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 22pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-21459964183949743042013-10-05T00:09:00.001+01:002013-10-05T00:09:38.707+01:00Learning as you go<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcGjKZxeRggiC_YFhJIpQ6n8ue9O09GmiNjwWo_ZdWvH9IjArakwQrHXxzQoi9_RaS8MyprYOJW4BziQDImqOVY6o3sZbJPLUzZA9UqHI8p17ljDWjdY-SYjLgWedQw1iLhFXhcOXh1Y2/s1600/Harry+for+PEN_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcGjKZxeRggiC_YFhJIpQ6n8ue9O09GmiNjwWo_ZdWvH9IjArakwQrHXxzQoi9_RaS8MyprYOJW4BziQDImqOVY6o3sZbJPLUzZA9UqHI8p17ljDWjdY-SYjLgWedQw1iLhFXhcOXh1Y2/s200/Harry+for+PEN_edited-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong>Harry D Watson</strong></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> is a translator in the Scandinavian languages. In
this article he shares his experience of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'pleasures and pains' </i>of attempting to translate a poem in a
language in which he describes himself as 'still learning': Faroese. The
article provides an insight into the process and tasks of translation (a field
in which Scottish PEN aims to increase its member-activity) as Harry describes
how he tackled the poem <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Havin</i> (The
Garden) by the Faroese-born, but now Danish-based poet and film maker, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Katrin Ottarsdóttir</b>.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OlYWRodBafxVs9BtpH7ZQXsaJnY0K2d4bTK7nZ7QnS5yeORxixcAy7GFmB2nF2BBMJpxEGU8-iFx94V829MC8YZMThj0-ev5jN-woYoZHPza2l2ApOiSCD1LbJADB-nOaqVjkzkdmJ6E/s1600/Poet+-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OlYWRodBafxVs9BtpH7ZQXsaJnY0K2d4bTK7nZ7QnS5yeORxixcAy7GFmB2nF2BBMJpxEGU8-iFx94V829MC8YZMThj0-ev5jN-woYoZHPza2l2ApOiSCD1LbJADB-nOaqVjkzkdmJ6E/s200/Poet+-.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Learning as you go<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">a
tentative attempt at translating a Faroese poem</span></div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My
background as a translator is in the Scandinavian languages, and although
Swedish is the only member of the group that I am comfortable speaking as well
as reading – having lived and worked in Sweden as well as studying the language
– the three mainland Scandinavian languages are so similar in their written
forms that I have also on occasion translated from both Danish and Norwegian.
However, my “first” Scandinavian language, which I studied at university in the
1960s as part of an English Language degree, was Old Norse, the ancestral
language of Scandinavia which survives today in remarkably good condition and
with a greatly increased vocabulary as modern Icelandic. And Icelandic has a
close cousin in Faroese.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
couple of years ago I went on a cruise, a sort of Viking raid in reverse, to
Iceland and the Faroes and returned with plunder in the shape of a dictionary
of modern Icelandic and a Faroese language course, complete with CD.
Fellow-translators, if no-one else, will sympathise with my choice of holiday
souvenir. With some background in Icelandic, I made fairly rapid progress with
my Faroese course, and before long I had taken out a subscription to the
Faroese literary journal <i>Vencil </i>and was trying my hand at a few
tentative translations. It may seem a foolhardy exercise to try translating
literature in a language one is barely acquainted with, but I am a great
believer in learning by doing, although I was quite clear from the start that I
would need to liaise with the relevant authors, as any translator must
inevitably do when translating work by living writers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To
illustrate the pain and pleasure of translating from a language one is still
learning, I want to concentrate on my evolving version of <i>Havin </i>(The
Garden) by the Faroese-born but Danish-based poet and film-maker Katrin
Ottarsdóttir. Here is the poem in the original Faroese:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Havin<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dreymarnir
brotna í vøkrum havum<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>ein
rhododendron kveylar leivdirnar í seg<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>gevur
maðkunum enn eina grund at vera til<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>suffini
fara millum havarnar<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>leita
eftir meiningini í mjúku moldini<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>undir
blóðdropunum hjá kristusi<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>heldur
ikki hann veit síni livandi ráð<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>í einum
hava grør alt sum maðurin nertir<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>hjartað
lekur innistongd orð út í fingrarnar<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>allir
litir leskiliga lokkandi<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>inni í
húsinum er útideyðaveður<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>skjótt
noyðist hann at fara inn.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A literal
translation would go something like<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The dreams broken in beautiful
gardens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>a rhododendron coils its remains
into itself<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>gives the worms yet another
reason to exist<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the sighs drift between the
gardens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>looking for meaning in the soft
earth<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>under the drops of blood from
Christ<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>nor does he know what to do<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>in one garden there grows all
that a man touches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the heart leaches locked-in
words out of the fingers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>all the colours refreshing,
beguiling<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>inside the house is
life-threatening weather<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>soon he is forced to go in.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hmm. A bit more
work needed there, perhaps! And the “drops of blood from Christ” in the second
stanza seems to strike a jarring note, in the context of a garden. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The initial
response from the author contained both good news and bad news. Her initial
comment, “Sær øgiliga gott út á enskum” (Looks awfully good in English), was
heartening, but it was followed by “I think we have a bit of a problem with the
tricky “the drops of blood from Christ”, though. In Faroese “Jesu Kristi
blóðdropar” is the name of a sort of fuchsia that grows very well on the
islands. I can’t find that specific name connecting to the garden plant in any
English dictionary.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ahhh. My own
face probably resembled a fuchsia as I read those words. Now Christ’s
blood-drops in a garden started to make sense. Katrin informed me that the
Faroese word for a fuchsia came from Danish. The <i>Ordbog over det danske
sprog </i>gives <i>Kristi bloddraabe</i> (Christ’s blood-drops), with a couple
of interesting illustrative quotations. Firstly, <i>den Blomst, som de Lærde
kalde Fuchsia, men som siden almindelig kaldes Christi Bloddraabe </i>(that
flower which the learned call “fuchsia”, but which has since been generally
known as “Christ’s blood-drops”); and secondly, a line of verse: <i>Fra
fuchsien blodets tunge tårer trille </i>(from the fuchsia trickle the heavy
tears of blood).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally, a search for “fuchsia” in the online
English-Faroese dictionary (</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.sprotin.fo/"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.sprotin.fo</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">) gives <i>blóðdroparunnur </i>(‘blood-drop-shrub’),
so it does look as if the “Jesu Kristi” fuchsia is a special variant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Was there an
allusion to Christ’s passion in the Garden of Gethsemane, I wondered. According
to Luke 22:43-44, Christ’s anguish in Gethsemane was so deep that “his sweat
was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground”. Katrin
confirmed my suspicion: “For me it would be best to somehow bring Jesus along
by saying that the flowers of the fuchsia look like the blood drops of Christ
or something like that. In order to give meaning to the sentence that even
Jesus doesn’t know what to do. For Faroe Islanders Christ is never far away,
even with not religious people”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This inspired my
next effort, which was <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>under the flowers of the fuchsia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>that look like drops of Christ’s
blood<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>and he’s at his wits’ end too<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or alternatively<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>and even he’s at his wits’ end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The “at his
wits’ end” phrase seemed to me a more faithful rendering of “<i>ikki hann veit
síni livandi ráð</i>”, and Katrin agreed: “Sounds good. And in this case I like
the latter version best, “… and even he’s at his wits’ end”.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While we were in
contact I took the opportunity to quiz her about another expression with
botanical content that had me puzzled. I had translated <i>ein rhododendron
kveylar leivdirnar í seg </i>as “a rhododendron coils its remains into itself”,
which is literally what the Faroese says, but this didn’t sound to me like
anything I could imagine a rhododendron doing. The poet’s response was swift:
“Here <i>kveyla í seg </i>= eat greedily, stuff oneself, wolf (a meal) etc.”
Well, in a British context rhododendron is often seen by gardeners and
botanists as an “invasive species” which sucks all the nutrients out of the soil
and allows nothing to flourish under it, so I suppose that could explain the
“eating greedily” trope. How about “A rhododendron wolfs down all the
leftovers”, or, “A rhododendron crams all the goodness into itself”, which
conveys the sense of a rhododendron’s greediness, and also remains faithful to
the Faroese <i>í seg</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A further email
from Katrin with useful suggestions resulted in the following slightly tweaked
version:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the dreams break in beautiful
gardens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>a rhododendron wolfs down all
the leftovers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>gives the worms yet another
reason to exist<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the sighs drift between the
gardens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>looking for meaning in the soft
soil<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>under the fuchsia’s flowers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>that look like drops of the
blood of Christ<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>even he is at his wits’ end.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Only one verse
to go. Katrin suggested amending my<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>in one garden there grows all
that a man touches,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to</i>...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>in one garden everything grows
that the man touches<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and...</i> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the heart leaches locked-in
words out of the fingers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to... <o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the heart leaks locked-in words
out into the fingers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This has the
advantage of suggesting something like “green fingers”, expertise at growing
things. What the man cannot express in words, he can express with his hands,
making things grow and flourish in his garden, where the colours are
“refreshing and beguiling”. I was rather attached to “leaches”, but losing a
syllable with “leaks” probably improves the metre of the line. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We now come to
one of the words in which Faroese excels – a term for nasty weather. If the
Inuit have lots of words for snow (something that linguists now dispute), the
Faroese certainly have plenty of terms to describe their bewilderingly
changeable weather. Jonathan Adams and Hjalmar P. Petersen’s <i>Faroese. A
Language Course for Beginners </i>(Stiðin, 2009) lists no fewer than 37 words
and phrases for different kinds of misty and foggy conditions, with <i>útideyðaveður
</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">– the term used in verse 3 of the
poem – defined as “extremely bad weather”: three words, where Faroese makes do
with one. </span>The definition from the online Faroese dictionary goes one (or
three) better, defining <i>útideyðaveður </i>as “extremely bad weather which
makes it highly perilous to travel”. A fine definition, but not particularly
useful for a translator of poetry! Hence my “life-threatening weather”, which
is rather more concise while keeping the basic meaning intact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The author’s
suggestion for improving my two last lines was<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>inside the house the weather is
life-threatening<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>soon he has to go in.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is an
obvious paradox here. Weather is usually what happens outside, but here the
weather is inside. I take “weather” to be a metaphor for life, with all its
problems and hardships. The garden is a little paradise, but although it
provides a temporary refuge from normal human concerns, eventually the gardener
has to return indoors to all the responsibilities and duties and burdens of
normal life that await him there. The poet herself has not dissented from this
reading of her poem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So the
(provisional) final version of the translation would be:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the dreams break in beautiful gardens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>a rhododendron wolfs down all
the leftovers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>gives the worms yet another
reason to exist<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the sighs drift between the
gardens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>looking for meaning in the soft
soil<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>under the fuchsia’s flowers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>that look like drops of the
blood of Christ<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>even he’s at his wits’ end<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 17pt 0pt 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>in one garden everything grows
that the man touches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>the heart leaks locked-in words
out into the fingers<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>all colours refreshing and
beguiling<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>inside the house the weather is
life-threatening<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>soon he has to go in<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I don’t think I will be re-inventing myself as a
Faroese translator any time soon, but this little exercise has certainly
whetted my appetite for further translation experiments with this quirkiest and
most idiosyncratic of the Scandinavian languages.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-52618279580041036932013-10-04T23:11:00.001+01:002013-10-04T23:11:24.249+01:00Freedom of Expression in the New Scotland<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnAG6iQjBrXW2BWn_y54GDsGlK6SVgVskNF94r45a_DS0mhFGsDLfIJB_-2Klq5pcTfceCATUN8IFhxAaSPLODPneRI48M-G_JxHkItwUVk3Msoupg6l7fl4rLgBCHVUwN5R6Z406fnk6/s1600/Jean+Rafferty+B&W+own+pic+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnAG6iQjBrXW2BWn_y54GDsGlK6SVgVskNF94r45a_DS0mhFGsDLfIJB_-2Klq5pcTfceCATUN8IFhxAaSPLODPneRI48M-G_JxHkItwUVk3Msoupg6l7fl4rLgBCHVUwN5R6Z406fnk6/s200/Jean+Rafferty+B&W+own+pic+edited.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">On Friday 20 September, 2013, the pamphlet <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Freedom of Expression in the New Scotland</i>, written by Jean Rafferty and Alan Bissett was launched - a joint venture by Scottish PEN and the Saltire Society. In this article, Jean Rafferty describes the process of collaboration and highlights issues raised during the debate at the Saltire Society, chaired by Scottish PEN's President, Drew Campbell.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Freedom of Expression in the New Scotland<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfs2qn159l5hyphenhyphenPmsdcZKXgWq_3dV2KEKIueijZd39p8lDLz64ri4-RnyfxFy0XBcMEKeB8E0ZtKI6w40CpP6l2pyWkG74EO-i7OrkjzUeofeWVzKbzZtk-hAmkcqnElh5-4KXOqtwYQgfq/s1600/Freedon+of+Expression+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfs2qn159l5hyphenhyphenPmsdcZKXgWq_3dV2KEKIueijZd39p8lDLz64ri4-RnyfxFy0XBcMEKeB8E0ZtKI6w40CpP6l2pyWkG74EO-i7OrkjzUeofeWVzKbzZtk-hAmkcqnElh5-4KXOqtwYQgfq/s320/Freedon+of+Expression+cover.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I wasn't expecting to have to censor myself at an event on freedom of expression. But just at the moment when the words <i>fuck</i> and <i>off</i> coalesced in my brain, I suddenly remembered there was a wee girl of about four in the audience. Having to search for the more discreet alternative of <i>Get lost</i> was a reminder that freedom of expression is not an absolute and that all societies have boundaries. The event was at the Saltire Society in Edinburgh, the launch of a new pamphlet, <i>Freedom of Expression in the New Scotland,</i> written by me and the novelist, Alan Bissett. Where Scotland's boundaries will be at this crucial moment in our history, the moment when we must choose what we'll be as a nation, was what Alan and I had to wrestle with in the pamphlet, a new joint venture between Scottish PEN and the Saltire Society, who aim to stimulate debate about important issues in our culture. Ours was the third in a series. (The other two are <i>A Plea for a Secular Scotland </i>by Dr Richard Holloway and<i> The Artist and Nationality </i>by Meagan Delahunt.)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTzkhRks9K4SoCzwwkg78_VBmiW7B0VC2fuNq3E29eCei7K2ax6XBOmJMcwFOwXtuOw5X4jOW0HFtqhIAyhJB9a7owMRQAw66sqb-7SQ7uQoWLQzqCnue5j-_VQqnbj_hyCLDMUNEwHNr/s1600/Alan+Bisset+-+use+this+on+blog..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFTzkhRks9K4SoCzwwkg78_VBmiW7B0VC2fuNq3E29eCei7K2ax6XBOmJMcwFOwXtuOw5X4jOW0HFtqhIAyhJB9a7owMRQAw66sqb-7SQ7uQoWLQzqCnue5j-_VQqnbj_hyCLDMUNEwHNr/s200/Alan+Bisset+-+use+this+on+blog..jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I hadn't met Alan Bissett before we started our dialogue, though knew he'd be fun as he describes himself on Twitter as your friendly neighbourhood Falkirk novelist. It was like meeting Tigger. As a child I refused to let my mum read me AA Milne's books, which I considered silly, (Ed. This seems like a rather draconian act of censorship from a champion of free expression.) but Alan, warm, unquenchably enthusiastic, and eminently likable, made the concept of the bouncy Tigger seem absolutely plausible.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We met up in a couple of trendy Glasgow cafes and chewed over Leveson, the McCluskey Report, phone hacking and football chants as well as halloumi salad and tiger prawns in garlic butter. PEN President Drew Campbell directed the discussion, otherwise known as refereeing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Actually our views weren't so far apart that we had major disagreements, but we did initially approach the subject from different viewpoints. As a former journalist who often saw her best work dropped or altered for economic reasons, I'm dead against state regulation of the press— we censor ourselves enough already. Alan, on the other hand, was deeply concerned about some of the grotesqueries committed by the tabloids prior to the Leveson Inquiry. 'But freedom of expression is like a thread on your jumper,' he said. 'The more you unravel, the more you see how important it is.'<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Just how important was flagged up by our chair for the event, PEN President Drew Campbell, who had recently attended PEN International's Congress in Reykjavik. He relayed the inspiring news that PEN America has instigated legal proceedings against the US government for breaking the Constitution by illegally spying on its own citizens. A number of European PEN centres, including Scottish PEN, are exploring European law for the possibility of pursuing their own governments for similar abuses of power. If there's one thing the Bissett and I agree on, it's that we don't trust governments. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Perhaps because the Saltire Society thoughtfully included a glass of wine in the price of the ticket, our audience needed no invitation to indulge in their own freedom of expression. 'Hmm, I thought we'd just have a question and answer at the end,' said Drew Campbell. He was wearing a tie for the first time since I've known him, but a tartan one in deference to the Saltire Society.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Richard Holloway made the point that laws are a blunt instrument in dealing with matters of freedom of expression, one we make in the pamphlet too. More startling was the fact that UEFA had consulted him about whether football supporters' songs were hate speech. I'm still trying to get my head around the thought of the former bishop standing on the terraces with a meat pie in his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Donald Smith of the Scottish Storytelling Centre commented that freedom of expression is not an absolute and is defined by each society at a particular point in time, which is why it's so important to us now, at the moment when Scotland will make itself anew, whatever choice it makes about independence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There was much discussion on the future of the internet, with Ruth, the mother of the little girl who raised standards among some of us, deeply worried about the amount of pornography constantly being directed at us. Alan Bissett agreed. 'I'm particularly concerned with the pornification of mainstream society, since much of what we call pornography is in fact misogyny,' he said. 'But I can't work out how to resolve that with freedom of expression.'<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My fellow pamphleteer had been the victim of extreme internet abuse, with some radical feminists objecting to him writing about the late Andrea Dworkin, whom he impersonates in his show, <i>Ban This Filth!</i> For daring to embody a female icon (otherwise known as acting) they had even branded him a rapist. Ironically, he was performing later that day in aid of the Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre. Depending on his audience's reaction, he might or might not be stripping off. Pornography or art, who gets to decide? Sounded like it might be Alan himself, working out where the boundaries were with his particular audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If the multiplicity of voices at the pamphlet launch is anything to go by, <i>Freedom of Expression in the New Scotland </i>is only a starting point for discussion. In Scottish PEN we're proud to be taking part in it and to be working alongside the Saltire Society. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">'It feels like a natural fit,' said Jim Tough, the Society's Executive Director. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It feels too like an exciting opportunity for us in Scotland. Not many countries have the chance to consider the basic freedoms they want in their society. We do. I hope people will read all of the pamphlets— and keep talking.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Note </span></b><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">| Copies of the pamphlet can be purchased from the Saltire Society - at a special rate of £4 for members of Scottish PEN.</span>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-57514287808962116632013-09-25T15:13:00.001+01:002013-09-25T15:13:53.943+01:00Seamus Heaney at StAnza<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxzzCdQC2HyA5F5BDeLKjgvUoxgtldqv5CCFOh4dOr2ti6dRKNgAeGuZAO06LX6Y3wbkcJK6NjJP_B3WxxRGWxR9H6p6vBagQV9igsfJNIS2HMaHnR9AeCYBL-5TEKUxPD60pct3Yv8OF/s1600/Dualism5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKxzzCdQC2HyA5F5BDeLKjgvUoxgtldqv5CCFOh4dOr2ti6dRKNgAeGuZAO06LX6Y3wbkcJK6NjJP_B3WxxRGWxR9H6p6vBagQV9igsfJNIS2HMaHnR9AeCYBL-5TEKUxPD60pct3Yv8OF/s320/Dualism5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A personal reminiscence by Brian Johnstone, former Director of Scotland's International Poetry Festival</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 20pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Seamus Heaney at StAnza<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In his funeral tribute to Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon talked about how everyone in the poetry community has been devastated by our sudden loss – how true – and this feeling extends well beyond the world of poetry. Muldoon went on to describe Seamus’s </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“signal ability to make each of us feel connected not only to him but to one another." So in this small remembrance of his connections to the StAnza Poetry Festival, and to me through my work for the festival, I simply <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to address him as Seamus. To address him as Heaney seems too impersonal for such a generous and gregarious man. Although I only met him a few times, and attended no more than half a dozen of his appearances, my feelings tell me that I have lost a friend – a friend whose poetry has inspired me in my own writing, but also a man who made me feel he was a friend and supporter of all I tried to do with and beyond StAnza – someone who encouraged me in both of these endeavours whenever we met.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Seamus’s first appearance at StAnza was in 1999 – only our second festival, so we were aiming high even in those days. Through the support of St Andrews University School of English we were able, despite being a very young festival, to feature him on the bill. Seamus appeared on the Thursday night – National Poetry Day – taking the stage for a two part reading. In the first half he read from his various collections and in the second from his recently published translation of Beowulf. Needless to say, the event was wonderful and was very well received by a capacity audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOaejiCls4_IwG9eChb4eL8RmH8ZohNW4xK1RBKw2FoEEXOaY6gZgb6ryFO7o_lWOhM-Exs_kCEZWsmeMoohWkkbsxUStSNVDzH3_Qx8FdpTBAb65ukLT6t8GdaL8ouJa-3Nl3tshyiNQ/s1600/1999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOaejiCls4_IwG9eChb4eL8RmH8ZohNW4xK1RBKw2FoEEXOaY6gZgb6ryFO7o_lWOhM-Exs_kCEZWsmeMoohWkkbsxUStSNVDzH3_Qx8FdpTBAb65ukLT6t8GdaL8ouJa-3Nl3tshyiNQ/s320/1999.jpg" width="224" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I had actually first come across Seamus in performance at an event held as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe some years before. Watching the funeral online brought back powerful memories of this first experience since playing at various points during the church service was the uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn, with whom Seamus had performed at that Fringe event years back. Sitting side by side on the Assembly Rooms stage in front of a large audience doesn’t sound like the best way to achieve a close rapport with those listening, but so focused were the two that the experience was one of extreme intimacy. I felt as if I had been sitting at their fireside in rapt attention as poet and piper swapped verses and tunes. It was my first encounter with Seamus Heaney and it is one I will never forget.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It is this very sense of intimacy that Seamus was so adept at putting over to his audience, and which was characteristic of his subsequent appearances at StAnza. At that first one in St Andrews’ Buchanan Theatre, however, I only got to meet him very briefly because of his other commitments. I managed to shake him by the hand and thank him for his reading, and that was it. But this was enough for him to remember me when next we met, despite the hundreds of people he must have met in all his travels. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This occasion was in London at the British Library when I was representing StAnza at the 2005 launch of The Poetry Archive website. Seamus was the guest reader at this event and I was astonished to discover that he not only remembered me but was even happy to have a chat for ten minutes or so. We had bit of craic about the great Scottish poet – and mutual favourite – Norman MacCaig and I were able to personally invite Seamus back to St Andrews for a future festival. He was glad to accept, and we subsequently agreed on him topping the bill for the 10<sup>th</sup> festival in 2007. But I would be in his company again before then.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9CnZv9Y6OfqVZOZ5ifJ-N1L4kRxh_KFgxGIngN4QLXATOu3ctl5VbfYbTapEtoi4ZsKh_Bup23iRylQ6XqWkcB06Ec0FBxPwgRG736gyCO6vK4v0r6QldWsiyOSAeReXbFVq1kfVQiAA/s1600/Seamus&Brian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9CnZv9Y6OfqVZOZ5ifJ-N1L4kRxh_KFgxGIngN4QLXATOu3ctl5VbfYbTapEtoi4ZsKh_Bup23iRylQ6XqWkcB06Ec0FBxPwgRG736gyCO6vK4v0r6QldWsiyOSAeReXbFVq1kfVQiAA/s320/Seamus&Brian.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the summer of 2006, Seamus gave a superb reading at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and I was fortunate to be invited to the reception held in his honour at the Irish Consulate. As always, Seamus was feted by a large crowd, but the reception gave me another chance to have a friendly chat with the poet and a welcome opportunity to meet his wife Marie. I remember him reiterating his real fondness for St Andrews – and for Scotland in general – and my saying how much we were looking forward to welcoming him back to StAnza the following March. Sadly, that was not to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I was on holiday in France later that summer when I had a call from home. It was my colleague Eleanor Livingstone, who was then StAnza’s Artistic Director, calling to let me know what had happened in my absence. The news was bad. Seamus had had a stroke and was in hospital. His doctors had advised him – ordered, more like – to cancel all engagements for the next year at least. All I could do was ask Eleanor to pass on my sympathies to Seamus’s family, with whom we were in touch through a mutual friend, and start thinking about who we could book as a replacement. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Back home, meeting Eleanor to discuss this, she told me about an extraordinary phone call she had received while I was still on holiday. If proof were needed – which it’s not – of Seamus’s extraordinary character, this is it. Having been unable to get any definite information, Eleanor had called the mobile number Seamus had given me for festival use. The following day Seamus, presumably having noticed her missed calls, phoned back. He was, he told her, still in hospital. But he was calling as he wanted to apologise to StAnza for letting us down! </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thankfully, Seamus recovered from that bout of ill health and by the next year was ready to discuss honouring his promise to come back to StAnza. While he explained that he wouldn’t be able to take part in the festival in the immediate future, he wanted to be clear – more generosity – that he hadn’t forgotten his promise. And so he was booked to appear in 2010, the last StAnza for which I was Festival Director. For me personally, this was a wonderful coup and for our audiences it meant that my stepping down would be marked with the biggest name possible. I was – am – so grateful to Seamus for that. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Working together on festival planning, Eleanor and I managed to programme not one but three separate events featuring Seamus. A full main stage reading in the Byre Theatre, of course; but we were particularly pleased that Seamus was also willing to give a round table reading, one of StAnza’s signature intimate readings for only a dozen or so people; on top of that, we arranged for him to take part in an In Conversation event with his friend and fellow Irish poet Dennis O’Driscoll (sadly also recently departed). A bumper appearance indeed!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjH8l822at1JX73NmN824v4DaOcX2H7ts1VqQr7pI6Dfj8NKb4MnIPb8KIFQKAG8t2QoeRuYZJa7zVKM8si6YQZSg1hLU9EzIeoehuN57E-l3Lu6VQyzBHQFZdwZqVIZEbVC13rjc1fQZp/s1600/Seamus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjH8l822at1JX73NmN824v4DaOcX2H7ts1VqQr7pI6Dfj8NKb4MnIPb8KIFQKAG8t2QoeRuYZJa7zVKM8si6YQZSg1hLU9EzIeoehuN57E-l3Lu6VQyzBHQFZdwZqVIZEbVC13rjc1fQZp/s320/Seamus.jpg" width="169" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I have a very special personal memento of my last festival as a director – and it is all down to Seamus. Naturally, I asked him to sign a few of his collections for me, one of these being my long-term favourite <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Station Island</i>. The original Faber publication of this features on the cover and title page what looks like an illustration from an ancient Irish manuscript. This Seamus deftly altered adding speech bubbles to mark not just my departure from StAnza, but also my continuing commitment to the stanzas of my own poetry. It’s such a quirky and amusing bit of personal response. I will treasure it always.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Both the main stage reading and the In Conversation were sold out in record time and in the end we had to relay both events to the Byre Studio and Conference Room for overspill audiences. These Seamus surprised by dropping in on them unexpectedly during the interval so they at least had a brief personal encounter. Again, generous to a fault. Other visiting poets were crammed into every available corner of the theatre, just to ensure they caught the events. In the end, the audiences for both main events were at full capacity in the main theatre, and overflowing to not one but two additional venues. The audiences for both main events were well in excess of the actual capacity of their original venues!<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But for me, the true highlight of Seamus’s last StAnza appearance was his round table reading. At that he surprised all present by producing photocopies of a series of new, unpublished poems and passing them round the table. These he proceeded to read for the audience and then – more astonishing yet – to more or less ask those present for a crit. We could scarcely believe that we were sitting round a table with someone of Seamus Heaney’s stature and he was asking us what we thought of his new work. Generous again, and inclusive in a way that, as Paul Muldoon said, made us all feel so connected to him and, through him, to each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is little more I can say except that, while I owe the StAnza Festival so much, and through it have met numerous poets whose work I love and admire, being able to meet and share some small bits of time with Seamus Heaney is one of the things I feel absolutely the most grateful for. As the poet Jo Bell said so eloquently in her own tribute to Seamus, <span class="usercontent">"Poetry stands for love. Those whom we remember are the ones who said most clearly, that which we are trying every day to say."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -24.45pt 0pt 0cm;"><span class="usercontent"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2010 photo gallery: <a href="http://stanzapoetry.org/2010/photo-gallery10.php"><span style="color: blue;">http://stanzapoetry.org/2010/photo-gallery10.php</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Author’s website: <a href="http://brianjohnstonepoet.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue;">http://brianjohnstonepoet.co.uk/</span></a></span>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-47173529031706888112013-09-22T19:25:00.001+01:002013-09-25T15:18:14.392+01:00Get PENning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs5ppFzdcl9el813xWudYoZAliA6JlrEv8FUyoTgHvJ8AB_KokfWj0b90c7wx15hyphenhyphenngs8I02B5CY6kh_JDDUskBqAXA3HuCesii7FeuKdqzVqL3mNICR5Hmo1X4LH_PaZCWVGHqoy4XILT/s1600/Edit+-+linda+cracknell+%2528please+credit+Phil+Horey%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs5ppFzdcl9el813xWudYoZAliA6JlrEv8FUyoTgHvJ8AB_KokfWj0b90c7wx15hyphenhyphenngs8I02B5CY6kh_JDDUskBqAXA3HuCesii7FeuKdqzVqL3mNICR5Hmo1X4LH_PaZCWVGHqoy4XILT/s320/Edit+-+linda+cracknell+%2528please+credit+Phil+Horey%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Linda Cracknell, a member of the editorial panel of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">PENning</span></b> magazine welcomes submissions for the next issue on the theme of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Masks</span></b>. Deadline: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">30th September</b>. [Photo | Phil Horey]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Get PENning <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Yes, it’s time to get your submissions in again! Do you have something appropriate in a drawer, in a past publication, or are you yearning to write something new? Your theme this time: </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Masks.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 6pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">One of the pleasures of being on the editorial panel of our ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PENning</b>’ magazine is opening up the submissions to see how the current theme has been interpreted. Since it was launched in 2009, Home, Water, Stars, Journeys, and Steps have been amongst our themes. The magazine provides a showcase for writing by people who have come to live in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country-region> from other parts of the world; not necessarily ‘writers’. Their poetry and prose appears alongside selected work from our members; professional writers. So the scope of literary, cultural and linguistic approaches is wide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 6pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Many excellent submissions came winging in for last issue’s theme of Migration [link: <a href="http://www.scottishpen.org/new-writing/penning-migration"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.scottishpen.org/new-writing/penning-migration</span></a> ]. It was unsurprisingly resonant for writers from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s immigrant communities. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Impressions</i></b> by Meg de Amasi is a poem in two parts about an African nurse's arrival in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:city> 'clutching her letter of invitation,/the only thing that said "I belong"'. The newcomer's first impressions are mixed but she remains quietly generous and open-hearted - a spirit which imbued several of the submissions under consideration. This was not the only time the panel, which included Stewart Conn [link: <a href="http://stewartconn.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://stewartconn.com/</span></a> ] as our guest editor, commented on the authenticity of the voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Unsurprisingly perhaps given the late Scottish spring, bird migration was a feature of several submissions. In Mandy Haggith's [link: <a href="http://mandyhaggith.worldforests.org/index.asp"><span style="color: blue;">http://mandyhaggith.worldforests.org/index.asp</span></a> ] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Immigrants</i> she plays with the idea of birds as Viking marauders, wittily grappling with issues of avian immigration:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 6pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 63.8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">‘A horde of Viking birds<br />
descends<br />
to pillage<br />
our rowan trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 63.8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">They squabble<br />
in foreign accents,<br />
feasting <br />
and carousing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 63.8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Should we try to <br />
apprehend them?<br />
You say<br />
'Send them back to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Norway</st1:place></st1:country-region>!'’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Each member’s submission was considered anonymously. So it seemed most appropriate that when the names were revealed, a poem by A C Clarke [link: <a href="http://www.poetrypf.co.uk/acclarkebiog.shtml"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.poetrypf.co.uk/acclarkebiog.shtml</span></a> ] was amongst those included in the final selection. Anne instigated <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PENning</b> and her hard work made it what it is today. With her resignation from the editorial board she, like all Scottish PEN members, was free to submit her work. Her poem, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Well</i></b>, sheds light on the world of the refugee, '... a wanderer/ who may never pitch tent/ in the land of your fathers/ nor ever call a place/ truly home.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">And now we are anticipating the next submissions on the theme of ‘Masks’. Multiple identities; carnivals; concealment? I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s seen and penned. And if you have an idea for a great theme for a future issue, please let us know!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 63.8pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Please send in submissions by 30<sup>th</sup> September – you’ll find the guidelines here [link: <a href="http://www.scottishpen.org/new-writing/new-writing-submissions"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.scottishpen.org/new-writing/new-writing-submissions</span></a> ].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div align="left" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="left" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-28477359515370149762013-09-21T19:26:00.001+01:002013-09-21T19:26:02.579+01:00Hame-comin<div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizR_VIbKAF2tXjcwQZ_se9seZcEtfDORz3Exf8QIHps2rOW8hyphenhyphenkJJIXCNkvras5fC_KK2zU3p7zqD6mz4Vuhzq-2qwawcIw9oew9wfWFU-IAmjtB8V1L7obma-0Fek9iaj2zcrTKmen2S4/s1600/gerda+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizR_VIbKAF2tXjcwQZ_se9seZcEtfDORz3Exf8QIHps2rOW8hyphenhyphenkJJIXCNkvras5fC_KK2zU3p7zqD6mz4Vuhzq-2qwawcIw9oew9wfWFU-IAmjtB8V1L7obma-0Fek9iaj2zcrTKmen2S4/s320/gerda+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gerda Stevenson's entry - <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hame-comin</i></b> - to the YES Arts Festival Poetry Challenge was selected as the winning poem by judges Allan Massie, Rosemary Goring and Tom Murray. The challenge was to respond to the words <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i>The Flooers of the Forest</i></b><i>,</i> in Jean Elliot's great song of that title, which is about the Battle of Flodden, this being the 500th anniversary of that tragedy. Gerda's response was a contemporary (international) take on war, written in the Scots language, the <i>flooers </i>in her poem being the opium poppies of Afghanistan.</span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGAtpgvrQzm3FU5OPgOQZ0kiEZQZbJ1O93P2NdVZi0vTCe9sifKTXBlLDXRQvUIGwgx4OTUlVIdMut__lUXPY5NEPOi4-O5QLqik5jzyJhG1EleQ5WhpKarEodSPpHIBbI1KVGS9z286u/s1600/Afghan+poppies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGAtpgvrQzm3FU5OPgOQZ0kiEZQZbJ1O93P2NdVZi0vTCe9sifKTXBlLDXRQvUIGwgx4OTUlVIdMut__lUXPY5NEPOi4-O5QLqik5jzyJhG1EleQ5WhpKarEodSPpHIBbI1KVGS9z286u/s320/Afghan+poppies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Hame-comin<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hame, hame, hame on the truck,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the wheels grind their grumly air,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">hame tae ma mither, ma faither, ma lass,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">but I canna come hame in ma hert nae mair,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">noo that ma fieres are laid in the grund,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and the desert sun has blurred ma een,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">stour in ma mind frae yon cramasie flooer<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">that smoors aa pain on field and street,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">no, I canna, canna come hame in ma hert<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">noo I’ve duin whit I’ve duin<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(orders are orders, ye dae whit ye maun),<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">and I’ve seen whit I’ve seen:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">oh, the bluid that brak through her skin<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">like a flooer frae its bud, yon bairn<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">that cam runnin, birlin, lauchin, skirlin<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">intae the faimily dance o mirth<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">we blew tae hell like a smirr o eldritch confetti;<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">and noo I’m here, hame on the truck,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">ma fieres in the grund, but I canna come hame<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">nae mair in ma hert, for hame’s naewhaur<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">when yer hert’s deid – nae langer sair – juist deid<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">wi dule and the wecht o bluid fallin like flooers,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">cramasie flooers, that kill aa pain, smoor yer mind,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 4cm; tab-stops: 5.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">deid, deid, as the wheels grind. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 106.35pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 134.7pt;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span> </div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-59272323863105745372013-09-12T21:04:00.002+01:002013-09-13T14:21:34.328+01:00Kosova, a very young Republic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLt12Kn95o8Fs3Ke2JX-oozuGvnd6oRhsXjpfo-OY4y_vSWpm0PVlIMUVoKryFtagWrwX8OIhy4DMk9Rl6XYOl9vbIia6eolKzrRF8qpUrnO6PCIPWEEIv8KMfwAyunWh10RgfOj_-6i8/s1600/084+river+&+bridge+mosque+fortress.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLt12Kn95o8Fs3Ke2JX-oozuGvnd6oRhsXjpfo-OY4y_vSWpm0PVlIMUVoKryFtagWrwX8OIhy4DMk9Rl6XYOl9vbIia6eolKzrRF8qpUrnO6PCIPWEEIv8KMfwAyunWh10RgfOj_-6i8/s640/084+river+&+bridge+mosque+fortress.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prizren, Kosova</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In
early 1999 NATO planes flew over Kosova, then still part of Serbia,
dropping bombs on significant targets, to stop the Serbian military
and paramilitaries from their destructive and intimidating assault on
unarmed civilians, who had begun to leave their homes in huge
numbers, refugees crossing borders into Macedonia, Albania,
Montenegro, the countries neighbouring Kosova. By June that year,
Serbian troops and tanks had retreated, NATO troops entered Pristina,
and Kosovar refugees began to return to their homes, if they were
still standing, or were rebuilding them if they were not. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In
early 2000, when I was living in Albania, NATO’S KFOR troops still
had a strong presence on both sides of the Sharr mountains which
separate Kosova from Albania. The border was virtually closed, except
for the military and senior UN personnel. Kosova was like a mythical
land on the other side of the mountains. Not far away in terms of
distance, but virtually inaccessible. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Several
years later – 2013. Far from ideas of trying to smuggle myself
across a border that's patrolled by the military, I arrive in
Pristina by plane. I am even invited! I'm to read at the Drini Poetik
Festival in the old town of Prizren. My flight was booked from
Edinburgh via Istanbul, where I would stay overnight although 'night'
was a little optimistic as I had to be up at 3 am. It was a somewhat
circuitous route, true, but I had my invitation, my itinerary, and my
tickets. But my memory of Kosovo as a near impenetrable, heavily
guarded place had set in my mind, and throughout the journey I could
not feel sure that I would ever really get there. And there <i>were</i> some
delays, but when I finally stepped out of the plane onto the tarmac
of Pristina's airport, it was into warm sunshine.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">From
the moment I arrived I was reminded of times spent in Albania, for
although it is a different country, a very young country, this
Republic of Kosova, these are Albanian people, share the same
language of course, but also the characteristic Albanian energy,
enthusiasm, hospitality, respect and truly remarkable generosity of
spirit. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My
hosts were Professors Shyqri Galica and Abdyl Kadolli, President and
Vice-President of the Writers League, who met me at the airport. We
drove through the green and lush countryside of Kosova, (there had
been a lot of rain I was told) and the houses set in this green and
undulating land all looked trim and neat, flowering gardens, green
fields, orchards and vineyards, so I began to wonder if this was some
part of Switzerland I'd arrived in. We drove along the recently built
highway which links Pristina to Tirana in Albania. The road was
impeccably smooth, and almost deserted. Prizren itself is surrounded
by the Sharr mountains which separate Kosovo from Albania. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The
Festival opened with an art exhibition, followed by various speeches
which I cannot say I fully understood, my Albanian being extremely
basic, but I got the gist of the fulsome welcome extended to
everyone. Riza Lahi, a writer from Tirana, who speaks good English,
was assigned to me as interpreter, a lively and friendly man, who was
a former military pilot and interpreter. </span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEKiE9HAuAJQg6-5uQrCkxbPArw6kiuRU7WhaHaNT5ooiESs6R1uLDmNotCzohyphenhyphenGEmfB4oQyV4viD40rWfxXlP-4JqhVPOf8gpB_nOFYAr468PC7HQlvO4y_T7bMW5JCqZIuBfhEKgicw/s1600/137+trad+folk+dancing+Prizren.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNEKiE9HAuAJQg6-5uQrCkxbPArw6kiuRU7WhaHaNT5ooiESs6R1uLDmNotCzohyphenhyphenGEmfB4oQyV4viD40rWfxXlP-4JqhVPOf8gpB_nOFYAr468PC7HQlvO4y_T7bMW5JCqZIuBfhEKgicw/s640/137+trad+folk+dancing+Prizren.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional folk dancing, Prizren</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB">After
the speeches and talks on the theme of ‘The Author and Literary
Publications’ we go to the outside café, and there I meet various
other writers, including Arben, a young man who lost a leg while
fighting for the Kosova Liberation Army. I ask him if he is happy now
that Kosova is independent. </span><span lang="en-GB"><i>Pa
djeter</i></span><span lang="en-GB">
(of course) he smiles. Arben tells me later that he never wanted to
be a soldier, he was a writer, but during the war, when people were
being killed, their homes shelled and burned, he felt he had to do
something for his country, so he joined the KLA/UÇK and for 3 years
lived and fought in the mountains around Prizren. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We
are then driven outside the town to a restaurant surrounded by the
green and forested Sharr mountains, by the side of the river Lum
Bardhe. This wonderful meal went on for hours, before we were ferried
back to Prizren for the evening readings, with musical interludes,
fiddle and flute playing. I read in English while Shyqri read the
Albanian translation, kindly provided by Agim Morina.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Outside
in the warm night, there was a final coffee by the riverside, before
I prevailed on my hosts that I had to sleep, and we headed back to
the hotel. While I stumbled into bed, the Albanians stayed up talking
and drinking for hours...</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And
that was just the first day. Of my first visit to Kosova. </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Morelle Smith </span></span></span></i>
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span></span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #073763;"></span></span></span></span></div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-74881610807643399282013-03-14T19:57:00.000+00:002013-03-14T20:06:34.501+00:00Simona Grazia Dima - PEN Romania<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSSzULMZaP3wfj4DNCrVO9UNz4prXdmj7pXJ5qfUwOMadv98j0f_4XImxhVdpfcxZs8PVbad_46pfb_wgcqx0nZ1NvbXOS5uZLVRFWJYV2Oz_M7-7yL10Bx_nuQ-0aQh8LvnbU1qMQ9wo/s1600/Simona-Grazia+Dima+cu+palarie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSSzULMZaP3wfj4DNCrVO9UNz4prXdmj7pXJ5qfUwOMadv98j0f_4XImxhVdpfcxZs8PVbad_46pfb_wgcqx0nZ1NvbXOS5uZLVRFWJYV2Oz_M7-7yL10Bx_nuQ-0aQh8LvnbU1qMQ9wo/s400/Simona-Grazia+Dima+cu+palarie.JPG" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simona Grazia Dima</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.simona-grazia-dima.ro/?p=918"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">SimonaGrazia Dima</span></i></span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is Secretary of Romanian PEN, a poet, essayist, literary critic and
translator. In her introduction to her latest volume of poetry she
presents the background to her writing – the political and cultural
milieu, her ideas, ideals and in particular the extraordinary
experience which led her to become the writer that she is today.</span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>I
found it all inspiring – the relevance to our materially-obsessed
times, the candour, perception and sensitivity. <span style="font-size: small;">(</span>Editor<span style="font-size: small;">)</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>You
can read <span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.levurelitteraire.com/0NUMERO3/TEXTES/dima3.htm">poems by Simona in English here</a>,</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: navy; font-size: small;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.levurelitteraire.com/0NUMERO3/TEXTES/dima3.htm"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></span></a></u></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.levurelitteraire.com/0NUMERO3/TEXTES/dima2.htm">an essay in English here</a> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></span></i></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Simona-Grazia
Dima</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Foreword
to </b><i><b>The Army of Small Beings </b></i><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">(</span></i><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Extracts)</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The
irrepressible need to talk about the hard nucleus of my poetry has
been in my heart for a long time. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">As
I come from a family made up, in my maternal line, of a long chain of
priests and hermits, whose roots can be traced back two hundred
years, poverty and deprivations were not the hardest burdens on my
soul during the dictatorship, although they were not easier for me to
endure than it was for others; on the contrary, my health has
suffered and is still suffering as a consequence of those conditions.
I was born with a very sharp sensitivity and, in high-school and then
at university, I was painfully affected by the impact of the social
world on values, morality and culture. I saw wasted energies, and
what was not being done for the isolated Romanian culture, not only
abroad but also, primarily, inside the country – the lack of
interest in a person’s true personality, the pastiche and
simulacrum we were replaced with (and we still are! − when have we
NOT been replaced!?), for the sake of (exclusively social) dogmas and
the promotion of some writers who ‘had to be published’. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It
was not until the post-revolutionary era that I fully understood how,
beyond the particulars of political systems, much of what happened
was also because of people; analysing things coolly, we must admit
that nobody ever deterred us (neither the dictatorship, nor the
system) from being good, just or generous, if we wanted to be,
changing the given circumstances with our humanity; therefore, no big
words, just a response appropriate for a particular situation. That
is why viewing people exclusively as social entities seemed to me
rather unproductive. The essence of the political world and that of
social thinking revealed themselves to me as not necessarily harmful
but merely reductionist and limited, drawing the individual according
to the notions of success or failure, as an element on a scale which
defined him from the outside. Excessive trust in these notions
suggest we should accept as a life slogan the fact that man is only a
dog raised with Pavlov’s reflex, a dog quickly coming for his meal,
without knowing other legitimate coordinates. Should we blame only
the lack of education, the atheism instilled with perseverance?
However, man cannot be fully trained. Parents and tradition have also
preserved many values. Human development does not take place
according to some official coordinates but follows an inner course
which is hard to describe or anticipate – a very personal course.
So I have not stopped searching for other saving dimensions inside
me. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">*</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">However,
as I did not have a clear training in the spiritual domain, I would
suffer; I took to heart everything I thought was evil and ugly around
me. I noticed that loud-mouthed, impertinent, persistent and
insincere people were promoted, those that did not seek harmony and
were ready to do anything for social advantage. And I was not wrong,
(but this is going on now, at higher rates, with increased virulence,
for the stake is greater and life’s rhythm is faster today). As I
said, I felt that life had other implications than the social
dimension, and I have always told myself that this intuition is true.
Poetry was an example of a different intuitive success, a perception
of some essential truths by means of gentleness, without traumas or
outside pressures; by an innate knowledge, similar to Platonic
knowledge.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">*</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I
used to read biographies of artists (and I prefer this kind of
reading even today). They paid for their independence or creative
boldness with exile, marginalization or even death. In other cases,
when they were not understood by their contemporaries, they paid with
a momentary eclipse. Culture for me was never an insipid or futile
activity or entity, consisting in sophisticated chatter, or in the
cosiness of a salon or of a comfortable situation. Instead, it was
the quintessence of life, a priceless human testament to be left to
the descendants. It was an example to be at least contemplated, if
not followed. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">For
me, reality (I mean <i>true</i> reality) was not to be found in the
level of the concrete but in the world of principles, which was at
the core of poetry, unlike prose - hence, perhaps, the impression of
intellectualism or abstraction. I do not believe that the supreme
indication of reality can be found in the torrent of daily events but
rather in the force of consciousness, and the impact with what is
imperishable. In this respect, poetry can be an urge and a living
justification of a spiritual existence (even an actualization, just
as, by sound, a song becomes immemorial), establishing, by its holy
sovereignty, another beatific dimension, in which there is nothing to
ignore, nothing to cast away, and nothing to blame. In poetry even
the critique and the acid verb has something luminous, a bright halo,
due to closeness to a generous Source. The hieratic quality of the
icon does not mean dryness.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This
introduction is only meant to sketch the atmosphere in which I began
to write poems. ….</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">On
the occasion of a national student event in Suceava, I was walking in
the deserted former Throne Citadel, very upset about the helpless
situation I felt my country was in (and I did not see the part I
could play in the future either). The festival, or colloquium, seemed
highly politicized, predictable and manipulated. And so it was. We,
Romanians, made a mistake by not being, except to a small degree,
open to the miraculous, expecting only the predictable and being
satisfied with it. Actually, that was what made me despair the most. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Against
this background, the perception of poetry – as I was saying, all
areas seemed interwoven, trouble in one area immediately causing
another trouble somewhere else, in a symmetrical plan – appeared to
be glowing, living, comforting, and almost maternal. My eyes fixed on
one of the abysses of the citadel (archaeology has always been a
passion), I got caught in a vertigo and whirled about in an
incredibly intense suffering, as if death was in front of my eyes and
as if I was facing an absolute dead end. Then, all of a sudden, I
felt a full resurrection, followed by an intimate, mental vision,
perfectly clear, of a river of light – quiet, beatific, friendly
and eternal. The entire world, wisdom, senses of the Universe and all
my poetry were concentrated in that silvery bright river of thick
honey. At that moment I had the certainty that under the layer of
overwhelming reality there has always been a layer of eternal peace,
of relaxation and friendship, and of perfectly natural humour and
merriness, close to each other and merciful. There were only love,
compassion and understanding of everything. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Since
that moment I have found my full poetic inspiration and I have
created the mythology of small beings – the ones I feel the urge to
define further, in order to protect them from the vulgarization they
may fall victims to (and sometimes have fallen victim to). The small
beings are not some minor lives to be mistaken for things like
flowers or small animals etc. (although I have often used such topics
in my poetry), but they exist in the eternal creative layer, in the
foundation inherent in the manifestation and in generic existence,
and at this point they meet with Christ’s message or with the
message of the Upanishads. As can be seen, I instantaneously reached
the conclusion that there is a convergence of religions at a
metaphysical level they have, which can allow – and cause, as a
special feast – unity in diversity. If these beings are small it is
because they are modest, and because they represent the lives hidden
at the core of manifestation, determining the other level of the
visible existence. They may be similar on the external, manifest
level, to those humble people praised by Jesus in the Sermon on the
Mount, but they are also to be feared, for they create the world;
and, after it wears out, they destroy it. However, they only destroy
its form, while the inward core of existence remains, however,
eternal – resuscitated as a celebration of tireless existence. They
seem to be various but they are like a monolithic existence, an
ontological block which cannot be conceived separately − even
though they can be separated into different existences. A sign of
oxymoron, of paradox, that might be a possible description for them,
accomplishable only through poetry – which is what I have been
trying to do. So poetry played not only an aesthetic role for me but
also an ontological role, enabling me to understand and live life by
its highest coordinates, the spiritual coordinates. In an ideal
mystique of the desert, I equated the desert with the desert of the
era we live in and the analogy worked wonderfully. It is still
working and will continue to work.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The
poems literally flooded in cascades after that moment and they were
included in a volume which was very difficult to have published. It
was a consequence of that ideological era. The small creatures were
rightly and wrongly considered subversive: rightly because they
seemed to undermine the state order, like a sort of menacing Martians
– which they were, actually – dissolving the barren
conceptualization we have already talked about; wrongly because they
are eternal, can be read at any time and in any place and, since they
are invulnerable, cannot be attacked (and they are not maleficent
either, because they are beatific). It was therefore sheer
ingenuousness to reject them. But the censors did not know that. The
system functioned with all its absurd machinery. Therefore, I
published the volume after being excluded five times from the
editorial plan (editorial production was planned in those years), but
it was incomplete. It would have been too large and, besides, not all
the poems were ‘suitable’. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">*</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I
have emphasized the moment of epiphany in Suceava because I have
previously only talked about it episodically and fragmentarily, and
yet it is worth talking about, as my whole poetry has sprung from it.
That moment unified the present and the past of my art as an
essential core or a condensation of time, just as a seed encloses a
tree in itself. </span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">*</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My
concerns do not seem at all unusual to me in the context of
contemporary Romanian poetry, and I wish them to be known more
widely, as a dissemination of a rich experience which can bring joy
to others. Of course, they refer to an alternative way of writing
poetry now, at this moment, when perception is mainly focused on a
‘positivist’ view of life, in the sense of a gaze from/towards
the outside. The obstinate search for interiority which characterises
my poetry is not a minor or pointless thing to me, as it expresses a
sincere aspiration to which I am devoted. I also believe that, in a
normal society, it should not be necessary to continuously justify
what we do. ….[And] poetry is never a dogma but a spark from the
beauty which accompanies us, intact, forever.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Translated
from the Romanian of Simona-Grazia Dima by Adriana-Ioana
Nacu-Minculescu</b></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US"><b>Simona-Grazia
Dima</b></span><span lang="en-GB"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">was
born in Timisoara, in a family of writers. When 8 years old she won a
prize for a theatrical sketch, Lica's Mask, which was staged by the
Puppet Theatre in Timisoara, as well on tours throughout Romania and
abroad. She graduated as a national valedictorian from the University
of Timisoara, the Faculty of Philology. As a student, she was the
president of the literary circle of the Students' University Centre
in Timisoara. Simona-Grazia Dima is mainly a poet, but also an
essayist, a literary critic and a translator. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="en-US">She
is an active contributor to the leading Romanian literary magazines
and the author of ten books of poetry :Ecua</span><span lang="ro-RO">ţie
liniştită (Serene </span><span lang="en-US">Equation),1985,
Dimineţile gândului (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>Mornings of
Thought</i></span><span lang="en-US">), 1989, Scara lui Iacob
(</span><span lang="en-US"><i>Jacob's Ladder</i></span><span lang="en-US">),
l995, Noaptea romană (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>Roman Night</i></span><span lang="en-US">),
1997, Focul matematic (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>The Mathematical
Fire</i></span><span lang="en-US">), 1997, Confesor de tigri (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>A
Tiger's Confessor</i></span><span lang="en-US">), 1998, Ultimul
etrusc (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>The Last Etruscan</i></span><span lang="en-US">),
2002, Călătorii apocrife (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>Apocryphal
Journeys</i></span><span lang="en-US">), 2002, Dreptul rănii de a
rămâne deschisă (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>The Right of the
Wound to Be Left Gaping</i></span><span lang="en-US">), 2003, La ora
fulgerului (</span><span lang="en-US"><i>When Lightnings Start
Flaring</i></span><span lang="en-US">) She has published two books of
essays and literary criticism and has translated from English Arthur
Osborne's </span><span lang="en-US"><i>Ramana Maharshi and the Path
of Self-Knowledge</i></span><span lang="en-US"> (2003, title of the
Romanian version: </span><span lang="en-US"><i>Sri Ramana Maharshi
sau calea Cunoaşterii Supreme</i></span><span lang="en-US">).</span><span lang="en-GB">
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.35cm; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Currently
Simona-Grazia Dima manages an international literary project which is
a part of the International PEN Organization’s activity (The
Linguistic and Translation Rights Committee), by preparing an
anthology of contemporary Romanian literature in both electronic and
written form in English and Macedonian languages. She is a principal
editor in the Romanian Academy and lives in Bucharest, the capital of
Romania.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-18214027956868548982013-01-24T19:37:00.000+00:002013-01-24T19:37:07.647+00:00Times Stephen Spender Translation Prize for Brian Holton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fau8MBzrUxPai9QM7JL-PC3I2SdP5j8snz9J47XkgYatfFwtKVO3GCR39i6Oo-LOS1kJ0yJKYrMcApQ_uOm-iTfiLFiLERA3Gw8UX4FEny_ZMNIxbtg9kpqBz_Yo8PVVtXM4PMFr5Ark/s1600/IMG_1097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fau8MBzrUxPai9QM7JL-PC3I2SdP5j8snz9J47XkgYatfFwtKVO3GCR39i6Oo-LOS1kJ0yJKYrMcApQ_uOm-iTfiLFiLERA3Gw8UX4FEny_ZMNIxbtg9kpqBz_Yo8PVVtXM4PMFr5Ark/s400/IMG_1097.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Many congratulations to Scottish PEN member Brian Holton whose translation of Du Fu's poem has been commended in the <a href="http://www.stephen-spender.org/2012_prize/2012_open_commend_BH.html">2012 Times Stephen Spender Prize</a> for poetry in translation. As far as we know it is the first time a major UK
translation prize has given an award for work in Scots.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Below is the prizewinning translation and Brian's commentary. You can find out more about his poetry and translations <a href="http://tentietranslations.weebly.com/">on his website.</a> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spring Sun on the Watterside Clachan</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />i
<br />Frae toun ti toun, fowk eident at the hairst;
<br />frae bank ti bank, the Watter deep in spate.
<br />Gin A cud see the lang miles o heiven an yirth,
<br />A'd see but the turnin years o aa ma days.
<br />Ma theikit ruif wis warth a pickle poems,
<br />tho in ma hairt it wis Tír na nÓg A socht aye.
<br />Cark an care they smoored the line o ma life –
<br />whit a lang an wearie stravaig ti win here the nou!
<br />ii
<br />Frae hyneawa A cam ti the thrie westlan kinriks:
<br />it wis sax year syne A snappert an fell doun here.
<br />Fremt masel, A forgaither wi auld freins,
<br />but it's burn an shaw that kittles up ma speirits.
<br />That faur ben wi idleset, A'll thole ma dairnit duds,
<br />an whan A gang about, A'll dree ma holie shuin.
<br />Ma mairch fences, they're aathegither stentless,
<br />for the Lang Watter an the lift abune are aa ma joy.
<br />iii
<br />The bamboo A plantit's insnorlt wi tender green,
<br />the geans A sneddit back blushin like wee lassies;
<br />ma hairt clear an cauld as the mune's stane gless,
<br />A'm come to face the wund frae the snawy ben.
<br />An ashet o siller they haunit this auld bodach,
<br />a reid-tape dunderheid at did whit he wis tellt.
<br />An wha'd hae thocht, whan ma teeth hed faan out,
<br />ma name'd be doun i the Buke o Wyce Auld Men?
<br />iv
<br />Maugre ma maladies A hae a crammasy signet still,
<br />but nou A'm hame ti dauner owre purpie crottle;
<br />A'm ettlin at ma eild inben ma kintra yett,
<br />me at wis blate afore the wisocks o the Secretariat.
<br />The bricht leam o the sun twines about the swallas,
<br />an leafs on the watter pairt for the pickie-maas;
<br />whiles the neibours brings shell-puddocks an fishies,
<br />an speir whit time will A can gang an see them.
<br />v
<br />Yin cantin gowk<sup>1</sup> made mane at cateran bands,
<br />the ither<sup>2</sup> wis incaa'd ti Court, a mid-age man;
<br />the tane begoud ti scrieve his <em>Speil the Touer</em>,
<br />the tither, weill-infitten, gat glorie for <em>Bogle</em> Tales:
<br />their haas hereawa is set doun in the <em>Buke o Warthies</em>,
<br />their hie ingyne better-kent nor our Halie Hermits.
<br />In anither season, A umbethocht me o thir twae –
<br />i the sun o yin mair springtime, ma hairt is wae.
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><strong>Translated from the classical Chinese
by Brian Holton</strong>
</span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><sup>1</sup>Wang Can (AD 177–217)
</span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><sup>2</sup>Jia Yi (201–169BC)
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span> <br />
<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Translation commentary</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />
Du Fu uses New-Style regulated verse, a form of some complexity, which,
through the impudence of his rule-breaking and the virtuosity of his
craft, he raised from being a vehicle fit only for upper class
occasional verse to a poetic form of suppleness and precision which is
capable of expressing the strongest emotions and transmitting the most
complex messages: the tone and level of achievement are comparable to a
Shakespearean sonnet or a Beethoven quartet.
<br /><br />
The metrical patterns are based on syllable pitch-contours, something
neither Scots nor English can replicate; there is a rhyme in every
couplet, which is not easily achievable in translation: I substitute a
shifting pattern of alliteration and a series of half-rhymes, and for
the rhythm, a stress-based line in the style of the ballad stanza, with a
mid-line caesura.
<br /><br />
One reason for using Scots is to bring home the essential strangeness of
Du Fu to English readers: the distance between his Eighth Century
Chinese and the modern language is similar to that between English and
Scots. For Scots speakers, by using the <em>Mither Tongue</em>, language
of home and family and friendship, I aim to bring out both the
essential warmness and humanity and the deep sorrow of Du Fu's voice.
<br /><br />
Du Fu was also an extremely erudite poet, who was famous for the breadth
of his reading, his knowledge of history, and the obscure and recondite
nature of his references: such allusions can have no force at all in
translation, and in most cases can only be kept by doing violence to the
text, so I have gently substituted western allusions where I can (eg <em>Boreas</em>
for an allusion of equal antiquity). Du Fu can also juxtapose a
startlingly conversational couplet with one in the most high-flown
diction. What a joy he is to work with!
<br /><br /><strong>Brian Holton</strong>
</span></span> <br />
<div align="right">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.stephen-spender.org/2012_prize/2012_open_commend_BH.html#top"><em><br /></em></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><hr />
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-67051985341661875172013-01-07T20:43:00.002+00:002013-01-07T20:43:53.267+00:00Unstated: Writers on Scottish Independence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It may be
a coincidence that just as the post-ironic Creative Scotland crumbles
a book is published that expresses the views of 27 writers on the
cultural implications of Scottish independence but I can’t help
seeing a connection.
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Over half
the writers are members of PEN (and the rest would be very welcome if
they’d care to join). The 27 essays vary greatly in tone and in
points of departure and arrival, but most state or imply support for
independence. There is, however, a prominent note of scepticism:
whatever the political gains and losses of a self-governing Scotland,
it is unrealistic to assume that an improvement in cultural health
will automatically follow. The record under the SNP aegis is not
encouraging.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The book’s
editor, Scott Hames of Stirling University, states in his
introduction that the collection aims to ‘record what various
Scottish writers really thought about the independence question, in a
context free from the noise and enforced concision of the media
debate’. Unfortunately, perhaps inevitably, the media debate has
seized on the comments of two of Scotland’s leading writers,
Alastair Gray and James Kelman, whose usefully (for the press)
controversial depiction of English colonisation of Scottish culture
has so far dominated response to the book. But Gray and Kelman should
be read in the context of the other views expressed, many of which
reach beyond the old resentments and complaints.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A phrase
that comes up in many of the essays is ‘social justice’. To my
mind, social justice includes the right of access to all forms of
creative expression, as practitioner and audience. It includes the
right of all our citizens, but especially our children as they will
carry these expectations into the future, to read and write, to make
and listen to music, to make and enjoy pictures, to dance, to design
and construct all kinds of objects, to create in ways we haven’t
yet imagined. Whether or not our writers win prizes emanating from
the dubious activities of corporate organisations is hardly relevant
to the literary health of Scotland. What does matter is that our
citizens have access to the books our writers write, and are enabled
to participate in the experience of reading and responding to their
words.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The issues
raised in these essays are important, now and for the future, and I’d
urge all practising writers (and readers) to engage with them. For
Scottish PEN, the relationship between government and artistic
endeavour is crucial, and we need to be alert to the more insidious
ways culture is manipulated and curtailed. Whichever way the
referendum vote goes, we need to look both close to home and beyond
our immediate neighbour for the means to sustain a vibrant artistic
life. These 27 contrasting voices are a good place to start. Scottish
PEN, with its international perspective and commitment to freedom of
expression, has a key role to play in the coming months.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the
meantime, I recommend <i>Unstated</i>. It’s published by Word Power
Books, <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.wordpower.co.uk/">www.wordpower.co.uk</a></u></span>.
But don’t hang about – the first printing is already sold out and
there’s probably a queue for the second.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>Jenni Calder</i> </span></span></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-27238597613858627342012-09-13T19:11:00.000+01:002012-09-13T19:16:51.262+01:00Book Festival Transwonderland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div align="CENTER" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
fiftieth anniversary of the famous Writers' Conference during the
1962 Edinburgh International Festival was celebrated with various
events at this year's Book Festival. I chose, however, to go only to
a number of events which particularly interested me. Online
podcasts of the 50th anniversary events are in any case readily
available.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Noo
Saro-Wiwa </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was interviewed by Drew Campbell, and highlighted as 'The Scottish
PEN "Free the Word" Event'. She lived in Britain for a
long time, and is the daughter of Nigerian political activist Ken
Saro-Wiwa, who was judicially murdered by the Abacha military
dictatorship. Her reading was about her return visit to a now
democratic Nigeria, which is recorded in </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Looking
for Transwonderland. </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It
is no conventional travelogue, but a clear-eyed, very well-informed,
and often very funny, look at Nigeria from her enlightening
perspective of dual citizenship. The title refers to an amusement
park in Lagos which is nearly falling apart, yet also testifies to a
yearning from Nigerians to make their country a better place, and
their irrepressible optimism about not only the possibility, but the
necessity to do so. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Janine
di Giovanni </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ed
Vulliamy, </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">chaired
by Bidisha with tact and sensitivity as both are not only veteran
war-zone journalists, but also strong personalities, gave their
personal accounts of the war following the break-up of Yugoslavia
which devastated Bosnia twenty years ago now. It was, as the Book
Festival programme all too accurately described it, 'the worst
carnage to blight Europe since the Third Reich'. It demonstrated
once again how bestial human beings can be to each other, even when,
or perhaps especially when, close neighbours. Di Giovanni and
Vulliamy also rightly blamed the failure of nerve of the western
powers in being so slow to intervene, as well as the forces of
extreme Serb and Croat nationalism. A more temperate account of
this event is to be found in <span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://scottish-pen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/two-war-correspondents-remember-bosnia.html">Morelle Smith's excellent blog.</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>David
Bellos</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
who translated the novels of Georges Perec and Ismail Kadare, among
others, gave a gripping talk on the art of translation. He argued
that attempting 'faithful' translations of any text is a futile
exercise. It is in the nature of language that we always 'translate'
to each other, even when we speak the 'same' language. All
communication involves using language in various contexts, and it is
these contexts which create meaning, not isolated words. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Two
literary heavyweights, </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Joyce
Carol Oates</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Carol
Ann Duffy</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
read and discussed their work to sell-out audiences in the capacious
tent of the RBS Theatre. Duffy read from </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>The
Bees, </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
also impersonated the likes of Mrs. Noah, with accompaniment from the
'merry flautist' </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>John
Sampson.</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A surprise bonus was her inviting </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Roger
McGough </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">from
the audience to read a couple of poems. Oates was introduced by
Jackie McGlone with a light, unobtrusive touch, highlighting
informality. She read from her new novel </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Mudwoman
</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and gave something of a brilliant masterclass in how she structured
her novel, which explores the psychology of dreams and the pain of
bereavement.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b> </b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>John
Lanchester</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
chaired by Alan Taylor, read from his novel </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Capital</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
and discussed the consequences of financial meltdown in terms of the
gentrification of a London street originally populated by a thriving,
or at least reasonably cohesive, working-class community. His
satirical bite was complemented by banter from Taylor about class in
Edinburgh.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
more benign view of Edinburgh was given by </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ron
Butlin.</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Chaired by Gavin Wallace, he read from the poems he wrote as
Edinburgh Makar in </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>The
Magicians of Edinburgh. </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'David
Hume Takes a Last Walk on Arthur's Seat' was especially moving.
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Paul
Durcan</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
gave a bravura performance in a morning session at the Spiegeltent.
His poems were full of dark humour, but he read them with perky
defiance and a strong sense of irony for a solid three quarters of an
hour. It's a pity though that the audience was not invited to ask
questions, thus making it a rather short session. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Bashabi
Fraser</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
read from </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ragas
and Reels, </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poems
about Scots-Asians, with photographs by </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Herman
Rodrigues</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
who gave a brief talk, peppered with anecdotal jokes, about his
enthusiasm for photography. She also talked about </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Under
the Banyan Tree, </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
sumptuously illustrated book about Scots who made a great
contribution to the Raj and are still fondly remembered in India.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
'transwonderland' of economic chicanery all over the globe, with
attendant crass exploitation, drug and sex trafficking, plus
violence with 'extreme prejudice' was discussed, with many a vivid
story, by the writer and journalist </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Lydia
Cacho</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
A woman of steely courage, she mentioned how a drug-lord in Mexico,
her homeland, offered to be her 'protector'. Bumping into her in a
restaurant, he asked her to drop a napkin, thereby not compromising
herself, if she wanted a kingpin who threatened her to be 'taken
care of '. She went back to friends at her table and hissed 'Don't
you dare drop a napkin!'.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mario
Relich</span></span></span></span></span></span></i></b></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-76000205523674810332012-08-24T17:59:00.000+01:002012-09-13T19:12:34.204+01:00 Two War Correspondents Remember Bosnia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Discussion
at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 17<sup>th</sup> August
2012 - Janine di Giovanni and Ed Vulliamy, - twenty years on from the
beginning of the war in Bosnia. Chaired by Bidisha</span></b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781847921949%20">TheWar is Dead, Long Live the War; Bosnia, the Reckoning – EdVulliamy</a></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBq9mnSeiflP0r6wDVI4WhLmXJt1oix2HEKrU6rW-_v3bV5tCv1GshW7qxKrbJUJRDqfyo1EC67IyKv9Hd_adC9gect58XD2_q8LX2rPl4EzkcdoMiL7DEH2curbYsjZwc5BUHKsENYQxf/s1600/GetImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBq9mnSeiflP0r6wDVI4WhLmXJt1oix2HEKrU6rW-_v3bV5tCv1GshW7qxKrbJUJRDqfyo1EC67IyKv9Hd_adC9gect58XD2_q8LX2rPl4EzkcdoMiL7DEH2curbYsjZwc5BUHKsENYQxf/s400/GetImage.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.janinedigiovanni.com/reviews.html">Ghosts by Daylight; A memoir of War and Love – Janine di Giovanni</a></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYAaZS9bj4vEdodxbbH8-pbcTkycEh6PrravLobrVWHRKpBMdTc29dXOTS8hRpNb3pjj0vuUuHPZAP2ElnOPmfNQYoSxKlJB31xrR_-sqN1_K1sRHeoVvnmaGij34ocGMwGPq9oVjx6vy/s1600/Ghosts-cover-155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYAaZS9bj4vEdodxbbH8-pbcTkycEh6PrravLobrVWHRKpBMdTc29dXOTS8hRpNb3pjj0vuUuHPZAP2ElnOPmfNQYoSxKlJB31xrR_-sqN1_K1sRHeoVvnmaGij34ocGMwGPq9oVjx6vy/s400/Ghosts-cover-155.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Ed
Vuilliamy said that the war in Bosnia broke preconceptions. His
optimism and his faith were shattered. He used to believe that
justice would prevail, that the good guys would win and the bad ones
would be punished, but such ideas were blown apart with this war. He
spoke passionately about the ‘impotence and hubris’ of the
international community and its politicians.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Janine
said that journalists felt they ‘can and must do something’. We
used to feel she said, that our reporting could actually affect
policy. That their work was about ‘bearing witness’ an overused
phrase she agreed yet one that seemed to fit. To give a voice to
people who don’t have one. But she admitted that since Bosnia, a
lot of reporting seems to be more geared towards getting scoops and
newspaper sales. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In
the days of the war in Bosnia she reminds us, back in the 90s, they
used to be there before others got there, before <i>médecins</i><span lang="fr-FR"><i>
sans frontières</i></span> got there, before the NGOs got there.
Nowadays, we have embedded reporting which she thinks is destructive
of journalism – you are censored in what you write. For her, it was
always important to go and talk to the people involved, go into the
villages and speak to them, which cannot be done if you’re
embedded. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In
his book, as Bidisha points out, Ed names things as they are, he
talks about mass rape for example, he detests the euphemisms so often
used. Collateral damage he says, means a village consisting mainly of
women, children and the elderly, is attacked, and the inhabitants
killed.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">When
asked about the ‘neutrality’ of journalists, Janine said ‘I’m
a journalist and I’m not supposed to have a side’ but that
doesn’t mean that they should not have compassion for the people
who were suffering. She says she usually has seen war from the side
of those who were having the worst of it, and being attacked. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">She
related how guilty she felt when after a few weeks or so in Sarajevo
she went to Zagreb for a short time, to have a break - and a shower.
She felt that she should be back there, in Sarajevo where the others
were suffering all the dangers and privations of the siege. All the
foreign journalists were very aware, she said, that they were in a
different situation from the Bosnian people – if things got very
difficult for them, they could leave, they could get out. Not so, for
the people of Sarajevo.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Journalists
need to be objective about facts yes, but neutrality is something
else. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Ed
Vulliamy was accused of ‘breaching neutrality’ by testifying at
the Hague. Some reporters felt he should not have, because
journalists are supposed to be neutral, report facts and not take
sides. But Ed said he was horrified by the ‘neutrality’ of the
international community. The war could have been stopped with very
little loss of life he says, if the international community had
intervened. Each case has to be weighed individually, he does not
always think that intervention is the right action, but in this case,
he says, yes it was.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Janine
reminds us that in Bosnia, this was in the days before emails and the
internet, before blogging and twitter. We had to phone in our
reports, she said, reading them out from the page we’d written it
on. Journalism nowadays is too much about journalists, rather than
about the people they have gone there to report on. They are
encouraged to write in the first person. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Ed
says he tries to make himself invisible in his story. ‘We [the
journalists] don’t matter.’ Yes, he says, it is hard after seeing
all that they have seen, their ‘post traumatic lives’ are not
easy. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Janine
says she is bitter about the siege in Sarajevo, as it could have been
stopped. ‘politicians allowed it to happen’. She says there
should have been intervention in Sarajevo <i>before</i> the siege.
We can never forget what happened, she says, - and it seems we
[humanity] are doomed to repeat our mistakes [as in Syria today]. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">In
Bosnia, Ed said, it was complicated by both victims and perpetrators
being neighbours, knowing each other so well. He was told by one
person who had been tortured that his torturer said to him – your
grandfather tortured my grandfather. The pleasure that was taken in
torturing was also horrific to them. There was a strange kind of
atmosphere, he said, a kind of chumminess between perpetrators and
victims, and then the atrocities would happen. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">They
were asked about their present situation – if they were still able
to write their own stories – both because of embedded journalism
and because of the traumatic nature of their work. </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Janine
said – I still do it. Then she talked about young, desperate,
would be journalists who blog and even go to war zones and undertake
dangerous border crossings when they know very little about the
situation. Whereas they are experienced journalists who can far
better assess situations in general and the level of risk involved.
These young people she said, think it’s glamorous to be a war
correspondent but it’s not at all. But I can still earn a living.
Photo journalists I know, often have to fund themselves. But those
who are truly committed will do that.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Ed
said that his last assignment was in Mexico and he found it so
frightening, the amount of death and torture, that he has ‘hung up
his boots’. It’s not that he does not care or feel any more, but
he has ‘commitment fatigue’. He thinks it’s time to come back
to the UK and do some ‘foreign reporting’ here.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">These
are reports from people who were there and saw what went on. Who can
relate the stories of what people have gone through, who can give a
voice to people who do not have one, people who have disappeared, or
have been murdered, shelled, tortured, raped, imprisoned. Without
them, we would know very little, and that little would probably be a
mass of rumour and counter rumour and we would not know who to
believe. We can certainly believe these people for their observations
are skilled and articulate, their compassion and commitment is very
clear.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Among
Janine di Giovanni’s other books are <a href="http://www.janinedigiovanni.com/reviews.html#madness%20"><i>Madness Visible</i></a>, about
the war in Kosovo</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">and
<a href="http://www.alibris.co.uk/booksearch?qwork=5505439&qsort=p&matches=12&cm_sp=works*listing*buyused%20"><i>The Quick and the Dead</i></a> about the war in Bosnia.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/08/bosnia-camps-ed-vulliamy"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Overview and excerpts from Ed Vulliamy’s book. </span></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Morelle Smith</span></span></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-85842822565613648132012-06-26T20:40:00.001+01:002012-06-26T20:40:08.104+01:00Marché de la Poésie Saint Sulpice, Paris, June 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">It’s
the 30<sup>th</sup> March<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span>
de la Po<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span>sie and it takes
place in the tree shaded square by the newly renovated church of
Saint Sulpice, Paris. There are hundreds of publishing houses
represented here, some well known, some small, all selling volumes of
poetry - though there are also a few works of prose to be found. The
canvas covered stalls often have more than one publisher sharing a
marquee. They flank the elegant stone fountain in the middle of the
square, and are bordered by trees on three sides. This gives a
sheltered and intimate feeling to the space, drawing booksellers and
the wandering public into a complicity with the rustling leaves and
warm summer sunshine. </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtXo_aNrHssdiZtQTEuOxXvBBhCuKg_PtendpIz2bLJss3CHzw74Azq4BR_GoLkmKHHYpjH3ZfaXwx6HEyN7Bx6mWwmccBNkNPkutQJXGEIvMBd-qkJvUnLL_W5v8OSkp-bbIx9gerDp7/s1600/068+marche+1+s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtXo_aNrHssdiZtQTEuOxXvBBhCuKg_PtendpIz2bLJss3CHzw74Azq4BR_GoLkmKHHYpjH3ZfaXwx6HEyN7Bx6mWwmccBNkNPkutQJXGEIvMBd-qkJvUnLL_W5v8OSkp-bbIx9gerDp7/s320/068+marche+1+s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"> </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">After
the official opening, where speeches were made on the small stage, a
crowd of people were milling around, drinking wine, talking to stall
holders and each other. People who have made purchases dangle clearly
marked March<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span> de la Po<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span>sie
bags from their wrists. I sat on a bench for a while, watching the
superbly elegant women, colourful and striking, and well dressed or
bohemian chic gentlemen, several of the older ones sporting grey or
white pony tails. I then headed off to the stall of <a href="http://www.festrad.com/f/ftr30.html">LaTraductière,</a>the literary magazine that publishes and translates poetry and essays
into English and French. </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv_uGSXSaxRORCdnG3ZWDu5R7MB6YhPBYNOXTJsobct7fz_9FToqirjC7tF3ZqYdVqG4f4odTnZ-R2ar7BydzdR_eDreHvtBWnbHidvbXsfNdC3EKaDMX8SkHQo4R1K1ZXOr7jk-j5wv5L/s1600/093+superb+men+w+ponytails+2+s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv_uGSXSaxRORCdnG3ZWDu5R7MB6YhPBYNOXTJsobct7fz_9FToqirjC7tF3ZqYdVqG4f4odTnZ-R2ar7BydzdR_eDreHvtBWnbHidvbXsfNdC3EKaDMX8SkHQo4R1K1ZXOr7jk-j5wv5L/s320/093+superb+men+w+ponytails+2+s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><a href="http://www.festrad.com/jr.html">Jacques Rancourt</a> is the editor of the magazine and has set up <a href="http://www.festrad.com/index.html">Festrad,Festival de la Poésiefranco-anglaise,</a> part of the March<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span>
de la Po<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">é</span>sie. He has been
dedicated to this for over two decades, and has also brought in
artists and musicians, working around the varied themes which are
presented each year. This year’s theme was ‘The Poetic
Attention.' Fifty poems and 20 essays are included in the latest issue of La Traductiere, by writers from several different countries. <a href="http://www.qlrs.com/default.asp">Several poets from Singapore</a> were among <a href="http://www.festrad.com/f/12PoSing.html">the invitedguests</a> and read from their work in the evenings, on the central stage
close to the carved lions of the stone fountain. </span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">These
readings were in an exciting and exotic mixture of languages.
Singapore has four official languages, English, Chinese, Tamil and
Malay and poets writing in all of these languages were represented.
When I listened to Zou Lu, for example, whose native language is
Chinese, I didn’t understand one word, but her presentation was
arresting and dramatic. Her translator then read her work in French. </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-style: normal;">One
of the poems she read, unfortunately not printed in the magazine,
began as a poem about getting lost out in the country where there
were several roads to take but not knowing which one was the right
one. But, she says, addressing the reader, do not be concerned for
us, for </span><i>se perdre c’est notre terre natale</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
(to be lost, that is home territory for us) </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJyunx66nx1WOhlhL8yZcfPnMTVrtnR_KwwilOstERQMzk5CstjWJO5yDcnt3VfPrlNjlHLWWIrIg7y9YWF8Qq8QP0-p_NWjNUEMPKFVHFqsUW6CHj6YDzv23KnfBNBEEAHP47jNXzd78/s1600/105+zou+lu+and+translators+3+s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJyunx66nx1WOhlhL8yZcfPnMTVrtnR_KwwilOstERQMzk5CstjWJO5yDcnt3VfPrlNjlHLWWIrIg7y9YWF8Qq8QP0-p_NWjNUEMPKFVHFqsUW6CHj6YDzv23KnfBNBEEAHP47jNXzd78/s320/105+zou+lu+and+translators+3+s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zou Lu and her translators</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Included
in this year’s edition of </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>la
Traducti</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>è</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>re</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">,
the 30</span><sup><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">,
as well as the poems and essays, there are illustrations of some of
the poems, by different artists. The original art works are exhibited
in the gallery and theatre Nesle, in the tiny rue de Nesle. It is
tucked away between an arched alleyway leading away from the busy
Boulevard flanking the river, and that part of the left bank around
rue de Seine that’s stuffed with art galleries. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QEy4SiVLuX5ejqKCP4fXWCk6GSS2PXFET5nNpD2Rhq1El9uFJuRl9KlIfwUsfgY-lq6rH2OnxsLzQcj_-7f0Y3gOBbpk2ATm1vGhNORli41mYmf9DvYlrRy9WubLiPKY4WHtWeMmOfKN/s1600/075+galerie+nesle+reflections+s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QEy4SiVLuX5ejqKCP4fXWCk6GSS2PXFET5nNpD2Rhq1El9uFJuRl9KlIfwUsfgY-lq6rH2OnxsLzQcj_-7f0Y3gOBbpk2ATm1vGhNORli41mYmf9DvYlrRy9WubLiPKY4WHtWeMmOfKN/s320/075+galerie+nesle+reflections+s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Galerie Nesle seen through the door onto the courtyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1509193276">
</a></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><a href="http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/9213/28/Stefaan-van-den-Bremt">InStefaan van den Bremt’s</a> essay – The Poetic Attention – he
begins: </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">Poetry
is everywhere but it comes from elsewhere. Its kingdom is not this
world with its so familiar horizons....Poetry disturbs. It demands
from us a particular attention, one which consists of seeing in our
daily life something other than the familiar, in capturing a unique
experience from the everyday. Poetry is another way of reading
reality.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">He
quotes Paul Claudel and Martinus Nijhoff who both, at different
times, and in different languages, link poetry with the act of
breathing air into the lungs.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Martinus
Nijhoff - </span><i>Poetry wants you to breathe in places that are
alive</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> and</span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">...[one]
feels, when reading or listening to prose, in the human world...but
poetry does not give you that sensation of closeness to the human
world. It hurtles you out into the universe.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-style: normal;">In
the small tree lined square by Saint Sulpice, the air is certainly
alive – with the evening scents of trees and plants, as well as
with the animated sounds of human exchange. After being ‘hurtled
out into the universe’ from listening to poetry from different
parts of the world, it is a pleasure to circulate among lovers of
words, languages and books, to talk to people, to return to a
</span><i>sensation of closeness to the human world.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">Morelle
Smith</span></i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
</div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-26410627054734129062012-05-11T09:00:00.000+01:002012-05-11T09:00:06.104+01:00The Joys of Translation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><u><br /></u></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Carl
von Linné – or Linnaeus as the world outside Sweden remembers him
– was what we would now call a “control-freak”. And like all
control-freaks, he was often frustrated by the unwillingness of
people, animals and the natural world in general to do as they were
told. Even as a boy, he would order his younger siblings around:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Follow
me! Do as I do! … Copy me! Say after me! …” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">But
his brothers and sisters would go about their business unheeding.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
future taxonomist’s curiosity about the natural world had started
at a young age:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Earlier,
there was another, smaller garden and a boy’s passionate interest
in plants.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">What’s
that called?” “What’s that called?”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Carl
walked in that garden with his father.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">What’s
that?” “What’s that?”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">His
father, pleased by the boy’s thirst for knowledge but tired of his
forgetfulness, spoke harshly to him and issued a threat: that he
would never again tell the boy the names of the plants if he forgot
them after they had once been named.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Now,
the little boy is a professor at Uppsala where, God-like, he names
the flora and fauna and everything in Creation and tells his
students, the “disciples”, that nothing has changed and nothing
new has developed since God created the world. But his students bring
him strange hybrids they have found on their nature walks, and his
uneducated gardener has insights into Nature that leave Linnæus at a
loss for words:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
gardener points to a tree.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">A
pine,” says Linnæus.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
gardener points to another tree.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">A
spruce,” says Linnæus.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
gardener points to another tree, which resembles a pine and resembles
a spruce.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Linnæus
tries to see if the tree is a pine or a spruce.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">It’s
an intermediate form. Linnæus is silent, unwilling to discuss this
with a gardener. Such things are uncertain.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
gardener asks if the pine and the spruce haven’t interbred.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Like
a horse and a donkey make a mule.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
gardener likes to sit in the garden on hot days and make music on his
rather unusual stringed instrument. His friends simply enjoy the
music, but Linnæus the taxonomist is tortured by the need to
classify, to name:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">When
the sounds reach Linnæus’s window, he usually comes down and asks
the gardener to tell him how the instrument came into his possession
and how the sounding-board comes to have seventeen strings.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Linnæus
also usually asks the gardener after a little while to explain how
the relationship between the melody strings and the drones is to be
understood and why the latter cannot be shortened.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">After
a while, Linnæus also usually asks whether the instrument is called
a zither or a dulcimer …”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Linnæus
plants a Siberian garden, which attracts the unwelcome attentions of
a neighbour’s goats. He has a stone wall built round it, but the
goats vault it at night. He runs down in his night-things with a whip
and chases them away, but when he is back in bed he hears them in the
garden again:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Late
August. The goats seem to relish the Siberian peony and the Siberian
aster. At night the Siberian garden is full of goats.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">He
dispatches his “disciples” around the world with instructions to
send him samples of all the exotic flora and fauna they encounter.
Only Rolander comes back, ill and spitting blood, with news of his
fellow-students and their various fates:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Sparschuh?
Fell downstairs, dead. Wetterman? Burnt to death. Grufberg? Cut his
throat with a razor, dead. Baeckner? Died of fever in Paris …
Gisler? Mad, murdered three people. Edvall? Buried in Canton …
Björnståhl? Died of plague at Litocoro, Greece. Lundborg? Drowned.
Salomon? Drowned. Luut? Drowned. Wennerberg? Drowned. Söderberg?
Drowned.”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Finally,
Linnæus is felled by a mystery illness resembling a stroke and, with
dreadful irony, the supremely articulate and knowledgeable scientist
who tried to name and define the created world is reduced to an
incoherent wreck:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
“<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Yet
Lövberg understands. Linnæus has his own words in place of the
usual ones. He has forgotten all the usual ones, one after the other.
… First, the nouns. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>Monandria
</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"> and </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>Tetradynamia</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">,
gone. Buttons, buttonholes, waistcoats, gone. Weasel, fish, knife,
cheese – gone. … Now Linnæus is saying nothing but “To ti! To
ti!”</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">* *</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Linné/Linnæus
is the central character in Magnus Florin’s quirky little novel
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>Trädgården </i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">(The
Garden), which was published in Sweden in 1995. Shortly afterwards I
was commissioned to translate extracts for </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>Swedish
Book Review </i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">and the
now defunct cultural magazine </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>Artes
International</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">. I
always assumed that someone would finish the job and that the book
would be published in this country or in the USA, but it hasn’t
happened, so I’ve finished the job myself and shown the translation
to a couple of publishers. One lives in hope!</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
book has had another incarnation, as an opera performed in the
beautiful Drottningholm Palace Theatre – the best-preserved
18</span></span><sup><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">-century
theatre in the world. The palace of Drottningholm, on the island of
that name in Lake Mälar, near Stockholm, is the permanent residence
of the Swedish royal family.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlQvImmC_1Gcu7tH1neAfQnvJsTfxBTJ9zUD7BDz3kjsgD_7677cm4bfCNd6alsGE3zgPiEJj5FxMggfFe55kihgpO5ZGthB-OEe1P0vJJoHazEzZG7ETVjp3Pe89rw42IJYU1nPCbL04/s1600/Drottningholm+Palace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBlQvImmC_1Gcu7tH1neAfQnvJsTfxBTJ9zUD7BDz3kjsgD_7677cm4bfCNd6alsGE3zgPiEJj5FxMggfFe55kihgpO5ZGthB-OEe1P0vJJoHazEzZG7ETVjp3Pe89rw42IJYU1nPCbL04/s320/Drottningholm+Palace.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">The
author Magnus Florin is a well-known novelist and playwright in
Sweden and also works as </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>chefdramaturg</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">
– roughly, literary director – at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in
Stockholm, a post once held by Ingmar Bergman.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrpnEfVpko3pPXDG-l10Rz5S86X79q4F3vD85Ey1nm6bgE2tCuMwew33ck7R5ny7SRyriZSyM87frC3dLkW54j1VqCkOWO56vqr41LmWU7ILzoKSXbITho-vo1jSV_fkAKGCyS97d1PF5/s1600/Magnus+Florin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrpnEfVpko3pPXDG-l10Rz5S86X79q4F3vD85Ey1nm6bgE2tCuMwew33ck7R5ny7SRyriZSyM87frC3dLkW54j1VqCkOWO56vqr41LmWU7ILzoKSXbITho-vo1jSV_fkAKGCyS97d1PF5/s320/Magnus+Florin.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnus Florin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">When
I first translated extracts from this book, back in the 1990s, I felt
a bit handicapped by my ignorance of horticulture, botany and
zoology. However, we now live in the age of Google, God bless it, and
I soon found that Googling an unfamiliar, often dialectal word used
by Florin for some Swedish plant would yield a Latin name which I
could then Google in its turn to get an equivalent English name. I’m
still not exactly a candidate for </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>Gardener’s
Question Time </i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">but
my ignorance of horticulture is perhaps not quite so complete as it
was.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">While
I wait to hear whether </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>The
Garden </i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">will make it
into Britain’s bookshops or not, I’m bracing myself for the next
assignment. IB Tauris have just commissioned me to translate a
brand-new biography of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat
abducted in Hungary at the end of WWII and allegedly imprisoned in
the Soviet Gulag, although the Soviets denied this throughout the
Cold War, poisoning relations with Sweden. The author, Bengt
Jangfeldt, is a specialist in Russian language and culture, and has
had access to hitherto secret KGB files, so his book should be an
interesting read. It hasn’t even appeared in Sweden yet, so IB
Tauris are obviously keen to cash in on any publicity it gets there
when it appears later this year.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">I
have already translated several of Bengt’s books, including a
prize-winning biography of Axel Munthe – author of </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"><i>The
Story of San Michele </i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">and
supposedly “the most famous Swede of all time” – and more
recently a literary biography of the Russian Futurist poet V. V.
Mayakovsky (still awaiting a British or American publisher). </span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISJaMXEjy8j52SOcNl_GOe1Gx6Nkc6RCgjG5znazeSVcyg5u-kdPQyhMo4hwpzgAiKObaWCBeL3G5lHzMjhWfwE2YzZIEXHnBb08ysTBo3oNOoMD_sHtH2cKM2PHnHveM8-dGIBoNP-a4/s1600/Munthe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISJaMXEjy8j52SOcNl_GOe1Gx6Nkc6RCgjG5znazeSVcyg5u-kdPQyhMo4hwpzgAiKObaWCBeL3G5lHzMjhWfwE2YzZIEXHnBb08ysTBo3oNOoMD_sHtH2cKM2PHnHveM8-dGIBoNP-a4/s320/Munthe.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SeVZiMVs6lTBuR_OUysrBTmnHyoP4Owf5kZAXkmL6pHR0J3nLmadFtBGzAmSjvRgOc3sI_FXW1JAWdSwpD1unsU4b4LosWgqh_vIYGNmSLZAa_LPODlMt8rmvcRaiPCiHY1cqscpt7nh/s1600/Mayakovsky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5SeVZiMVs6lTBuR_OUysrBTmnHyoP4Owf5kZAXkmL6pHR0J3nLmadFtBGzAmSjvRgOc3sI_FXW1JAWdSwpD1unsU4b4LosWgqh_vIYGNmSLZAa_LPODlMt8rmvcRaiPCiHY1cqscpt7nh/s320/Mayakovsky.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB"> </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Being
a translator means being on a permanent learning curve. The Munthe
book taught me more about the island of Capri than I ever expected to
know, and one of the perks of doing the translation was a week’s
free holiday at Easter-time in the Villa San Michele itself, with
spectacular views over the Bay of Naples.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Thanks
to reading and translating the Mayakovsky blockbuster, I became an
overnight authority on the literary culture of the Bolshevik
revolution (most of which I have managed to forget since), and I now
look forward to becoming an instant expert, at least for the duration
of this translation, on the Cold War in the Baltic region. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-GB">Harry
D. Watson</span></span></span></i></div>
</div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-25804377903390333972012-05-04T21:58:00.002+01:002012-05-04T22:03:02.362+01:00Book Recommendation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="line-height: 0.58cm; margin-bottom: 0.5cm;">
Scottish PEN
members might like to check out the recent New Island Books release,
</div>
<h3 class="western" style="border: medium none; color: #0b5394; line-height: 0.58cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.newisland.ie/books/non-fiction-politics-current-affairs/banished-babies-secret-story-ireland%E2%80%99s-baby-export-busine"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Banished
Babies The Secret Story of Ireland’s Baby Export Business –Updated
and Expanded Edition</b></span></span></a></span></h3>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This is the updated version of RTE
(<span class="st">Raidió Teilifís Éireann) </span>investigative journalist Mike Milotte's book, first published in the
1990s, about overseas adoptions of Irish babies born in Irish
mother-baby homes and effectively sold through schemes run by the
Irish state and Catholic church. The first edition followed Milotte's
RTE-tv expos<span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">é</span> which broke
the story to a nation and world that didn't want to believe it. Today
the breadth and effects of these schemes, and of efforts to
understand them and compensate those born into or had their lives
variously changed by them, is clearer. <i>Banished Babies</i> is an
essential resource for anyone trying to understand how something like
this could/did happen and continues to affect victims round the
world.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
You can read a review of the book in <a href="http://www.padraigomorain.com/review-of-banished-babies-by-mike-milotte.html">The Irish Times here</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Elizabeth Marriott</i></div>
</div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-81885892648793458122012-05-01T20:07:00.002+01:002012-05-01T20:07:48.556+01:00Shakespeare in Stirling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwK19xkaTrsloSXYO3yEv0xRvJx4SkNpnSBclASwBzfE_E8VOS1EqnOCwiWHnL3zEzejEDZL_dBKCvOYfOs-4KCtDOfvyWqIUhSM98MmKb9LfSZ1AZtDCTcEUL8S8jjtfjU0MTNQSkhzy/s1600/shakes+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwK19xkaTrsloSXYO3yEv0xRvJx4SkNpnSBclASwBzfE_E8VOS1EqnOCwiWHnL3zEzejEDZL_dBKCvOYfOs-4KCtDOfvyWqIUhSM98MmKb9LfSZ1AZtDCTcEUL8S8jjtfjU0MTNQSkhzy/s320/shakes+001.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div>
<br clear="all" /><span style="font-size: medium;">'As part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's
'OPEN STAGES' project, John Coutts has written '</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">SHAKESPEARE IN STIRLING'; in </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">which the
great poet and dramatist makes an undercover visit to Scotland as an English
government </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">agent. He visits the royal court in Castle, where King
James VI is scheming to inherit the English throne.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span></span> </div>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Subtitled 'an unhistorical fantasy', John's one-act
play presents </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">an entertaining view of life at the turn of the
sixteenth century, asks questions about the role of the artist in society, and
offers suggestions as to the motivation of the the ever-enigmatic "Master
W.S."</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span></span> </div>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">The play will be performed as part of 'Midsummer
Madness' to be presented by the Riverside Drama Club at The Cowane
</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Centre, Stirling, from May
16-19.'</span></span></div>
<br /><br /><div>
<a href="http://www.johncoutts.eu/" target="_blank">www.johncoutts.eu</a></div>
</div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-37622791899403511632012-04-30T12:09:00.000+01:002012-04-30T17:30:45.954+01:00House of exile<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In February or March this year, International PEN asked members for a
few lines on a piece of writing by a woman writer we particularly admired, to
mark International Women’s Day on March 8th. You can find the contributions
sent in </span></span><a href="http://www.pen-international.org/03/2012/in-celebration-of-women-writers/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: navy; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">on their website here </span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Some of the books I’ve already read, but others I have not heard of,
and I will definitely be tracking some of them down. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This made me think of other books I’ve felt inspired by, which others
may also enjoy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is an excerpt from a review I wrote of</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMLOZ7534I4rmdKjyQaDwbIqYbZAVkfDoFwW1nclVyaBUOogRLHJaqY6ukrZUaHPPvYM4mq7S4BJ3pX9R0n_D3_GoE2fUuh1D3M6TtMEfM3h_VwbBP-pdG4yoFVBGY0pcHQcxAToc0fAt/s1600/houseofexile+pic+279x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTMLOZ7534I4rmdKjyQaDwbIqYbZAVkfDoFwW1nclVyaBUOogRLHJaqY6ukrZUaHPPvYM4mq7S4BJ3pX9R0n_D3_GoE2fUuh1D3M6TtMEfM3h_VwbBP-pdG4yoFVBGY0pcHQcxAToc0fAt/s1600/houseofexile+pic+279x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Evelyn Juers</span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> – <i>House of Exile</i>, published in 2011. (The complete text can be </span></div>
<a href="http://rivertrain.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/house-of-exile-appreciation.html" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">found here)</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><u> </u></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">This is what biography should be! This book pushes you deep into the consciousness of the time by its descriptions of the lives of individuals.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The main characters are the writer Heinrich Mann and his wife Nelly Kröger-Mann. Other members of the Mann family put in frequent appearances particularly his brother, the Nobel prize-winning Thomas and his son Klaus, and a host of other writers, including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Bertolt Brecht, Robert Musil, Walter Benjamin, Lion Feuchtwanger, Jakob Wassermann and many others. It takes us through the thirties and the rise of fascism in Europe, and the war years.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Evelyn Juers has managed very cleverly, I think, and after a huge amount of research, to get inside the lives of her main characters. She does this partly by quoting their letters and journals, partly through magnificent writing where she does not signal her presence by waving opinions or interpretations, though does sometimes say things like - I imagine her walking down the Kurfurstendamn etc. So that we feel as if we are experiencing events through the eyes of the people described. And there is no hint of judgement, but rather, great compassion, which is not overtly stated, but in which the whole book is steeped, like a colour, a subtle scent or flavour, the kind of light which is only found in a certain place, whether geographical or psychological. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">One of the many passages that sticks in my mind is the way Heinrich Mann [then nearly seventy] and the others with him had to climb over the Pyrenees to escape to Spain. And how the Nazis in pursuit reached Cerbère near the French-Spanish border a day later – they were just in time. The relentless pressure, anxiety, fear for oneself and one's loved ones. No wonder people turned to alcohol, and came to rely on morphine, barbiturates and other drugs, as they tried to sleep at nights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Thomas Mann's journals and letters are often quoted. It's clear from them that he never liked Nelly, Heinrich's wife, considering her 'common'. After her death –she had problems with alcohol, other health problems, and eventually took her own life – Thomas Mann says 'she caused him [Heinrich] a lot of trouble.' She also cooked for him, looked after him, typed up his manuscripts, went out to work and took on menial jobs in the USA to support both of them, and clearly loved him. She was described by others as 'a ray of sunshine', and 'the kindest person I ever met'. Heinrich was devastated by her death, and particularly remembered her courage and how she helped him when they were escaping over the Pyrenees into Spain.</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">So relevant to our own times too, as many refugees from various wars and oppressive regimes continue to seek asylum, escaping from horrors quite unimaginable to us, who live in freedom and relative security.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Morelle Smith</span></i></div>
</div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109134158383786959.post-64383766029333920602012-04-05T14:35:00.000+01:002012-04-26T15:39:43.325+01:00A Tale of Two Harriets<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Once upon a time there were two authors called Harriet. Superficially they had much in common. Both American, they were born and died within a couple of years of each other. Both were dedicated to ending slavery. However, there the similarities end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnJkO-8VRUFILvt-C9IBuDLv0YUG4RRyI6HEJaHG8yYIwRCOqSzY8nqPlnDfN6j5rGbo4SvuzCymaICVOzIlkAatkhEWJybu2TMMGhLorCl0m9LEC5pLwQlOte4hYavACnAcaJ2V4G1Us/s1600/Harriet+Beecher-Stowe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqnJkO-8VRUFILvt-C9IBuDLv0YUG4RRyI6HEJaHG8yYIwRCOqSzY8nqPlnDfN6j5rGbo4SvuzCymaICVOzIlkAatkhEWJybu2TMMGhLorCl0m9LEC5pLwQlOte4hYavACnAcaJ2V4G1Us/s1600/Harriet+Beecher-Stowe.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harriet Beecher Stowe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Harriet Beecher Stowe grew up in a family prominent in education and theology. Her contacts made her an international force in the abolitionist movement. In 1853 she was invited to <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Scotland</place></country-region> by the Glasgow Ladies’ New Anti-Slavery Society. She appeared to a packed audience in the City Hall, after which she embarked on a tour of the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">UK</place></country-region>. She corresponded with Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Henry Longfellow and the Duke of Argyll. She visited the Duchess of Sutherland (and wrote in support of the policy of the Clearances). She befriended Byron’s widow and attracted hate mail by a “vindication” of her friend exposing Byron’s relationship with his sister. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Beecher Stowe’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</u></i> depicting the lives of American slaves was the second best-selling book of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, surpassed only by the Bible. President Lincoln is said to have acknowledged the novel’s pivotal role in abolishing slavery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">In later years the novel’s stereotypical characterisation appeared racist. Amongst 20<sup>th</sup> century Civil Rights activists Uncle Tom became a byword for the unquestioning acceptance of one’s station. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">The novel is a page-turner, full of melodrama (could a woman leap across the ice-floes in a fast-flowing river <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">while carrying a 4-year old child?)</i> with the eponymous hero repeatedly brought within hours of freedom only to be dragged down and sold to a worse master. Beecher Stowe also highlighted specifically female aspects: sexual enslavement and the separation of mothers and babies. In recent years a revisionist view has emerged of Uncle Tom as a Christ-like figure, so perhaps the novel is due a revival. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OsRuQleg6SWFJ4mQVtlWsrFtkFAHcvUJv0Xyg-XX-uX-ZLI4h0O6CfQBNi4zJRJpxZIuezG7yPQd0q0qud-ifHKNZcy90f85ATyNeO4JsVpIF0CEehnbGOQQ5xvYQeiZhocOoEnSYLkH/s1600/Harriet+Ann+Jacobs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OsRuQleg6SWFJ4mQVtlWsrFtkFAHcvUJv0Xyg-XX-uX-ZLI4h0O6CfQBNi4zJRJpxZIuezG7yPQd0q0qud-ifHKNZcy90f85ATyNeO4JsVpIF0CEehnbGOQQ5xvYQeiZhocOoEnSYLkH/s1600/Harriet+Ann+Jacobs.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harriet Ann Jacobs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">The life of Harriet Ann Jacobs ran a different course. Orphaned and sold at six, at age eight she became aware of her status as a slave. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Jacobs was luckier than many. She was never flogged or put to physical torture. She suffered relentless sexual harassment but (if we accept her account) her master’s aim was to break her spirit and he never raped her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Her first mistress, in defiance of the law, taught her to read and write. Literacy enabled her to provide a rare first-hand account of slavery and eventually to become a spokesperson for black people. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">After getting a letter published in a newspaper Jacobs determined to write and publish her own tale. At the time her situation was uncertain; she had escaped to the North but maintained a low profile for fear of being arrested and returned to her owners. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Told by Herself</span></u></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lacks the high drama of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Uncle Tom’s Cabin </u></i>but has the advantage of authenticity. It is also a page-turner, vividly yet subtly written, demonstrating the psychological debasement of everyone connected with slavery. There is even understanding of the resentment shown by plantation owners’ wives towards the slaves whom their husbands molested. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">The most horrific episode is chronic rather than acute. For seven years Jacobs hid in an attic, in a space too cramped to stand up. During this time her children (fathered but not owned by a prominent white politician) grew from infancy to adolescence. She never dared make contact and observed them only through a peephole in the loft. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">As a woman Jacobs hoped to liberate not only herself but her children. She never internalised her enslavement and worked towards attaining freedom on her own terms, without endorsing slavery. She was furious when a well-meaning white friend bought her freedom for her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">On the advice of friends Jacobs showed her book to Beecher Stowe, who wanted to incorporate it into her own work. However Jacobs refused, hoping to publish the book on her own account. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">She struggled. The few publishers who showed interest demanded she censor all sexual references. Yet Jacobs knew that by focusing on the effect of slavery on female chastity she would gain the support of influential organisations of Christian women.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">One company offered to publish if Beecher Stowe contributed a foreword. However <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Beecher</place></city> Stowe – possibly still hoping to gain ownership of the story – refused her endorsement and the publisher then rejected the book. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">Jacobs’ work was at first serialised in journals. In 1861 it appeared as a book under the pseudonym Linda Brent, first as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Told by Herself</u></i> and then (in a version omitting all sexual reference) entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u>A True Tale of Slavery.</u></i> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">The Civil War started the same year. Jacobs’ brother John (who since escaping from slavery in 1838 had become a major figure in the abolitionist movement) spent the year promoting her books in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city>, where they understandably found more favour than in the States. Harriet herself devoted her energies during and after the war to improving the conditions of black people, setting up schools and campaigning to end segregation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;">A tale of two Harriets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One well-connected in her time and a household name to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other overcoming unimaginable obstacles to publicise and improve the circumstances of her people, yet today sunk in obscurity. An uplifting story in many ways but also evidence of the fact that fame has always depended more on who you are than on what you do. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Mary McCabe</em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>Scottish PENhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01039202172042958822noreply@blogger.com0