People, poems and place: Stromness an acrostic town. Gabrielle Barnby ASLE conference, 5-7th Sept, Orkney ‘There is no skill or enchantment To make the old coat green, There can be at best, now A flung or fated pattern of patches’ Excerpt from An Old Man in July by George Mackay Brown, Northern Lights (1999) […]
Wonderlust Earth shell spirals galaxy on wet mornings; caution busy feet, move slow so grounded gaze can pick out delicate round snailings from angular gravel spat by road; leaving the clover and dock and vetch of safety, drawn underfoot to spring small moments of guilt from never being careful enough. Gabrielle Barnby August, [...]Read more of Wonderlust...
Orkney Writing Community There's such richness in the landscape and the people here, such encouragement for any endeavour. I've found time for writing – even when it's seemed quite impossible. There's silence enough for thinking and writing, and then there's sharing and laughing. Writing is a serious business, but it must be regularly laughed at with friends [...]Read more of Orkney & Links...
GMB 20th anniversary The Blessing Here, now Gold Diggers Between Time Left behind by others, we notice more. The Blessing The old leather chair still faces the font. Votives to Our Lady burn in the window arch. Outside, coats clutched against freezing rain. Inside, the wind-weary are sprinkled three drops from the smooth, stone bowl. [...]Read more of GMB 20thAnniversary Poems...
Free Reads This year marks the centenary of the birth of the Orcadian film maker, writer and poet Margaret Tait. Her writing was inspiration for this screenplay which won the 2018 George Mackay Brown Fellowship Writing Competition. Rise Short stories Listener – a dark Orcadian tale, winner of the 2015 George Mackay Brown Fellowship Writing Competition.. Jeopardy – [...]Read more of Free Reads & Book Reviews...
