Tag Archives: Hugh MacDiarmid

Sparrow-mumbling in April: Week 1

Posted on April 8, 2013 by

Without a second thought and with very little evidence of a first one either, when Carrie Etter asked me to take part in NaPoWriMo, I agreed. I think I liked the sound of it, the sort of SovSound feel. I’d … Continue reading →

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Sorley MacLean: A Life Revised

Posted on January 7, 2013 by

(I am reminded by news of the Spring issue of Poetry London to post this review of Sorley MacLean’s Collected Poems, written for their Autumn 2012 issue.) Somhairle MacGill-Eain/Sorley MacLean, Caoir Gheal Leumraich/White Leaping Flame: Collected Poems, ed. Christopher Whyte … Continue reading →

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The Nay I Know Not Seamless Garment Garment

Posted on May 19, 2012 by

An eminently sensible question from a former student, ‘Do you have different blogs for a reason? Maybe you should just choose one and stick to it?’ has made me go over this old niggle from a new angle. Whether we’re … Continue reading →

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Once Were Informationists

Posted on December 22, 2011 by

(This review of Peter McCarey’s collected pamphlets appeared in Edinburgh Review 132, and is a look at what some Scottish poets did post-MacDiarmid and pre-Internet.) Peter McCarey, Collected Contraptions (Carcanet), 173pp, £14.95 Truth is sunk in information (‘Variations for Richard … Continue reading →

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Interview for Gentleman

Posted on November 21, 2010 by

(Gentleman is an Indian magazine: about ten years ago, my old pal from Kolkatta, Debanjan Chakrabarti, wrote up this interview based on my last trip to India. I was just getting some poems together for my next trip — next … Continue reading →

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Waiting for the Voice

Posted on January 7, 2008 by

Tiffany Atkinson, Kink and Particle (Seren), 64pp, £7.99; Tishani Doshi, Countries of the Body (Aark Arts), 64pp, £9.99; Roger Moulson, Waiting for the Night-Rowers (Enitharmon), 93pp, £7.95 First collections offer us a paradoxical reading experience. They are often the result … Continue reading →

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unglish for all!

Posted on March 29, 2007 by

(This review of Kinsella, Hartley Williams and Lumsden appeared in Poetry London in (probably) Winter 2005. On reflection, it was a near-perfect triumvirate of writers to give me, as each of them illustrates some aspect of what I think of … Continue reading →

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A Turbulent Makar

Posted on March 19, 2007 by

(This piece on Edwin Morgan’s Scottish Laureateship was written in November 2005 for a small magazine the name and a copy of which continues to evade me.) The idea of a poet laureate carries with it some interesting preconceptions. Although … Continue reading →

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