literature

274d

<p>In Conversation with... Pàdraig MacAoidh (Peter Mackay)<br>1 August, Edinburgh. Tickets £12</p><p>Scotland’s Makar, Pàdraig MacAoidh (Peter Mackay) crafts verse that resonates with the landscapes & languages of his native Lewis. Join him for a fascinating discussion on poetry's role in today’s world, the interplay between Gaelic & Scots traditions, & what it means to be Scotland’s poetic voice today.</p><p><a href="https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/in-conversation-with-p-draig-macaoidh-peter-mackay" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/in-conversation-with-p-draig-macaoidh-peter-mackay"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats</span><span class="invisible">-on/in-conversation-with-p-draig-macaoidh-peter-mackay</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poems/" rel="tag">#poems</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a></p>

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296d

<p>Today they laid him in the earth's cold colour,<br>a man from Lewis with his seventy-five<br>years struck from his head. Teacher, scholar, <br>he had worked a true task when all alive…</p><p>—Iain Crichton Smith, “For Angus MacLeod”<br>Published in New Collected Poems (Carcanet, 2011)</p><p>Iain Crichton Smith, himself a teacher, commemorates the life of a former Headmaster of Oban High School </p><p>Today, 18 June, is Thank a Teacher Day </p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/teaching/" rel="tag">#teaching</a> <a href="/tags/teachers/" rel="tag">#teachers</a> <a href="/tags/thankateacherday/" rel="tag">#ThankATeacherDay</a></p>

Iain Crichton Smith

For Angus MacLeod
Headmaster, and Editor of Gaelic Poems

Today they laid him in the earth's cold colour,
a man from Lewis with his seventy-five
years struck from his head. Teacher, scholar,
he had worked a true task when all alive,

building a school, elucidating texts.
The Gaelic shone quite clearly in his bones.
A casket filled with ashes had been mixed
with filtered sunlight and the small stones.

A useful life with pupils and with poems:
sufficient honours (his humour asked no more)
he takes his place in many minds and rooms.
Without their knowing it, his patient care

instructs far hands to turn a new lever,
a voice to speak in a mild-mannered tone.
The deeds we do reverberate forever.
Inveterate justice weighs the flesh and bone.

His best editions are some men and women
who scrutinise each action like a word.
The truest work is learning to be human
definitive texts the poorest can afford.

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296d

<p>Scottish Scholars & Secrets: Developments of Dark Academia in Edinburgh<br>24 June, free online</p><p>Natasha Anderson finds roots of Dark Academia running through Edinburgh’s gothic literary traditions, in works by Robert Louis Stevenson, Muriel Spark, & Ian Rankin.</p><p>Part of Reading Scotland from Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz</p><p>@litstudies </p><p><a href="https://www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scotland/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scotland/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/read</span><span class="invisible">ing-scotland/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/gothic/" rel="tag">#gothic</a> <a href="/tags/darkacademia/" rel="tag">#DarkAcademia</a> <a href="/tags/edinburgh/" rel="tag">#Edinburgh</a> <a href="/tags/robertlouisstevenson/" rel="tag">#RobertLouisStevenson</a> <a href="/tags/murielspark/" rel="tag">#MurielSpark</a> <a href="/tags/ianrankin/" rel="tag">#IanRankin</a></p>

Reading Scotland with Natasha Anderson
Scottish Scholars and Secrets: Developments of Dark Academia in Edinburgh

Tuesday 24th June 2025
6:00–7:30 pm (German time) on MS Teams

www.scotland.uni-mainz.de

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269d

<p>An Anciente Mappe of Fairyland by Bernard Sleigh, 1920</p><p>If you believe in fairies, this ancient map and guide will help you know them and find them</p><p>By Paul Sorene</p><p><a href="https://flashbak.com/an-anciente-mappe-of-fairyland-bernard-sleigh-1917-476957/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-anciente-mappe-of-fairyland-bernard-sleigh-1917" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="flashbak.com/an-anciente-mappe-of-fairyland-bernard-sleigh-1917-476957/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-anciente-mappe-of-fairyland-bernard-sleigh-1917"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">flashbak.com/an-anciente-mappe</span><span class="invisible">-of-fairyland-bernard-sleigh-1917-476957/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-anciente-mappe-of-fairyland-bernard-sleigh-1917</span></a></p><p>Fairyland at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/37291" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/37291"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subje</span><span class="invisible">ct/37291</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/maps/" rel="tag">#Maps</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a></p>

An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland, Newly Discovered and Set Forth (1917).

Presents Fairyland as a rectangular island in birds-eye perspective, complete with compass rose (“North of Nowhere,” “East of the Sun,” “South of Sirius,” “West of the Moon”), scale in “thoughts,” and legend indicating magical features like well‑springs, temples, inns, and dwarf’s treasures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Sleigh#/media/File:An_anciente_mappe_of_Fairyland_-_newly_discovered_and_set_forth_(15868801335).jpg

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269d

<p>From the Ashes to the Dustbin: The Making and Un-Making of a Personal Library</p><p>Peter Wortsman on the Ever-Difficult Task of Saving and Discarding Beloved Books</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/from-the-ashes-to-the-dustbin-the-making-and-un-making-of-a-personal-library/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/from-the-ashes-to-the-dustbin-the-making-and-un-making-of-a-personal-library/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/from-the-ashes-to-t</span><span class="invisible">he-dustbin-the-making-and-un-making-of-a-personal-library/</span></a></p><p>Personal library at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=personal+library" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=personal+library"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=personal+library</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a></p>

The Library at Dingestow by Charlotte Bosanquet.

Rendered in a central vanishing-point layout, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the deep-set wall at the far end of the room, flanked symmetrically by full-height bookcases.

The ceiling features exposed beams; an ornate wooden fireplace anchors the back wall. Two comfortable chairs and a central rug create a cozy reading atmosphere. A sturdy table—perhaps for study or writing—sits prominently in the foreground.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlotte_Bosanquet_-_The_Library_at_Dingestow_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

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52d

<p>The Caledonian Trans Reveal<br>Scottish Gender Novels in the Literature of Devolution<br>4 March, University of Aberdeen & online. Free</p><p>Writer & performer Harry Josephine Giles looks at transgender figures across genres in modern Scottish literature, from Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory (1984) to Ali Smith’s Girl Meets Boy (2007).</p><p>A panel of speakers will respond to Giles’ work, followed by roundtable discussion</p><p>@litstudies </p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-caledonian-trans-reveal-with-harry-josephine-giles-online-tickets-1982576651133" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-caledonian-trans-reveal-with-harry-josephine-giles-online-tickets-1982576651133"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-cal</span><span class="invisible">edonian-trans-reveal-with-harry-josephine-giles-online-tickets-1982576651133</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/transgender/" rel="tag">#transgender</a> <a href="/tags/devolution/" rel="tag">#devolution</a></p>

The Caledonian Trans Reveal
Scottish Gender Novels in the Literature of Devolution

University of Aberdeen

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295d

<p>Tolstoy’s Christian Anarchism</p><p>A fateful visit to a market in Moscow entirely upended Tolstoy’s view on life and society—and changed the trajectory of his work and purpose.</p><p>By: Ben Woollard </p><p><a href="https://daily.jstor.org/tolstoys-christian-anarchism/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="daily.jstor.org/tolstoys-christian-anarchism/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">daily.jstor.org/tolstoys-chris</span><span class="invisible">tian-anarchism/</span></a></p><p>Tolstoy at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/136" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/136"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/136</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

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295d

<p>Nineteen Eighty-Four might have been inspired by George Orwell’s fear of drowning</p><p>By Nathan Waddell</p><p>Nineteen Eighty-Four filled with references to sinking ships, drowning people and the dread of oceanic engulfment</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/nineteen-eighty-four-might-have-been-inspired-by-george-orwells-fear-of-drowning-251289?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2018%202025%20-%203419634842&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2018%202025%20-%203419634842+CID_88b1f9d785e5a0d2e282e13c171ed621&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Nineteen%20Eighty-Four%20might%20have%20been%20inspired%20by%20George%20Orwells%20fear%20of%20drowning" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/nineteen-eighty-four-might-have-been-inspired-by-george-orwells-fear-of-drowning-251289?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2018%202025%20-%203419634842&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2018%202025%20-%203419634842+CID_88b1f9d785e5a0d2e282e13c171ed621&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Nineteen%20Eighty-Four%20might%20have%20been%20inspired%20by%20George%20Orwells%20fear%20of%20drowning"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/nineteen-e</span><span class="invisible">ighty-four-might-have-been-inspired-by-george-orwells-fear-of-drowning-251289?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2018%202025%20-%203419634842&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2018%202025%20-%203419634842+CID_88b1f9d785e5a0d2e282e13c171ed621&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Nineteen%20Eighty-Four%20might%20have%20been%20inspired%20by%20George%20Orwells%20fear%20of%20drowning</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

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269d

<p>The Brilliance and Privilege of Jane Austen and Julia Margaret Cameron </p><p>It is crucial to grapple with the colonial structures that helped sustain the lives and work of the two 19th-century contemporaries, both celebrated as feminist heroines.</p><p>By Alexandra M. Thomas</p><p><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/1027123/the-brilliance-and-privilege-of-jane-austen-and-julia-margaret-cameron-morgan-library/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Pride%2C%20Prejudice%2C%20and%20Privilege&utm_campaign=D071525" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="hyperallergic.com/1027123/the-brilliance-and-privilege-of-jane-austen-and-julia-margaret-cameron-morgan-library/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Pride%2C%20Prejudice%2C%20and%20Privilege&utm_campaign=D071525"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">hyperallergic.com/1027123/the-</span><span class="invisible">brilliance-and-privilege-of-jane-austen-and-julia-margaret-cameron-morgan-library/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Pride%2C%20Prejudice%2C%20and%20Privilege&utm_campaign=D071525</span></a></p><p>Jane Austen at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/68" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/68"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/68</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/photography/" rel="tag">#Photography</a></p>

Portrait of Jane Austen, c. 1810 by Cassandra Austen.

Jane Austen is shown seated, facing slightly to her right (the viewer’s left), with her eyes glancing sideways. Her expression is often interpreted as wary, skeptical, or reserved, with tightly pressed lips.

She wears a high-waisted Regency gown with a frilled neckline and short sleeves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen#/media/File:CassandraAusten-JaneAusten(c.1810)_hires.jpg

Title: Julia Margaret Cameron
Artist: Henry Herschel Hay Cameron (British, 1852–1911)
Date: 1870
Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative

This is a photographic portrait of Julia Margaret Cameron, the renowned Victorian photographer, who was also the mother of the photographer, Henry Herschel Hay Cameron.

Julia is shown in a three-quarter view, facing slightly to her left (viewer’s right). Her head is gently turned, eyes looking off-camera with an introspective, almost mystical expression, characteristic of how she posed her own subjects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Julia_Margaret_Cameron_MET_DP114480_-_Restoration.jpg

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295d

<p>After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds, & the Paranormal<br>Scotland’s Darkest Folklore</p><p>Currently available on BBC Sounds: exploring tales of selkies, kelpies, & the ancient figure of the Cailleach. Maddy & Anthony's guest today is Donald Smith, founding director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, & a storyteller who has written & lectured widely on the folklore of Scotland.</p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0l2hncz" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0l2hncz"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0l2h</span><span class="invisible">ncz</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/folklore/" rel="tag">#folklore</a> <a href="/tags/supernatural/" rel="tag">#supernatural</a> <a href="/tags/myth/" rel="tag">#myth</a> <a href="/tags/paranormal/" rel="tag">#paranormal</a> <a href="/tags/storytelling/" rel="tag">#storytelling</a> <a href="/tags/scotland/" rel="tag">#Scotland</a></p>

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273d

<p>I sowed nightscented stocks with the halfgrown hope<br>that this was more like gardening<br>than impatiens in pots…</p><p>—Angela McSeveney, “Windowbox”<br>published in Modern Scottish Women Poets, <span class="h-card"><a href="https://bookish.community/@canongatebooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>canongatebooks</span></a></span> 2003</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Angela McSeveney
Windowbox

I sowed nightscented stocks with the halfgrown hope
that this was more like gardening
than impatiens in pots.

They grew anaemic and spindly
coated by dust from the street.
From the ground they looked like weeds.

Nothing flashy or flowery
like a trumpetting hippaestrum
or a petal drenched Black-eyed Susan

and even I who planted them
rarely thought to look out
except maybe in the evenings

when the cool damp of Summer rain
sweated in the air
like an extra sense

and the night scent swam in
clear as spearmint
and soothed away the city noise.

Then there grew a garden:
rosebeds and herbs,
tangles of scarlet runners.

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295d

<p>On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say</p><p>my grandmother was called Nasreen,<br>that she died two years ago in Tabriz<br>and I couldn’t go to say goodbye,<br>that she knew nothing of power,<br>nuclear or otherwise…</p><p>—Marjorie Lotfi, “On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say”<br>published in THE WRONG PERSON TO ASK (Bloodaxe, 2024). D.A. Prince reviews THE WRONG PERSON TO ASK on The Friday Poem:</p><p><a href="https://thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/the-friday-poem-on-16th-may-2025" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/the-friday-poem-on-16th-may-2025"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/t</span><span class="invisible">he-friday-poem-on-16th-may-2025</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/iran/" rel="tag">#Iran</a></p>

Marjorie Lotfi
On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say

my grandmother was called Nasreen,
that she died two years ago in Tabriz
and I couldn’t go to say goodbye,
that she knew nothing of power,
nuclear or otherwise. I want to say
that the bonfires for Chahar Shanbeh Suri
were built by our neighbour’s hands;
as children we were taught to jump over
and not be caught by the flames. I want to say
my cousin Elnaz, the one born after I left,
has a son and two degrees in Chemistry,
and had trouble getting a job. I want to say
that the night we swam towards
the moon hanging over the horizon
of the Caspian Sea, we found ourselves
kneeling on a sandbar we couldn’t see
like a last gift. I want to say
I’m the wrong person to ask.

Edited 295d ago

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273d

<p>There were never strawberries<br>like the ones we had<br>that sultry afternoon<br>sitting on the step<br>of the open french window…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “Strawberries”<br>published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)</p><p>Hot poetry for a hot day 🍓🍓🍓</p><p><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/ind</span><span class="invisible">exer?product=9781784109967</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/summer/" rel="tag">#summer</a> <a href="/tags/love/" rel="tag">#love</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtq/" rel="tag">#LGBTQ</a></p>

Strawberries
Edwin Morgan

There were never strawberries
like the ones we had
that sultry afternoon
sitting on the step
of the open french window
facing each other
your knees held in mine
the blue plates in our laps
the strawberries glistening
in the hot sunlight
we dipped them in sugar
looking at each other
not hurrying the feast
for one to come
the empty plates

laid on the stone together
with the two forks crossed
and I bent towards you
sweet in that air
in my arms
abandoned like a child
from your eager mouth
the taste of strawberries
in my memory
lean back again
let me love you

let the sun beat
on our forgetfulness
one hour of all
the heat intense
and summer lightning
on the Kilpatrick hills

let the storm wash the plates

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52d

<p>Infinite Women: Susan Edmonstone Ferrier</p><p>In this episode of the Infinite Women podcast, Cleo O’Callaghan Yeoman (Research Associate at the University of Glasgow) & Kate Ferrier (PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh) discuss the novelist Susan Edmonstone Ferrier (1782–1854).</p><p>@litstudies </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbHjU6Jisrk" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbHjU6Jisrk"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbHjU6</span><span class="invisible">Jisrk</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/romanticism/" rel="tag">#romanticism</a> <a href="/tags/podcast/" rel="tag">#podcast</a></p>

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270d

<p>Heard ye o’ the tree o’ France,<br>I watna what’s the name o’t;<br>Around it a’ the patriots dance,<br>Weel Europe kens the fame o’t…</p><p>—“The Tree of Liberty”, attributed to Robert Burns (though this is disputed). First published in Chambers’ THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROBERT BURNS (1838), “from a MS. in the possession of Mr James Duncan, Mosesfield, near Glasgow.”</p><p>🇫🇷 A poem for Bastille Day </p><p>Text available here:<br><a href="https://www.rbwf.org.uk/poems/the-tree-of-liberty" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.rbwf.org.uk/poems/the-tree-of-liberty"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.rbwf.org.uk/poems/the-tree</span><span class="invisible">-of-liberty</span></a></p><p>1/3</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/robertburns/" rel="tag">#RobertBurns</a> <a href="/tags/bastilleday/" rel="tag">#BastilleDay</a></p>

Text too long for ALT text – however the full poem text is available via the link in the post

Text too long for ALT text – however the full poem text is available via the link in the post

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294d

<p>Why America Can’t Get Enough of The Wizard of Oz</p><p>Hazel Gaynor Celebrates the Films, Prequels, Sequels, and More</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/why-america-cant-get-enough-of-the-wizard-of-oz/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/why-america-cant-get-enough-of-the-wizard-of-oz/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/why-america-cant-ge</span><span class="invisible">t-enough-of-the-wizard-of-oz/</span></a></p><p>Wizard of Oz at PG<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

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294d

<p>Sigrid Nunez on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby</p><p>In Conversation with Michael Kelleher for the Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/sigrid-nunez-on-f-scott-fitzgeralds-the-great-gatsby/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/sigrid-nunez-on-f-scott-fitzgeralds-the-great-gatsby/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/sigrid-nunez-on-f-s</span><span class="invisible">cott-fitzgeralds-the-great-gatsby/</span></a></p><p>The Great Gatsby at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64317" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64317</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

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294d

<p>Finding Briseis: On Resurrecting a Forgotten Woman from Homer’s Iliad</p><p>Emily Hauser Explores Ancient Greek Visions of Gender</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/finding-briseis-on-resurrecting-a-forgotten-woman-from-homers-iliad/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/finding-briseis-on-resurrecting-a-forgotten-woman-from-homers-iliad/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/finding-briseis-on-</span><span class="invisible">resurrecting-a-forgotten-woman-from-homers-iliad/</span></a></p><p>The Iliad at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6130" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6130</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/mythology/" rel="tag">#mythology</a></p>

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294d

<p>I have fled through land and sea, blank land and sea,<br>because my house is besieged by murderers<br>And I was wrecked in the ocean, crushed and swept,<br>Spilling salt angry tears on the salt waves…</p><p>—Edwin Muir, “The refugees born for a land unknown”<br>published in Collected Poems, 1921–1958 (Faber, 1960)</p><p>20 June is World Refugee Day</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/refugees/" rel="tag">#refugees</a> <a href="/tags/worldrefugeeday/" rel="tag">#WorldRefugeeDay</a> <a href="/tags/asylum/" rel="tag">#asylum</a> <a href="/tags/humanrights/" rel="tag">#humanrights</a></p>

Edwin Muir
‘The refugees born for a land unknown’

The refugees born for a land unknown
We have dismissed their wrongs, now dull and old,
And little judgment days lost in the dark.

‘I have fled through land and sea, blank land and sea,
Because my house is besieged by murderers
And I was wrecked in the ocean, crushed and swept,
Spilling salt angry tears on the salt waves,
My life waste water drawn down through a hole,
Yet lived. And now with alien eyes I see
The flowering trees on the unreal hills,
And in an English garden all afternoon
I watch the bees among the lavender.
Bees are at home, and think they have their place,
And I outside.
Footsteps on the stairs, two heavy, two light,
The door opens. Since then I remember nothing,
But this room in a place where no doors open.
I think the world died many years ago.’

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294d

<p>Use no names. Roads<br>have been whited out,<br>redacted. Hone your oldest sense…</p><p>—Pippa Little, “For Refuge”<br>published in AIBLINS: New Scottish Political Poetry (Luath Press, 2016)</p><p>20 June is World Refugee Day </p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/refuge/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/refuge/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/poem/refuge/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/worldrefugeeday/" rel="tag">#WorldRefugeeDay</a> <a href="/tags/refugees/" rel="tag">#refugees</a> <a href="/tags/humanrights/" rel="tag">#humanrights</a></p>

For Refuge
Pippa Little

Use no names. Roads
have been whited out,
redacted. Hone your oldest sense.
Learn the wind,
memorise where it goes
bearing your odours. The truck-stops
are roofless churches.
Comma-birds on power lines
swollen by rain
fall away.
Comfort yourself,
there will be stars in the dark
travelling towards you,
smaller and smaller.
Trust the earth
with your bandaged feet,
the pockets sewn shut by your mother.
Carry only such things
as snowflakes, eyelashes,
for the future may not make you out.

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294d

<p>I would like to tell her not to wear such flimsy shoes,<br>that rubble contains the whole spectrum of knowable<br>and unknowable dangers…</p><p>—Marjorie Lotfi, “Picture of Girl and Small Boy (Burij, Gaza, 2014)”<br>published in THE WRONG PERSON TO ASK (Bloodaxe Books, 2023)</p><p>20 June is World Refugee Day </p><p>Photo: REUTERS/Finbarr O’Reilly</p><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/idUSRTR40EE6/undefined" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.reuters.com/news/picture/idUSRTR40EE6/undefined"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.reuters.com/news/picture/i</span><span class="invisible">dUSRTR40EE6/undefined</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/refugees/" rel="tag">#refugees</a> <a href="/tags/worldrefugeeday/" rel="tag">#WorldRefugeeDay</a> <a href="/tags/humanrights/" rel="tag">#humanrights</a> <a href="/tags/gaza/" rel="tag">#Gaza</a></p>

Picture of Girl and Small Boy (Burij, Gaza, 2014)
Marjorie Lotfi

I would like to tell her not to wear such flimsy shoes,
that rubble contains the whole spectrum of knowable
and unknowable dangers: sheets of metal ripped
to knife edge, live wires, bloated arms reaching

for light. Her hair, scraped back into a ponytail,
is open to sky; remnants of buildings filter down
one concrete chunk at a time, and the midday bells
of rockets ring out above her. She carries a boy

on her still narrow hips, his legs entwined around
her yellow dungarees. Like a rodeo rider, his left arm
grips her shoulder to steady himself, or her,
while his torso reels back and away; his body

is asking to slow down, to turn back. Instead,
her eyes comb the ground for a next step, fingers
of her free hand curled into a claw, as if
to frighten off what she somehow sees ahead.

A Palestinian girl carries a child across rubble from a building that police said was destroyed by an Israeli air strike, in the Burij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, August 1, 2014. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly.

Marjorie Lotfi's poem describes the picture in detail:

Picture of Girl and Small Boy (Burij, Gaza, 2014)
Marjorie Lotfi

I would like to tell her not to wear such flimsy shoes,
that rubble contains the whole spectrum of knowable
and unknowable dangers: sheets of metal ripped
to knife edge, live wires, bloated arms reaching

for light. Her hair, scraped back into a ponytail,
is open to sky; remnants of buildings filter down
one concrete chunk at a time, and the midday bells
of rockets ring out above her. She carries a boy

on her still narrow hips, his legs entwined around
her yellow dungarees. Like a rodeo rider, his left arm
grips her shoulder to steady himself, or her,
while his torso reels back and away; his body

is asking to slow down, to turn back. Instead,
her eyes comb the ground for a next step, fingers
of her free hand curled into a claw, as if
to frighten off what she somehow sees ahead.

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52d

<p>Live Literature: Folklore of Kintyre<br>26 Feb, online – free</p><p>Join author & storyteller Dougie Strang for an evening of folklore from Kintyre & wider Argyll. From Campbeltown Museum, this online event highlights aspects of heritage that cannot be easily represented through physical objects alone.</p><p>This event is open to anyone interested in the folklore, history, & culture of Argyll & Kintyre, including Gaelic.</p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-literature-folklore-of-kintyre-tickets-1982672868923" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-literature-folklore-of-kintyre-tickets-1982672868923"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-li</span><span class="invisible">terature-folklore-of-kintyre-tickets-1982672868923</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/folklore/" rel="tag">#folklore</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/argyll/" rel="tag">#Argyll</a></p>

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294d

<p>Frae the broo o’ a brae I saw them gang,<br>I saw them hirple to a lanesome shore.<br>I saw them pass abune the ferly seals<br>Withouten keel and sail and oar…</p><p>—William Jeffrey, “The Refugees”<br>Published in A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS (ASL, 2017)</p><p>20 June is World Refugee Day </p><p><a href="https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">asls.org.uk/publications/books</span><span class="invisible">/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/worldrefugeeday/" rel="tag">#WorldRefugeeDay</a> <a href="/tags/refugees/" rel="tag">#refugees</a> <a href="/tags/humanrights/" rel="tag">#humanrights</a></p>

William Jeffrey
The Refugees

‘Arise and flee into Egypt’

‘There’s a carline walkin’ the road ootby,
A body wi’ hair o’ the streekit snaw,
And an auld man daunders at her side,
A chiel that’s laggie and bent in twa.’

‘They maun be folk frae a fremit toun.
Bid them come in and bide a wee.’
Sae the carline and the auld man came
And supp’d guid brose anent the swee.

I speer’d the taen, and I speer’d the tither,
And scant the answer did I get—
But O, the licht in their eldren e’en
Shone frae some gouden unkenned yett.

Quo’ the carline frail, ‘There’s hame nae mair
In kintras raxt on the crookit sword’;
But the bodach murmured, ‘Nay, there’s hame
Where folks are free wi’ the kindly word.

‘Natheless,’ quo’ she, ‘gang west, my son,
Westlins to isles o’ Bride and the sea.’
Syne they rose and quaitlike went frae the door
And steppit west by the flowery lea.

Frae the broo o’ a brae I saw them gang,
I saw them hirple to a lanesome shore.
I saw them pass abune the ferly seals
Withouten keel and sail and oar.

I saw them gang in a siller glore,
Walkin’ the sea in’ a calm sae still—
The braid eard faulded like a rose
And Bethlehem gloss’d an island hill.

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269d

<p>I can see da rüfs aa taekit, an da hens aroond da door;<br>Fok kerryin twartree paets hame, an rigs delled every voar.<br>Aa da lums ir reekin, an I hear da happy soonds<br>O peerie bairns skirlin, as dey play dem ower da toons…</p><p>—“Da Clearance”, by Rhoda Bulter (1929–94), born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 15 July</p><p>A 🎂🧵 – 1/3</p><p>Listen to Rhoda Bulter reading “Da Clearance” here</p><p><a href="https://www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/da-clearance" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/da-clearance"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.shetlanddialect.org.uk/da-</span><span class="invisible">clearance</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/shetland/" rel="tag">#Shetland</a> <a href="/tags/shetlandic/" rel="tag">#Shetlandic</a></p>

Da Clearance
Rhoda Bulter

I can see da rüfs aa taekit, an da hens aroond da door;
Fok kerryin twartree paets hame, an rigs delled every voar.
Aa da lums ir reekin, an I hear da happy soonds
O peerie bairns skirlin, as dey play dem ower da toons.

I see eens sittin roond da fire, an twartree mair oot by;
Sookin infants at da breest, an weemen gjaan ta cry.
Da tochtfil, tried faces o dem at’s lived ower lang;
Fractious bairns feytin sleep, an sensin somethin wrang.

I hear a lood, lood knockin, an da crump o monny feet;
Men's voices raised in anger, an da bairns start to greet.
I see da fok aa girded oot afore da laandloard’s men;
An aa da bits a things dey hed, fired ower da briggy-stane.

I see da bare waas staandin, an aa da laand lie green;
Lang syne da fire wis slokkit, an monny a year is geen.
Noo dey aa hae equal portions o aert ta tak dir sleep.
Tell me, wis it wirt it aa for twartree extry sheep?

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293d

<p>How Four Literary Icons Chose the Pen Names That Made Them Famous</p><p>Kirsty McHugh and Ian Scott Explore the Reasoning Behind Some Very Well Known Pseudonyms</p><p>By Kirsty McHugh and Ian Scott</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/how-four-literary-icons-chose-the-pen-names-that-made-them-famous/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JY6TEY6W2S7C820Q39F5H0FC&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/how-four-literary-icons-chose-the-pen-names-that-made-them-famous/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JY6TEY6W2S7C820Q39F5H0FC&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/how-four-literary-i</span><span class="invisible">cons-chose-the-pen-names-that-made-them-famous/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JY6TEY6W2S7C820Q39F5H0FC&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/biography/" rel="tag">#biography</a></p>

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