Fade then, light; but longing never will.
Midsummer makes the west spectacular
and even gives its last glow a show
of reluctance, as if it had postponed
midnight…
—Edwin Morgan, “21 June”
Published in CATHURES (Carcanet, 2002)
literature
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day…
—Robert Louis Stevenson, “Bed in Summer”
published in A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES (1885)
#Scottish #literature #poem 3poetry #summer #kidlit #19thcentury #Victorian #Edinburgh #RobertLouisStevenson
The story of Nastenka: Why 'White Nights' is taking the world by storm
by Aakanksha Sharma
White Nights at PG:
My seventy-seven-year-old father
put his reading glasses on
to help my mother do the buttons
on the back of her dress…
—“George Square”, by Jackie Kay
LIFE MASK (Bloodaxe, 2005)
Hear Jackie Kay read this poem on the Poetry Archive:
It is a land of wee
hard men and all I
am wanted for is to
stand and cheer…
Prof Alan Riach considers the life & work of the poet & playwright Joan Ure (1918–1978) – born #OTD, 22 June
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#Scottish #literature #poetry #poet #drama #playwright #20thcentury #womenwriters
W.H. Auden’s 1941 Syllabus Asked Students to Read 32 Great Literary Works, Totaling 6,000 Pages
He picked up a pebble
and threw it into the sea.
And another, and another.
He couldn’t stop…
—Norman MacCaig, “Small Boy”
Published in The Poems of Norman MacCaig, Birlinn 2011
Schyr Hanry myssit the noble king…
Robert I, King of Scots, killed Sir Henry de Bohun in single combat on the first day of the Battle of Bannockburn #OTD, 23 June 1314. The epic vernacular poem “The Brus” by John Barbour (c.1320–1395) describes the event
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#Scottish #literature #poetry #medieval #14thcentury #history #MiddleAges #Bannockburn #epic #vernacular #poem #Scots #Scotslanguage
She’s goat her legs oot –
her foldin plastic chair
oan the gress at Glesga Green –
an her airms an enough
creamy dimpled bosom
tae please Renoir…
—Sheila Templeton, “Glesga Fair”
published in Songs of Other Places: New Writing Scotland 32 (ASL, 2014)
Happy Fair Weekend to all the Glasgow Fairies!
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #Glasgow #GlasgowFair
The Man He Killed
by Thomas Hardy
Books by Thomas Hardy at PG:
Dear Deirdre: The Japanese American Agony Aunt
Using the nom de plume Deirdre, California-born writer Mary “Mollie” Oyama Mittwer offered advice on changing gender roles and cross-ethnic relationships.
https://daily.jstor.org/dear-deirdre-the-japanese-american-agony-aunt/
Japanese literature at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=Japanese+literature
Is This the Best of All Possible Worlds? Leibniz vs. Voltaire
What does it mean for this world to be the “best possible world,” even with the obvious existence of evil? Leibniz and Voltaire weigh in.
https://www.thecollector.com/is-this-best-all-possible-worlds-leibniz-voltaire/
Voltaire and Leibniz at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/913
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/7168
#OTD, 24 June, in 1314, the Scottish army under King Robert I destroyed a much larger English invasion force at Bannockburn, in one of the most decisive battles in medieval history. In 1793 Robert Burns composed “Scots Wha Hae”, originally entitled “Robert Bruce’s March To Bannockburn”
⚔️🧵
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#Scottish #literature #Bannockburn #BattleofBannockburn #14thcentury #medieval #history #18thcentury #RobertBurns
#CallForPapers for #OnlineConference: Thinking of the Children: #BookBans, #Censorship, and #Literature for Young People
For this online conference, organizers invite contributions from #scholars at all career stages, from #librarians and #archivists, and from #teachers at all levels, to consider #BookBanning and censorship of literature for young people, past and present.
#YALit #YA #Resist #CFP #Books
Edited 1y ago
Why Jane Austen is definitely not just for girls
Razor-sharp satires of social and gendered inequalities, Austen’s novels are full of witty observations and universally relatable experiences.
By Shelley Galpin
Jane Austen at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/68
I hate midsummer in the north.
There’s no night to speak of,
just day in and day in
with maybe a slight hesitancy
about two o’clock in the morning…
—Alasdair Maclean, “I Hate Midsummer in the North”
published in From the Wilderness (Gollancz, 1973)
Here lies our land: every airt
Beneath swift clouds, glad glints of sun,
Belonging to none but itself…
—Kathleen Jamie, “Here lies our land”
This poem was commissioned in 2014 to mark the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn – fought #OTD, 24 June, 1314. The poem is inscribed on the Bannockburn monument.
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/here-lies-our-land/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Bannockburn #BattleofBannockburn
The Kirk Sessions: an evening of poetry & music
3 April, Kirriemuir. Tickets £12/£10
Poetry from Kathleen Jamie, Don Paterson, John Glenday, Lesley Harrison & Lisa Brockwell, with music from David Ogilvy & Don Paterson
https://www.northseapoets.com/events/the-kirk-sessions-an-evening-of-poetry-and-music
The Literary Encyclopedia, an author-owned not-for-profit publication, is seeking new editors for its Scottish literature section. Section editors, who must hold a PhD, commission & edit entries (~2000–2500 words) in their fields of expertise.
Today, 16 July, is #WorldSnakeDay – so here is “Siesta of a Hungarian Snake”, by Edwin Morgan 🐍
Published in New Selected Poems (Carcanet, 2012)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #concretepoetry #snake #snakes #EdwinMorgan
Literary translation as a linguistic survival strategy | John Corbett
Technology can threaten minority languages such as Scots & Nuosu. Prof Corbett argues that literary translation can, among other things, support minority languages & sustain traditional cultures.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF7nS6_C_KE
#Scottish #literature #translation #Scots #Scotslanguage #minoritylanguages
The grey roots circle thee, who never knew
At any hour within thy travels lone
A human shape but mine…
—Olive Fraser, “The Adder of Quinag”
First published in The Pure Account (Aberdeen University Press, 1981), & included in The Wrong Music (@canongatebooks 1989)
A poem for #WorldSnakeDay 🐍
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/adder-quinag/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #naturewriting #Scotland #highlands #snake #snakes
What Submersibles Reveal About the Violent Underbelly of the Human Psyche
Matthew Gavin Frank Explores the Dark Side of Our Desire to Explore the Ocean’s Depths
https://lithub.com/what-submersibles-reveal-about-the-violent-underbelly-of-the-human-psyche/
Submarines at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/114
Remember, man, that thou art dust.
The earl kneels, the ash of the end is written on his brow.
A captain of ships kneels, to be put in mind of a death in a far port, or at home, or on a rock of the sea.
And the boy that holds cinders for the priest,
His forehead is smeared,
Who wears a coat of fourteen Aprils…
—George Mackay Brown, “Ash Wednesday”
Published in TRAVELLERS (John Murray, 2013)
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #religion #GeorgeMackayBrown #Orkney #AshWednesday
Der a ön o haet ida gairden here,
Whaar da sun-flooer proodly staands,
An dark-red roses trowe da green
Laek da lowe fae fiery braands…
—T.A. Robertson (“Vagaland”), “Haem Tochts”
published in The Collected Poems of Vagaland (Shetland Times, 1975)
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/haem-tochts/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage #Shetland #Shetlandic
