Saturday 17 May 2014

The Poems: The Space Between: New and Selected Poems

The Space Between: New and Selected Poems, by Sheena Blackhall, 2014 ISBN 978-1-85752-005-7 www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/publications/authored-publications-110.php (The website of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen.) Published by Aberdeen University Press, Cover Image, Emily Carr (1871-1945) ‘Shoreline’1936, oil on canvas, c McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Dedicated to Sir C.Duncan Rice for his support and encouragement of poetry in the North East. This book was launched at Aberdeen University’s May Festival. It was edited and selected by Alan Spence, Professor in Creative Writing, University of Aberdeen, with the assistance of Professor Cairns Craig, Dr Helen Lynch, and Dr Adam Hanna. Detailed Description Blackhall, Sheena (2014) The Space Between: New and Selected Poems, Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, pp.153 + xiv. ISBN: 978-1-85752-005-7 ‘Sheena Blackhall is probably the most prolific poet in Scotland, and one of the most rarely talented. She is the true voice of the North East, a sophisticated, engaged, technically gifted writer who moves with ease through different modes and registers. She’s at home with traditional ballad forms and Buddhist meditations, with collage and cut-up and the found poem – lyrical and bawdy and profoundly funny.’ – Alan Spence ‘Sheena Blackhall has the lyric voice of the early MacDiarmid and prime of William Soutar, and knows unerringly how to send that couthy, earthy tongue to the furthest of stars. She combines tradition and modern wit, ancient knowledge with feminine intuition, personal defiance and spirit, a grasp of language topped up with thorough scholarship.’ – Joy Hendry

Sunday 4 May 2014

The Poems: Biting Dust

Biting Dust: Poems & Tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall. Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Image from The Droll Dreams of Pantagruel by François Desprez - (1565)Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall 2014. Thanks are due to Les Wheeler for his continued encouragement and support in agreeing to publish this little pamphlet. For more information on other publications by Sheena Blackhall, visit http://sheenablackhall.blogspot.com or the on-line catalogue of the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index/html. All of Blackhall’s poems in Scots and English, are now uploaded on www.poemhunter.com. Summer of Love is due to be published in the following: Forward Poetry anthology, Essence of Love, July 2014. May 2014 (Pamphlet no 101)