Friday 24 July 2015

The Poems: Flashback

Title: Flashback: Poems & Tales in Scots & English by Sheena Blackhall.Published by Lochlands, Maud, Aberdeenshire.Printed by Thistle Reprographics, 55 Holburn Street Aberdeen. Cover: Barn Door, Fadlydyke Farm, July 2015. Photo by Will House (BA Columbia College, Chicago, Film & Video, 2005) (flickr.com/photos/karloff)Cost: £3.00.Copyright: S. Blackhall July 2015. In April 1906, her grandmother’s sister, Patricia Philip, and her new husband Arthur Simpson (New Deer), passed Ellis Island in Upper New York Bay in the Port of New York and New Jersey, United States. This was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. Patricia’s great grandson Will House took a photo of the barn door at Fadlydyke Farm in July 2015 during a family reunion at New Deer, hosted by Patricia’s nephew, Philip Watt, and his wife Vicki.Her website can be found on http://smiddleton4.wix.com/sheena-blackhall.An interview in podcast form with the poet appears on: http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/connect/podcast/sheena-blackhall Many of these poems were written during a trip to Dublin. The poem Flashback was written during a stay at Fadlydyke Farm, New Deer. Two poems appear in the anthology White Wings of Delight, Malfranteaux Concepts 2015