Thursday 29 July 2021

The Anthologies: Living our Dying

Living our Dying: eds Larry Butler & Sheila Templeton, ISBN 978-1-9196286-3-9 £15.00 pub. Rymour Books July 2012. Inspired by the work of the late David Donnison, thirty-two writers, including Sheena Blackhall, blend prose and poetry, look at dying and the process of dying. Intrinsic to the book is the desire to discuss creatively a subject often regarded as taboo. Most of us, especially in the West, find it hard to look death in the eye. In Living Our Dying, we learn how to talk more honestly about our fears, our pain, our wishes around death, and what emerges is a richer engagement with life.'I love this beautiful book. It will not only help you to die a good death, it will strengthen you to live a good life' RICHARD HOLLOWAY

Wednesday 14 July 2021

The Poems: The Poem that Walked on Stilts

Acknowledgements: Title: The Poem that Walked on Stilts : Pamphlet no 170.Front Cover: An online tattoo design based on Salvador Dali’s elephant works. Back Cover: Winnie Blackhall creating a bower for a rabbit, Coull.Published by Malfranteaux Concepts Printed by Retro Overflow. Copyright: Sheena Blackhall July 2021.The back cover features Winnie Blackhall aged 8 creating a bower at the entrance to a rabbit hole at Coull, which she constructed with her sister Jessica.The front cover is taken from an online tattoo design, itself based on the work by Salvador Dali. Lockdown in a Bedroom was included in Best Scottish Poems 2020. Best Scottish Poems is an online publication, consisting of 20 poems chosen by a different editor each year, with comments by the editor and poets. It provides a personal overview of a year of Scottish poetry. The editor in 2020 was Janette Ayachi. Several Poems were inspired by artists who were included in the exhibition British Art Show 9, running at Aberdeen Art Gallery July 2021. Others were prompted by items in the programme QI (Flying with Falcons etc) What is forgotten & What Remains? is inspired by the title of an event at the Museum of Immigration, Paris, running from May2019-August 2021. Sheena Blackhall c. July 2021