The Wee Gatherin

Poetry festival in Stonehaven

Friday 23 July 2021
7pm – 7.45pm

Admission is free but seats must be reserved
Email poetsrepublic@gmail.com to book places
Latest covid restrictions will apply.

The Trading Corner, 50 Allardice Street, STONEHAVEN AB39 2AA

Blue Salt poets Mandy Macdonald, Knotbrook Taylor and Haworth Hodgkinson will read as part of the Wee Gatherin poetry festival, presented by the Poets' Republic on 23 and 24 July in Stonehaven.

Writer and musician Mandy Macdonald lives in Aberdeen. After a career spent writing technical reports, she now adores writing very short things such as poems. She writes about vegetables, the future, and being Australian, among other things. Her poems have appeared in many anthologies and journals. Her pamphlet The temperature of blue was published by Blue Salt Collective in 2020.

Praise for The temperature of blue:
"There's a musician's ear in this work, but there's also an almost scientific sensitivity." (Neil MacDonald)
"So many sharp lines inside that cover ... Grab a copy – immerse yourselves. Because you're worth it." (Bernie Howley)

Knotbrook Taylor is an Angus based poet. His first chapbook Beatitudes was published in 2007. The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses in Fraserburgh commissioned his second collection Scottish Lighthouse Poems, which was published in 2011 and explored the rich history and arcane knowledge related to lighthouses in Scotland. It is available from the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.

In 2014 he won the Erbacce prize for his collection Ping-Pong in the Rain, a book that explores the juxtaposition of random ideas within a poem and finds connections. It includes themes exploring love, death and the film Bladerunner.

Haworth Hodgkinson is a composer, improviser and sound artist, as well as a poet and playwright, based in Aberdeenshire and inspired by the landscapes of the North of Scotland. His solo performances often combine poetry with live music, and his music has been played by the ensemble Intuitive Music Aberdeen. He has worked on many collaborations with writers, dancers, actors, musicians and visual artists. He has published two collections of poetry, his plays have been performed in Dundee, Aberdeen and Banchory, and his music can be heard on the High Moss label.

Image credits: Graham Denyer (Mandy Macdonald), Edith Carmichael (Knotbrook Taylor), Alina Wojciechowska (Haworth Hodgkinson).