David’s second poetry book is launched in Corrie
This weekend will be an important milestone for local poet David Underdown who launches his second poetry collection called A Sense of North in Corrie and Sannox village hall tomorrow (Sunday).
David has been living – and writing – on the island for more than 20 years. He says that after moving here he always had a plan to make more time for writing but he never imagined that what he would write would be poetry.
‘I’ve Alison Prince to thank for that,’ he explains. When, soon after arriving, he joined her writing group, it was to work on short stories that he hoped might one day lead to a full-length novel. Then, after a while, he decided that story telling wasn’t his thing and that what he really enjoyed writing was poetry. ‘Perhaps it’s the perfectionist in me,’ he says.
A poem is about distilling things down to express them in the most powerful and concentrated way that you can.
Those who have read his 2011 collection, Time Lines, will remember the diversity of subjects and their strong feel for the natural world. His new book also draws on some unusual topics, which range from an old shirt and the migration of painted lady butterflies to what it might feel like to be a lugworm and the vagaries of footpaths. He sees the title of his new book, A Sense of North as being a nod to the influence of Scotland where he has spent over half his life.
The book has been a long time coming, more than seven years in fact. David explained that his publisher, Cinnamon Press, is a small cash-strapped independent based in North Wales and that there is a limit to how many books it can publish. When he sent the firm the manuscript the reply was: ‘We love the poems, but you will need to wait three years.’ He is hoping that it will have been worth the wait.
A Sense of North will be available from David himself, the publisher, Cinnamon, at www.cinnamonpress.com, and on Amazon, and in time, a few local outlets on Arran. You can also hear David read a selection of his poems at the free launch event on Sunday March 17, at 2.30pm.