The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Poets team up to bring football verse to festival
Contributors to critically-acclaimed poetry anthology Mind The Time to read their works at Dundee literary event
Poets who turned to football to support the Football Memories Scotland charity are teaming up for the Dundee Literary Festival.
The event kicks-off at the Bonar Hall on Sunday October 22 at 4pm.
Following its successful launch at the National Football Museum in June, contributors to the best-selling poetry anthology Mind The Time have been touring the country’s literary festivals via Stow, Glasgow, Wigtown and Inverness.
The critically-acclaimed collection was edited by St Johnstone poet-inresidence Jim Mackintosh in collaboration with Nutmeg Football Periodical.
The Dundee event will be the biggest line-up on the tour, with 11 renowned poets reading their work from the book.
They include local poets John Quinn, Colin Donald, Roy Canning and the current Makar of the Scottish Writers’ Federation, Andy Jackson, who will be joined by Jim, Graham Fulton, Martin Bradley, Marjorie Lotfi Gill, Max Scratchmann, Caroline Mathers and BBC poet-in-residence Stuart Paterson.
Jim said: “We really appreciate the opportunity to bring Mind The Time to Dundee Literary Festival so we can raise awareness of the wonderful work that Football Memories Scotland • undertakes. •
“We are grateful to festival director Peggy Hughes for inviting us.
“Football and poetry may not be the most obvious of blends, but when you hear the poems spoken by their authors it is incredibly powerful and truly conveys the emotions that underpin the purpose of the book – to trigger memories of the good old days which, of course, is entirely subjective and could be last week, last year or 50 years ago.
“Football just happens to be the vehicle being used for the teasing out of cherished memories.”
The event is free but bookings can be made online at www.literarydundee. co.uk.