Poetry gig at the McLellan Festival
An evening of poetry and song will be a night to remember, as the McLellan Arts Festival for 2017 gets into full swing.
Arran Theatre and Arts presents for the first time on Arran An Evening with Maura Dooley on Friday September 1 at Corrie and Sannox Hall, where there will be free wine.
To begin the evening, the audience will hear who Maura, the 2017 judge of the McLellan poetry competition, has picked as prize-winners. Hopefully, some of them will be present to read their poems. Last year the winner of the £1,000 first prize came all the way from Seattle.
Then there will be a short interval where the harp and whistle duo Arran Dawn will play and there will be the chance to buy poetry from the pop-up bookshop.
For the rest of the evening, Maura will share with the audience some of her own poetry. She is really looking forward to being on Arran. Her subjects are many and varied and her poetry is very accessible.
She can write about the homeless, rats in the underground or about contemporary romance. There is even a poem beginning: ‘Warm wind on the night ferry/a glass and a dark song, a stroll and a dander, at the shining sea’s edge’ (Raft of Desires) which might resonate with Arran folk.
Maura was born in Truro but is of Irish extraction. She was brought up in Bristol and has a degree from the University of York. She has published several poetry collections, two of which were short-listed for the TS Eliot Prize. Her poem The Message won the Forward Poetry Prize in 1997.
Professionally, over the years, she has been very active on behalf of other poets, organising creative writing courses for five years at the Arvon Foundation, Lumb Bank, Yorkshire.
In 1987, she became literature officer at London’s South Bank and for many years has been a persuasive advocate for progressive ways in which contemporary poetry can be taught in schools and borrowed more widely in libraries. At present, she teaches creative writing at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she lives.
On Saturday, September 2, again in Corrie Hall, Maura will lead a poetry workshop – A Breath of Fresh Air – designed to let new ideas take wing. Both new and experienced writers of poetry welcome. Please note, if booking by email, contact addresses are: arranunderdown@btinternet.com or cicelym39 @gmail.com.
Numbers are limited so book soon if you want to be sure of a place.
Also on Saturday September 2, don’t miss the famous festival ceilidh with supper in Whiting Bay Hall at 7.30pm. Always a great night of music, dance and food.
On Sunday afternoon, September 3, Maura’s husband, David Hunter, who is an executive producer of radio drama at the BBC, has kindly offered to give an illustrated talk called ‘More than just the Archers’. This is a free event taking place in Brodick library.
For the Friday gig and all festival events, you can reserve tickets online now or at the Book and Card Centre from August 26 (see advert in this week’s Banner for other festival gems).
And please note, if you arrive in Corrie by bus, do not worry about getting home – the festival organisers won’t leave anyone stranded overnight.