The FREE literary magazine of the North Northwords Now Issue 37, Spring 2019 ELIZABETH SUTHERLAND celebrated by CYNTHIA ROGERSON, IAN STEPHEN on Lewis painter - DONALD SMITH, raptors enrapture CHRIS ARTHUR, major collections by TOM BRYAN and GEORGE GUNN reviewed by ANNE MACLEOD, BOB PEGG crafts songs, KIRSTY GUNN on the art of the essay, STEWART SANDERSON lights the Neidfire, LYDIA HARRIS gets into Orcadian grooves PLUS Tuath supplement of new Gaelic writing, poetry in many forms and voices and stories short and longer EDITORIAL Contents ’m always amazed at the ways that 3 Elizabeth Sutherland, Rosemarkie Scribe – Cynthia Rogerson art can make connections between Idisparate objects, ideas, places and 4 Grooved Ware – Poems by Lydia Harris sensations, then shape new meaning 5 Snowdrops in a Storm – Story by Anne Elizabeth Edwards from them. How a poet can distil a concentrated drop of experience from 6 Poems by Alison Sellar, Seth Crook, Martin Malone a single observation and a small mix of 7 Poems by Stewart Sanderson, Ian Aitken, Mary Anne Spence words. How one sentence within a story 8 Sparrowhawk Theology – Essay by Chris Arthur can make you sense that something – but you don’t know what – is going to shift in 10 The Sacrifice – Story by Willie Orr the tale, but not yet. Or how an essayist can 11 Poems by Liz McKibben, Derek Crook, Anna Macfie and Alisdair Hodgson begin in one place, then wander, pleasingly, to somewhere unexpected. Skitin oan Thin Ice – Flash story by Gillian Shearer Work that does all that is held in 12 Pandora’s Box – Story by Amanda Gilmour abundance within the pages of this issue. Falling – Story by Ian Tallach, Poem by Phil Baarda But it’s also been good to make links across very different forms. Ian Stephen’s 13 Poems by Lydia Popowich, Sharon Black, Catherine Eunson, Sonya MacDonald overview of the Lewis painter, Donald 14 Poems by Stephen Barnaby, Simon Berry, Richard Myers Smith, does this. You can see Donald’s work at An Lanntair this summer, and later 15 Nor any drop to drink – Flash story by Olga Wojtas in Aberdeen. Lady of the Lake – Story by Brenda McHale The same applies to the piece by veteran songwriter, storyteller and musician, Bob 16 Netmenders – Ian Stephen on artist Donald Smith Pegg. There’s a song file online at our 18 Poems by Beth McDonough, Andy Allan, Alistair Lawrie, Erin McGregor, David Mark Williams website to illustrate this article, together with audio of some of the poets from this 19 Watching – Story by Heather Beaton issue reading their work. Loss, Moods, Weather – Story by Peter Leslie Watson Finally, it’s good to welcome a new 20 Poems by Jon Miller, Jonathan Drew, Greg Michaelson, Hamish Myers, Ruth Gilchrist, publication to the northern arts scene: Art North, edited in Tongue. The scope of Sarah Jessen, Hamish Scott its visual arts coverage extends across the 21 Recognition – Story by Alistair Lawrie changing hemisphere, as I described in On the roadside before Glen Strathfarrar – short prose by Leonie Charlton Northwords Now 35, to range across what the editor describes as the ‘Far North’. 22 An audience with the monarch – Story by Chris Madej Here’s to new connections. n Poems by Peter Burrows, Brian Gourley Kenny Taylor, Editor 23 Tam’s Granny – Story by Barry Graham 24 Shared stories – A Year in the Cairngorms by Merryn Glover, At the Northwords Now Website soon: 25 Poems by Grahaeme Barrisford Young, Ian Crockatt, Julian Colton northwordsnow.co.uk 26 Songwriting – expert insights from Bob Pegg Additional fiction Bob Pegg song 27 Reviews – including by Kirsty Gunn on Chris Arthur’s essays, Anne MacLeod on major A chat in the kitchen at Moniack Mhor collections by Tom Bryan and George Gunn, Sally Evanz on Alasdair Gray, Cynthia Rogerson Some poetry from the current issue on new fiction and Kenny Taylor on new collections and the Highland Book Prize 31 Contributors’ Biographies 32 Where to Find Northwords Now www.facebook.com/groups/northwordsnow/ And Twitter @NorthwordsNow Northwords Now is a twice yearly literary Advertising Submissions to the magazine, preferably To submit your work online, go magazine published by Northwords, a not- [email protected] through our on-line system on the to our website: for-profit company, registered in February www.northwordsnow.co.uk/advertise.asp Northwords Now website, are welcome. northwordsnow.co.uk 2005. Company number SC280553. They can be in Gaelic, English, Scots and The next issue is planned Subscriptions any local variants. Please submit no more for October 2019. The Board members The magazine is FREE and can be than three short stories or six poems, in MS deadline for submissions Adrian Clark (Chair), Valerie Beattie, picked up at locations across Scotland. Word format (not .pdf). All work must be is 2nd August 2019. If Lesley Harrison, Peter Whiteley See list on P32. The fee for individual previously unpublished in print or on-line. accepted, you will hear ‘home-delivery’ is £6 for 2 issues, Copyright remains with the author. Payment about your submission by Editor cheques payable to ‘Northwords’. is made for all successful submissions 30th September 2019. Kenny Taylor [email protected] Front cover image: Postal submissions of potential The Board and Editor of Northwords Salmon netting at Rosemarkie, Summer 1988 review books should be sent to: Now acknowledge support from Creative Gaelic Editor photograph by Stephanie Macdonald Scotland and Bòrd na Gàidhlig. Rody Gorman The Editor, Northwords Now ISSN 1750-7928 [email protected] Easter Brae Culbokie Designer Dingwall Gustaf Eriksson Ross-shire www.gustaferiksson.com IV7 8JU 2 Northwords Now Issue 37, Spring 2019 Rosemarkie Scribe: Elizabeth Sutherland by Cynthia Rogerson Disestablishment in Ross 1660 – 1700. All highly readable, these histories contribute much to Scottish identity and stock of historical fact. Her personal favourite? In Search of the Picts, she answers quickly. ✯ How many books have you written? How many? I have no idea, she says, laughing as if it is a silly question. This is not coyness. When a writer is primarily interested in writing, she is not counting. Her guess is over thirty published books of non-fiction, fiction and memoir. She’s just published Church Street, a novel about a village very like Rosemarkie, where she first moved in 1965 as a minister’s wife and subsequently retired to in 1982. Church Street weaves second sight into religion – both Christian and otherwise. Her current work-in-progress is a requested history of Fortrose Cathedral for children, illustrated by local artist Rachel Bevan- Baker. While the quality of her work remains high, she has stepped away from the world of commercial publishing, and works with For the Right Reasons, an Inverness charity supporting recovering addicts and a publishing house. Elizabeth Sutherland at Fortrose. I ask her about writers she admires. Photograph by James Brough. So many! Muriel Spark, Marilyn Robinson, Alice Hoffman, Elizabeth Strout. I re-read e tend to take writers like social work at university in Edinburgh, ‘My Naughty Book, says Vicar’s Wife.’ She Middlemarch on a regular basis. Elizabeth Sutherland for she started exploring churches to join. was pleased for the commercial acclaim, When she writes, what do she hope Wgranted, perhaps because she In Old St Pauls, I spotted a tall young but worried about the kind of attention for? I hope my books – both fiction and is local, accessible and prolific. Perhaps Episcopalian curate. I whispered to my friend: it drew to her husband’s parish. Though non-fiction - entertain readers, of course. But because she is that rare thing – a gifted I am going to marry that man. By the time the quite innocuous novel brought two primarily I write to explore a theme, for my writer who is also modest. She’s certainly she was 21 she was a minister’s wife. This new families to the congregation, she own benefit. never asked for attention, but it’s a pity life took her many places, five parishes, decided to take the pen name Sutherland How does she begin? I often start with not to honour this grand dame of letters beginning with an army chaplaincy in to prevent future embarrassment. a theme in mind. A theme that interests me, in our midst; so I invited myself to her Kenya for three years. Respected publishers like Constable and includes morality somehow. Then I create house for a chat. One of their longest stints was in began to accept her work, and her characters and plot. Elizabeth Sutherland - now Betty Baillieston in Glasgow, where Elizabeth writing career was well established by the Tips for new writers: Write! Enjoy the Marshall - was born in Fife in 1926 and worked as a diocese social worker, as well late 1980s. Her best known early works writing. And once you’ve submitted, begin raised in Dundee. One of three sisters, her as raising her three children, running include The Seer of Kintail and Ravens and something else right away in case a rejection father was a Scottish Episcopalian priest. the minister’s household, and – let’s not Black Rain, both focusing on the Brahan paralyses you at the starting post. Hope is Two of her great grandfathers were also forget – getting up every day at 5am to Seer and second sight in the Highlands. the thing. clergymen, one of them a theologian and write for three hours. Picture this: a cold Does she believe in second sight? She Talking to Elizabeth is like taking a published novelist. She was surrounded dark house full of sleeping children and replies: I believe there are things that defy brisk walk on the beach.