Donald S Murray is appearing at an event in An Lanntair arts centre in Stornoway only days after the publication of a special updated edition of a collection of his poems which had been long out of print.
Between Minch and Muckle Flugga also has a special interview with the author written by renowned island journalist and travel blogger Katie Macleod.
The collection was first published in 2005 as a pamphlet by independent publisher Kettillonia, bringing together 27 poems that flitted from Lewis to Orkney and Shetland and back again, depicting places “whose characters, for generations, have been carved and weathered by the sea that fills their harbours, scours their shorelines and colours their perceptions of the world.”
Now it’s been produced as a commemorative hardback edition by Intermedia Services (Stornoway) Ltd, which also runs the welovestornoway.com website.
The original pamphlet sold out quickly, with second-hand copies occasionally resurfacing online for higher price points. Now, to mark 20 years since its initial release, the collection has been revised and updated with the removal of a handful of the original poems, and the addition of seven newer pieces of work.
The book is available for sale in An Lanntair’s shop and in the Baltic Bookshop in Stornoway, as well as through Stornoway Media Centre’s Etsy shop and a number of bookshops elsewhere, including the Shetland Arts Centre bookshop.
Donald S Murray, who formerly taught at The Nicolson Institute and Sgoil Lionacleit is coming to Stornoway from his home in Shetland for an event relating to the Metagama.
On 21 April 1923 SS Metagama left Stornoway with over 300 young islanders on board, bound for Canada. Within a year nearly 1500 emigrants would leave the Outer Hebrides, but coming on the back of the Great War and the Iolaire disaster, this mass emigration would have a devastating impact on the islands.
This multi-artform show was premiered in An Lanntair before touring throughout Scotland and was devised by Donald along with musician Liza Mullholland. They will be joined by actor and writer Dolina MacLennan, Gaelic singer and piper Calum Alex Macmillan, fiddler Charlie Mackerron, singer-songwriter Willie Campbell, and cellist Christine Hanson.
METAGAMA: AN ATLANTIC ODYSSEY: SATURDAY 19 JULY 19:30pm – book here
