The Background:
"In 2017 Andrew Smith, then Director, now Chair of the Scottish Writers’ Centre, came up with a dynamic idea to run a Twitter campaign inviting poets to pitch an idea and the winner would have a poetry pamphlet published by the SWC’s publisher partner, Red Squirrel Press. Poet, critic, essayist, editor, designer and typesetter Gerry Cambridge, poet Sheila Templeton, writer, musician and Editor of both Postbox Press (the literary fiction imprint of Red Squirrel Press) and Postbox International Short Story Magazine, Colin Will, and myself took part in a panel at the SWC, ‘How to get published’ in October 2017. Andrew received many entries, a shortlist was drawn up, Stephen Watt subsequently won and persuaded me to publish a full-length collection."
— Sheila Wakefield, Founding Editor, Red Squirrel Press
The Blurb:
— Sheila Wakefield, Founding Editor, Red Squirrel Press
The Blurb:
Glasgow is correctly lauded for its wonderful characters and hospitality but at the turn of the Millennium it was dubbed the ‘Murder Capital of Europe’ with sectarian divisions and organised crime rife in the city. Four of its natives have been raised around the city’s Bridgeton area, cultivated by its ill-omened beliefs, and now have to separately find a way to subsist. But one crime family firmly believes in the tradition of torture and a novel way of disposing of its detractors. Who will emerge smelling of roses -or end up pushing the roses up from the earth below?
My Review:
Whilst I have read many collections of poems which are linked by the subject or theme, I was intrigued to see if a collection which told a story would work. And it absolutely does.
Fairy Rock focuses on the Bridgeton area of Glasgow which is ruled by a crime family with a novel and unique murder technique. The opening poem sets the scene and tone with a flashback to the late 70s, and then the rest of the story is set in the recent past and present day. We see Danny, Deek, Seamus and Claire as they grow up in this hostile environment, each carrying their own baggage and looking at a none too bright future.
These poems are raw and dark. So dark. They feature incest, sexual abuse, drug taking, sectarianism, knife and gun crime, murder and ruthless, brutal violence. But there is such a beauty to the writing that they are a joy to read. I've picked a couple of (non gruesome) examples to illustrate my point:
From CHIPS PROTOCOL
'Merchant City girls clad in shimmering Diana Ross silver coats
pulled over their bleached-blonde heads
to protect them from the downpour giggled and hallowed
between flashing, sparky bars
like shooting stars gliding in the dark.'
From FLORIST
'Her child dissolves into the small digital window
which is his world, lit by the crude bare bulbs
framing a lapsed Swimming World poster on the glass.'
There are so many more examples I could have chosen but I want you to discover them for yourselves by reading the book. It's hard to pick a favourite poem as they are all so good, but I was drawn to a couple of the early, dark poems - CANDLES and ORPHANAGE. TABLOID HAIKU also deserves a mention - as the name suggests, it is a newspaper headline in the form of a haiku. Genius.
For all the grimness there is an element of, admittedly dark, humour in some of the poems. And the characters and scenes are so vividly described, you can't not enjoy the writing. I love just outside of Glasgow and know some of the areas mentioned, and I just loved the whole Glasgow vibe that runs throughout.
This is poetry at its most raw, visceral and beautiful. The whole concept of a novel entirely in verse is original and brilliant, and Stephen Watt totally delivers. The man can write. A triumph.
Whilst I have read many collections of poems which are linked by the subject or theme, I was intrigued to see if a collection which told a story would work. And it absolutely does.
Fairy Rock focuses on the Bridgeton area of Glasgow which is ruled by a crime family with a novel and unique murder technique. The opening poem sets the scene and tone with a flashback to the late 70s, and then the rest of the story is set in the recent past and present day. We see Danny, Deek, Seamus and Claire as they grow up in this hostile environment, each carrying their own baggage and looking at a none too bright future.
These poems are raw and dark. So dark. They feature incest, sexual abuse, drug taking, sectarianism, knife and gun crime, murder and ruthless, brutal violence. But there is such a beauty to the writing that they are a joy to read. I've picked a couple of (non gruesome) examples to illustrate my point:
From CHIPS PROTOCOL
'Merchant City girls clad in shimmering Diana Ross silver coats
pulled over their bleached-blonde heads
to protect them from the downpour giggled and hallowed
between flashing, sparky bars
like shooting stars gliding in the dark.'
From FLORIST
'Her child dissolves into the small digital window
which is his world, lit by the crude bare bulbs
framing a lapsed Swimming World poster on the glass.'
There are so many more examples I could have chosen but I want you to discover them for yourselves by reading the book. It's hard to pick a favourite poem as they are all so good, but I was drawn to a couple of the early, dark poems - CANDLES and ORPHANAGE. TABLOID HAIKU also deserves a mention - as the name suggests, it is a newspaper headline in the form of a haiku. Genius.
For all the grimness there is an element of, admittedly dark, humour in some of the poems. And the characters and scenes are so vividly described, you can't not enjoy the writing. I love just outside of Glasgow and know some of the areas mentioned, and I just loved the whole Glasgow vibe that runs throughout.
This is poetry at its most raw, visceral and beautiful. The whole concept of a novel entirely in verse is original and brilliant, and Stephen Watt totally delivers. The man can write. A triumph.
The Author:
Stephen Watt was born in the Vale of Leven in 1979. His awards include first prize in the Poetry Rivals Slam, the StAnza International Digital Poetry Slam, and the Tartan Treasures award. Notable collections which he has curated include the Joe Strummer Foundation collection Ashes To Activists (2018) and the James Watt bicentenary booklet Horsepower (2019). He is Dumbarton Football Club’s Poet-in-Residence and was appointed the Makar for the Federation of Writers (Scotland) in 2019. He lives in Dumbarton with his wife Keriann and pug Beanz.
Hi great reading your poost
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