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Perth Festival of the Arts

Perth Festival of the Arts is one of the events here in Scotland where you will often find me out and about. I have just had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend attending a run of concerts at Perth Concert Hall, which I have reviewed for The Mumble, Scotland’s audience-participation review site. Follow these links for my reviews of The Proclaimers, the BBC Philharmonic c. Andrew Gourlay and trumpet soloist Tine Thing Helseth, and Courtney Pine with Zoe Rahman. Three very different gigs, all very satisfying. By the way, I’ll be out and about again at Perth’s Southern Fried Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, and Edinburgh Fringe.

Paul

proclaimers-1

Tine Thing Helseth

Tine Thing Helseth

Andrew Gourlay

Andrew Gourlay

Song Front cover

Zoe Rahman

Zoe Rahman


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Something for the haiku-minded.

rose2Over on the site for the e-zine the zen space (edited by our client Marie Marshall) spring is stirring. What has stirred it is a collection of haiku and ‘short-burst’ poetry by some of the best modern exponents, plus a translation of a classical greek fragment, and a collection of marker-pen mandalas.

Do you write haiku, or any form of short poetry? Would you like to submit something? Marie says “I am always on the lookout for fresh talent.” She told us, “Contributors should email me if they have something for my consideration. Please don’t leave a contribution in a comment box – I have to delete those, I’m afraid, as they don’t go through the editorial process. Anyhow, I tell people be bright, be light, be dark, be profound, but be brief!”

the zen space Spring Showcase may be found here.


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Go searching for a Marie Marshall poem…

jpeg… and cheer yourself up. Our client informs us that the Poets Collective has just published its cheerful anthology Abandon the Shadows. Marie has a poem included, by invitation, and recommended the book to us, saying: “I know several of the poets involved and I rate them very highly.” You can find the book on Amazon or via the collective’s own web site.


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‘Winter Words’ under way

Well, it is almost Carnival time...

Well, it is almost Carnival time…

In case you’re wondering where this gorgeous carnival mask came from, it’s on sale at the shop in Pitlochry Festival Theatre. The theatre itself is always well worth visiting. As well as the auditorium with its dramatic and musical events, there is the shop, the bar, a restaurant, and an exhibition of paintings. At present the annual Winter Words festival – Scotland’s first literary festival of the year – is under way. It finishes next weekend, the 21st and 22nd of February, so if you are in or near Scotland, there is still time to plan a flying visit. You may be lucky and get a ticket for one of the events, but don’t forget there are also bookstalls and free events in the Theatre.

One of the free events is the late-evening ‘Fearie Tales’ session, where actors Helen Logan and Dougal Lee read the stories of the eight winners of the year’s competition for spine-chilling fiction. Paul has been to two of these so far, to support clients who have been among the winners, and oh what tales he has heard! A hen-pecked husband finds a replica of his boyhood home down a Scottish lane, where it has no right to be; a young woman captured by a dragon-worshiping cult; a boy encounters the fairies that have ‘tidied’ his lonely family life, and wonders whether to ask for the sister he never had; an Australian scientist goes looking for voices on the top of a remote Scottish mountain…

There will be four more next weekend. Go along, and prepare to be terrified!

Winter Words 05a

Helen Logan reads ‘Voices’ by Marie Marshall – Dougal Lee obviously knows something she doesn’t!

 

By the way, Paul hopes to be at the StAnza poetry festival in St Andrews from the 5th to the 8th of March, so look out for him there.


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Marie Marshall and Lucy P Naylor do it again!

We have just this minute learned that our clients Marie Marshall and Lucy P Naylor have both had winning short stories in this year’s ‘Fearie Tales’ competition, at the 2015 Winter Words festival in Pitlochry. Lucy’s story ‘The Dragon Stone’ will be featured on Friday 13th (!) and Marie’s ‘Voices’ on Saturday 14th. Here’s how Marie broke the news. Both writers received emails within minutes of each other, it seems.

The picture below is actor Helen Logan, who will be reading both stories.

helen