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Reviewed
by Sheila Cornelius
Submissions to the Association for Scottish Literary Studies make up
this 2008 collection of 29 short stories and 35 poems. Themes include
contemporary Scottish concerns such as the decline of traditional
lifestyles and the effects of poverty on relationships and landscape.
History is a dark a source of current problems; nationalist politics
are destructive to both material structures and relationships, although
references to larger wars and conflict are confined to stories in which
refugees appear, a newly topical issue. Death, old age and
dysfunctional families are frequently addressed, while the sea appears
as both a declining resource and an escape route to employment abroad.
The lands beyond Scottish shores are described as possessing a heat and
colour which contrasts with the drabness of the local
landscape.
In the best of these always
well-crafted stories, description and a feel for the distinctive
vernacular prevail, with a wryly satirical, often black, humour and
wit. Bizarre details and odd characters give a flavour both distinctive
and attractive.
My own favourites include Eliza
Chan’s witty spoof of a feminist reading, Subtext, in which
Raymond Briggs’s Snowman
comes under academic scrutiny, involving extensive footnotes. The Achiltibuie Stone
by David Hutchison is one of many excellent stories about a childhood,
invoking friendship and romance in a remote rural setting. Kate Henry’s
When Gordon
Ran Away is a compelling narrative of dysfunctional family
life. Edinburgh’s association with art provokes a father’s mockery and
generation gap musings in Michael Malone’s Art in the Park
A lyrical note is struck in Angela Howards’ The Table, where a
craftsman associates the body of his upwardly mobile wife with his
materials.
The need to seek work abroad is
poignantly expressed in the metaphor of a man who leaves a moth in a
museum then departs to find work in America in Tom Bryan’s Gardens, Strange and Cold,
while the monotony of available work is evoked in his poem Brickyard Assembly Line. An
old woman’s memories of an illegitimate child taken away and a
hoped-for reunion are touchingly conveyed in Liam Murray Bell’s The Piano. David
McVey’s The D Row
is a sad and funny story about a boy with trouble at home and at
school. Finally, Alan Gay’s poem Portobello
Blues: contains a line which neatly sums up the mood of
this collection: "It is too early for queues outside the Social
Security, optimistically named Phoenix House".
Sheila Cornelius
studied English Literature and Media at Goldsmiths College, London. An
enthusiastic student of contemporary culture, she writes about theatre,
cinema, fiction and visual arts. She is the author of a book on Chinese
film and writes short stories. Sheila attends several writers’ and
readers’ groups in London.
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Publisher: Association for Scottish Literary Studies,
University of Glasgow
Publication
Date:
2008
Paperback/Hardback?
Paperback
First
anthology?: No
Editor bios: Liz
Niven and Brian Whittingham have won awards as writers, editors and
educationalist, for their contributions to Scottish Literature.
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Publisher's Website: ASLS
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