Handsel Press Poetry Booklets Launch
We warmly welcome you to join us at the Scottish Poetry Library on Thursday, April 17th at 7pm for the unveiling of two new poetry booklets from Handsel Press: *Casting Off: Poems from the Slipstream* by Jenny Campbell and *Old and Bold: Poems of Love and Age* by Jock Stein. The gathering will conclude by 8pm and feature a captivating clarsach performance by Edinburgh harpist Douglas Kerr. Your ticket includes the bonus of receiving both booklets at no extra cost!
Jenny Campbell’s debut collection glides into the current of modern poetry like a vessel on water, carrying vivid verses about the sea, seasonal shifts, birds, poets, breezes, and vistas, including two pieces that delve into her Ulster heritage, navigating ‘between the orange and the green’. Art and poetry have long intertwined in Jenny’s creative journey. Her cover artwork, titled ‘Where Life had Been’, evokes the ghostly frame of a fish viewed from below, with light dancing on the water’s surface. At times, she even weaves words directly into her paintings!
*You believe the words belong to you,
your logic a fierce blade,
but my words are the ones that nurture life.*
(from ‘The River Speaks’)
Jock Stein, a poet, piper, and preacher from Haddington, shares a marriage of over 50 years with his wife Margaret, who is also a minister. Explore more of his works at www.handselpress.org.uk.
*“when evening falls, there’s something deeper”*
His poetry resonates long after the lines are read, with the finest moments saved for the end.
— Kenneth Steven, Writer
Jock’s love poems, crafted in the twilight of life, are bold, tender, and masterful—brimming with warmth, desire, closeness, faith, humor, and loyalty. While the love poetry captivates most, there’s richness beyond it, touching on aging, the natural world, companionship, pain, and hope. Woven throughout, as the collection’s closing note, is ‘the call of heaven’. Indulge in this fresh compilation of Jock Stein’s poetry.
— Doug Gay, Glasgow University
Please note that this is a paid event.
