New Writing Scotland 23: Queen of the Sheep

One of the venerable institutions of the modern Scottish literary scene, New Writing Scotland appears each summer, a box of delights or curate's egg. This, the editors Valerie Thornton and Hamish Whyte say, is "the start of the next generation" of the annual publication, following as it does a special edition containing favourite selections from the first two decades of poetry and prose.

I'm not sure about generations: judging from the author notes, the age range here spans a fair few decades. But it's fresh, impressive stuff. On occasion in this series, you marvel at the enterprise of the editors as they round up enough stuff to pad out the volume, but this year, especially with the poets, the competition for inclusion must have been fierce. In fact, it's the best NWS I've encountered, and I haven't the space here to cover all the pieces I enjoyed (nor, I should note, the ability to comment on a few pieces in Gaelic).

A few highlights though. First, the poems: Graham Fulton pulls off a rare trick with an original and moving poem about a cat; a small wonder from the unsung NY based poet Fiona Wilson; two deliciously gaudy pieces from Sheila Templeton; a quirky list poem on chickens by Judith Taylor twists powerfully, while Lydia Robb's memory of watching a large, elderly aunt undressing might well be the most memorable picture evoked in these pages. Good to see poems too from two recently transplanted English poets, the wonderful Tim Turnbull (here with some very grimly modern bucolic eclogues) and Vicki Feaver, whose forthcoming third collection is genuinely long-awaited.

Of the prose, I enjoyed Kate Hendry's story All That Glass, which is driven by that mix of the quotidian and the surreal which Ali Smith does so well. Robert Swift's short story about a man who runs over a hare is neatly turned and quite disturbing. In Urchin, James Cressey laces various folk beliefs about hedgehogs and sea urchins through a delightful faux memoir. Olga Wojtas offers a modern morality tale unfolding in front of an agent provocateur coffee shop worker.

Though a first glance at the contents reveals few of Scotland's best know poets and fiction writers, it hardly matters; NWS has always been a place for new writers as well as new writing, and one of the pleasures of this series is looking back at old editions and seeing early work from those who have gone on to many publications. This year's volume is highly recommended.