Pauline reflects on a very special Story Cafe…
There was an air of anticipation (and a full house) as we gathered for a visit from from the Makar, Kathleen Jamie.
Kathleen, introduced by Wendy, was appointed Makar, Scotland’s National Poet, in 2021and is about to demit office. She was in conversation with Wendy and Morag and reading from her latest book Cairn, published in 2024. Kathleen was asked about her time as Makar and said she had felt, when it was offered her, that she couldn’t say no to the honour but found it daunting but much more fun than she had anticipated. Everywhere she had gone as Makar she had found an intelligent interest in books and poetry. One highlight had been reading her poem for the state opening of the Scottish Parliament in 2021 from a balcony and in the presence of the Queen (I’ve just listened to her reading The Morrow-bird, it’s a powerful plea for good governance). A big challenge for her was a poem on the death of the Queen which she met with the beautiful poem, Lochnagar.
She said that there had been an explosion of nature writing, both prose and poetry, by women over the previous decades, a genre that had previously been dominated by male writers.
Kathleen read Gap Site and Mechanical Predictable from Cairn, a miscellany of short pieces, published as she reached 60 this year. Engaging with the environment entails paying attention to small things, listening and writing about what’s happening around us. She writes on scraps of paper and is especially fond of the backs of old envelopes, even though people gave her lovely notebooks she didn’t use them. Asked about how she became a writer Kathleen said that as a teenager she attended a theatre workshop writing group which opened the door to writing for her and where she made lifelong friendships. There were two more poems from Cairn, Lone Tree and Night Wind and following a request, What the Clyde said after Cop26. Kathleen explained that the paper boats in the poem was reference to Paperboats, a Scottish collective of writers highlighting environmental problems in a time of climate emergency.
Finally Wendy thanked Kathleen and there was very warm applause for the retiring Makar at the end of a fascinating Story Cafe.
The Morrow-bird, Lochnagar and What the Clyde said after Cop26 are all available online from The Scottish Poetry Library.
The next Story Cafe is on 8th August 1pm-2.30pm and is part of The National Gallery Art Road Trip events at GWL from 6th-17th August so why not book your place and come and join us for a Story Cafe with a difference!
