IAN STEPHEN’S planned voyage from Stornoway to St Andrews for the Stanza Poetry Festival last month turned into something of a gale-lashed epic, and the nautical part of the venture eventually had to be terminated in Orkney, while the intrepid mariner/artists made their way to Fife on dry land. Nonetheless, Ian and his collaborators were able to supply the Arts Journal with a fascinating blow-by-blow log of the event, complete with new poems created on board. Our thanks to Ian and all concerned, and we look forward to future collaborations of this kind.

This month we welcome two new(ish) members onto the editorial team. Alistair Peebles takes on the role of Contributing Editor in the Northern Isles, and Andrea Muir will take up the new post of Youth Editor, of which more in the weeks to come.

George Gunn, meanwhile, has pointed out to us that our discussion forum is markedly short on discussion, and asks if this is what we want? The answer, of course, is no, it’s not what we want at all, but a lively and informed discussion forum can only work if the readers of this Journal are prepared to contribute their tuppence worth.

It’s not that we haven’t served up plenty of food for thought in that regard – George’s own contributions should have been enough to spark debate in themselves, and there is plenty on the site to provoke comment, dissent, or further reflection. The Highland arts community is not usually short on people with something to say, and we suspect our readers would also have useful contributions to make to the debate on the many issues surrounding the arts in the Highlands and Islands at this time of change and development.

So let’s hear from you – subjects are not in short supply: should traditional music attract more public funding? Is the Scottish National Theatre going to benefit the Highlands? Is Robert Davidson’s vision of Inverness as a city of the Highlands tenable or desirable? Did our reviewers get something right? Or wrong? The forum is there for you to have your say.

April launches with a musical theme in the Journal, with interviews with fiddler Kevin Burke ahead of a rare solo appearance in Beauly, and Toby Shippey, founder of Salsa Celtica, who are touring in the Highlands as part of the Scottish Arts Council’s Tune Up programme. The Anna Massie Band is our Band Profile this month, while we look north to Lerwick for our featured Venue, the Garrison Theatre.

As always, there will be much more to come in the course of the month, so keep checking back.

Kenny Mathieson
Commissioning Editor