PAM BEASANT reports on a launch event in Stromness for Orkney-based poet Alison Flett’s new book.

WHIT LASSYZ UR INTY, and lads too – if they like a bit of poetry and music – is a good book launch, and by any standards this was a cracker. It wasn’t just the wine, or the setting (thirty folk nestled in Stromness’s Pier Arts Centre amidst hail and gale), it was the quality of the poetry, backed up by some truly sparkling music from Rory McLeod and Aimee Leonard. This was a tonic for November gloom; a proper event to mark an occasion.

Rory McLeod and Aimee Leonard

The musicians kicked off the evening, and those who were expecting a few pleasant tunes were given a whole lot more. They were brilliant – Rory McLeod a kind of magician in the way he combines voice and instrument (including spoons – sometimes played against his head – moothie and guitar) and Aimee Leonard mesmerising with voice and bodhran. The songs were original, loud – ‘in yer face’ in the best way possible – they were graphic, witty and joyful.

As Alison said when she got up to read, they were a hard act to follow. She followed beautifully. The new collection is a breath of fresh air. The words jump off the page like wee arrows, always finding their mark. Economy is an understatement – the poems are chiselled to the bone – the apparent simplicity of the wit breathtaking, the careful structure light and unobtrusive. And the delivery was spot on – quietly confident, sardonic and tender. Alison has that rare gift of being able to perform her work and hold an audience with a pause or glance.

She also has a gift for catching a moment, and an eagle eye for the seemingly incidental and ordinary things that are most revealing. Ranging from the personal and domestic to the political and satirical, she makes a universal out of the everyday. Biting wit and social comment are done lightly, with penetrating accuracy. Iraq and a wee dog tied up outside a shop are treated with the same attention to detail.

On the search for weapons of mass destruction: ‘We canny find nuthin/whit are we goany day?/ jist gie thum summy ours/ Bang!’ Careful observation is built up, undercut by a biting throwaway ending, nowhere better demonstrated than in the title poem, Whit lassyz ur inty:  – the ‘toty plastic/ballyreena’ inside ‘shiny painted boaxis’ – ‘lassyz rilate/tay aw that/shite.’

The musicians performed two sets and Alison read twice, and we could have listened for much longer. Despite claiming nerves reading on her home turf, this was a really assured performance – the kent faces in the audience, many of whom knew the poetry already, appreciative and in high spirits. Most lingered afterwards to chat and drink more wine. All agreed it had been a treat – a fitting way to launch a good new book into the world. And even over the ominous swell by the pier on Friday night, it swam proudly.

Whit lassyz ur inty by Alison Flett is published by Thirsty Books (£6.99). Alison Flett was born and bred in Edinburgh but now lives in Orkney. She has performed her work on television and radio and at readings throughout the country. She recently won the Belmont prize for children’s poetry and was short listed for the 2004 Scotsman/Orange short story award. She is currently working on a book of short stories about island life.

© Pam Beasant, 2004

Related Link:

Argyll Publishing website