Westray Writing Weekend

As the fifth Orkney Writing Fellowship draws to a close, ALISTAIR PEEBLES look back over seven successful months of writing development in the county, and forward to what may lie ahead.

BUT FIRST, a glimpse of literary island life from the poet John Glenday. John was guest tutor with Jan Natanson in the residential writing weekend last month in Westray that rounded off her stay here.

‘The Northern year brings you up sharply against yourself.’
Peter Davidson ‘The Idea of North’

“Allan and Marta and I were struggling to stand upright on the slate beds of Westray. Beyond us, fist sized clumps of discoloured sea-pink; the crash and slobber of the waves, a few trillion cubic kilometres of grey-black, near-freezing salt water and beyond that, somewhere downwind or other, lost in the misty subarctic distance, Canada.

“I had been poking around in an old Viking midden – a rough wall of sod and earth, limpets, winkles and fishbones. The temperature hovered around 4 degrees, but felt like minus forty in that wind. A milky green lochan behind us was spewing its water into the air. Marta pointed towards a tiny, indistinct discolouration limping across a nearby stack: ‘Oh look! A puffin!’ She turned to us, smiling broadly: ‘Spring at last!’
 

“I had come to Westray to teach a weekend creative writing course, an hour and a lumpy half out of Kirkwall on the mv Varagen, astonished that anyone would come this far to learn how to write a sonnet. But come they did: locals and visitors; from places as distant as Pierowall and Edinburgh; from towns as far apart as Kirkwall and Stromness.

“Allan was the local teacher. He would be lending us his school for the weekend, and unlocking the mysteries of the photocopier. He and Marta had been living in Pierowall for four years or so and clearly loved its harsh, windswept beauty, even as the tide inched around their cottage in the January gales. The sandbags were still stacked by the garage when I arrived (its roof went west in the same storm).

“Let me tell you, there were sixteen or so folk turned up for that weekend. I’ve run writing courses in many places. I’ve run them in busy city centres where so few folk turned up that my nose bled. I’ve cancelled them for lack of interest. I’ve pleaded with friends; given out chocolate biscuits, offered free pens. Here, they were queuing for places.
 

“Westray is a lively, active, friendly, interested island. Jan Natanson had set up the course, along with Penny Aberdein from Orkney Islands Council, as a farewell gesture for her stint as Writer in Residence. I had jumped at the chance of coming back to Orkney, that sweet metaphor of a place.

“And what did we produce? Witty dialogues and moving short stories, gallons of verses – we even pioneered the Pierowall, that unique sixteen-lined version of the sonnet. Ailsa from Westray wrote beautifully of the long history of her family, stained into the kelp pits and the ruined castle walls. Michael played the mandolin. Dances were danced. We wrote well, ate well, partied well. The sun set and the wind rose. We all left feeling that the ferry crossing was too long and the weekend too short. You know how it is: sometimes you have to sail to the edge to get to the heart of things.”

“Each residency has brought something new and different to the cultural life of the islands.”

Thus for those who sailed, or flew, or simply walked around the corner, Orkney’s first-ever residential writing course confirmed there’s no lack of enthusiasm here for what till now Orcadians would have to travel to Moniack Mhor or further to enjoy. And gave south visitors salt wind to season their imaginations, the Westray One Step to stir their blood.
 
The “evaluation sheet” responses from the sixteen participants agreed wholeheartedly with John’s own feelings:

“A great weekend – met some lovely new people – learnt much on many different levels.”

“A wonderful and instructive learning experience – the tutors facilitated an inspiring and supportive enviornment – a lovely group of people – stimulating.”

“The weekend has been really great. Even after a weekend of writing I couldn’t put into words how much I loved it and what it has meant to me. When’s the next one?”

“It was well worth taking part – thank you.”

Each residency has brought something new and different to the cultural life of the islands. Previous Writing Fellowships have often included a headline event, from Janet MacInnes’s Poetry in Place to the Skald Writers’ Festivals 1 and 2, inspired by George Gunn and Struan Sinclair respectively. The timing of this fifth residency favoured two big ones – a Valentine’s project, celebrating love poetry as public art, and the Westray Writing Weekend.

Altogether, it has been a busy and productive time for Jan Natanson, seven months away from home in Kirriemuir. She has made regular visits to schools throughout the islands – concentrating on the secondaries but including younger pupils – and led writing groups in Kirkwall and Stromness, Westray and Sanday. As well as groups, she has been on hand to advise individuals and help them get their work into print.

As with each Orkney Writing Fellowship since 1999, this residency was funded jointly by the Scottish Arts Council and Orkney’s Department of Education. Half the time is the writer’s own, and Jan feels that the week-on, week-off arrangement has been very helpful, allowing her to meet deadlines on her own work.

“Most of my writing since coming here has been for ongoing commitments, scripts, and so on, and not specifically to do with the experience of being in Orkney, although probably influenced by that to an extent – but it’s hard to be relaxed and waiting for the Muse to arrive when other deadlines are waiting!
 “It is obviously a very inspiring place, with many fascinating people to meet and many voices, and I’ve loved being here and hearing those. I’m sure that a year or two down the line all that I’ve seen and learned here will find its way into my work.

“One aspect I have really enjoyed is working with the young people – and that’s something that has made me much more confident about going into schools in the future. On one visit, to Eday, I was invited to the lunch club where the older folks come in and join in the life of the school with the younger ones. A lovely interaction.

“Even though I’ve been coming here on holiday for years, I feel I’m just getting to know the place, and there’s so much to enjoy. The food for example is wonderful. And now everyone says hello as I make my way from my wonderful house on the pier to the library – I feel I’ve worn a path! Really I haven’t missed home at all. It sounds bad to say it, but I haven’t. I’ve had lots of visits from family and friends of course. But it’s been quite an eye-opener – you can dispense with so many things you always felt it necessary to have around you.”

“The potential clearly exists here – as this and the other residencies have shown – and the great thing is that it exists at all levels”

With so much behind it and such a widespread and continuing interest, it might seem as though the Fellowship’s future should be assured. After having committed support to it for the past six years, however, and while fully appreciating its value, the Education Department has had to reconsider whether it can still make available the necessary resources at present. It seems that, if the residency is indeed to continue, the responsibility for it will have to shift to another agency.
 
While there seems to be no obvious and immediate contender, there are several reasons to hope that further fellowships can find a new sponsor – or sponsors. One possibility is the long-discussed idea of a Writers’ Centre in Orkney; another may lie within the plans currently being prepared by Dr Donna Heddle, of UHI-Millennium Institute, for a Nordic Studies Centre based at Orkney College in Kirkwall. Yet another is the growing awareness that more groups of people than hitherto may benefit from writing classes, and that other public bodies might be able to join in with their support.

The idea of an Orkney Writers’ Centre figures strongly in the county’s Arts Strategy and is also supported by HI~Arts Writing Development Officer, Peter Urpeth, who spoke very positively on that theme on a visit here in February. He says, “My own feelings [on the writers’ centre] are that Orkney’s case is very strong both on an artistic level in terms of the current situation and in heritage terms. With the work UHI are undertaking and Orkney Arts Forum’s own plans I can see every reason why Orkney could emerge as a leading centre for writing and I feel that such a development would benefit literature in Scotland as a whole.”

Clare Gee, OIC Arts Development Officer, adds: “Having heard what Jan said on the radio and Penny’s comments too, it seems that a longer timescale for fellowships would also be advantageous.

“After the success of the Westray Writers’ Weekend, I am looking to the possibility of using the residential model in Westray (probably) for delivery of a peer support and mentoring programme for self-employed artists and makers. The residential aspect seems to aid in the group dynamic, and the benefit seems to be more than just in the practical matters you are there for. Seeing that was a good learning experience for me as to what works, and what can be taken and used in different ways.

“All in all I’m very excited about potential developments…”

The potential clearly exists here – as this and the other residencies have shown – and the great thing is that it exists at all levels – as the following anecdote demonstrates. It’s Jan’s, to whom we leave the last word.

“A truly memorable highlight for me occurred one dark February night in Stromness. I was on my way back from the swimming pool when I suddenly noticed that in the short time since I’d passed the window on my way out, the flower shop now sported a very apt reply to the Valentine poem, addressed to the florist, that had been put up earlier that day. It was such a surprise and so naturally done. I loved that – and I stood reading it in disbelief and gratitude even as the rain poured down and the wind kept blowing.

“It’s been great. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

Alistair Peebles founded and was the first administrator for the Orkney Writing Fellowship. He currently chairs Orkney Arts Forum.

© Alistair Peebles, 2005