Mill Theatre, Thurso, 30 July 2005

James Ross. © Ranald MacAuslan

NOT ANOTHER TIME, not another place…

An appreciative audience was treated to a fascinating mixture of artistic styles in the form of music from local composer, James Ross, and readings of poetry and prose from Bess Ross, Anne Macleod and George Gunn.

On the face of it, there would appear to have been a contrast between a parochial view of the world on the one hand, and a more international Weltanschauung on the other. In fact, what emerged was universality of experience: the audience was able to empathise with characters both in locally-based stories, and with characters who are experiencing life in more exotic places, whether that experience be in the here and now or in years gone by.

Bess Ross fired our imagination with a reading from her short story, “Monj”. From a simple proposition of a man offering a total stranger a bed for the night, Bess produced an amusing and bizarre short story that entertained us all, mainly through the understated way in which she delivered it.

The extract from her novel was very disturbing, dealing as it did with the issue of self-harm, whilst at the same time providing a rather macabre element of humour in the process, as the girl contemplates sticking a needle into her pet rat to terminate its existence rather than her own.

Anne Macleod’s delivery style was totally different. By carefully selecting key passages from her novel, The Blue Moon Book, Anne presented an engaging reading that had many of us in the audience dipping into our pockets to buy her book, having had our appetites whetted so effectively.

---

Change is inevitable; but in adjusting to it we should not lose sight of our roots.

---

Like Bess Ross, Anne evoked a disturbing image, this time of a woman sustaining horrific injuries after being dragged along the road by a bus. It sometimes takes very traumatic experiences to facilitate learning. For the heroine’s new partner, a visit to the concentration camp in Auschwitz had afforded some insight into the true meaning of life. Often we only feel really alive when we are close to death.

Another text read out to us came from Anne’s first novel, The Dark Ship. Though set in another time (the first World War) her book invites us to empathise with the protagonist, Iain Alexander Murray, a poet from Lewis. An interesting process was at work: here was Anne, reading out the poems as if they had been written by Iain, but because she was reading them out and not a male reader, it was harder for the audience to go along with the idea that these were not her poems.

Last of all came George Gunn, who indicated that his poems could be seen as unashamedly parochial, and yet there was that same universality coming through again. Change is inevitable; but in adjusting to it we should not lose sight of our roots.

‘The Atlantic Forest’ underlined the ability of one local boy looking out from Dunnet Head to empathise with his counterpart in Brazil. We must not forget who we are. Others may tell us to get rid of our way of speaking and thinking; but ultimately, this is our very identity. George’s poems were very thought-provoking.

The whole evening was given an added delight in the form of original music from James Ross. A colleague sitting next to me with impeccable musical credentials was duly impressed, as were we all. What James extracted from his piano keyboard sounded more akin to the pipes or strings. It was an amazing collection of the traditional and the avant-garde and rounded off a perfect evening.

John Sawkins teaches at North Highland College. The event was organised and presented by Scotia Review, with assistance from Live Literature Scotland.

© John Sawkins, 2005