Vaster than Empires

Scottish launch of a poetry anthology from Grey Hen Press

Tuesday 28 May 2019 • 6pm
Blackwell's University Bookshop • 99 High Street • ABERDEEN • AB24 3EN

Admission free • Light refreshments served

Blackwell's Bookshop presents the Scottish launch of the new poetry anthology Vaster than Empires from Grey Hen Press, edited by Joy Howard, with readings from two of the contributors, Mandy Macdonald and Margaret Wood. They are joined by Intuitive Music Aberdeen and the Apothecaries for an evening of poetry and music.

About the Book

Love them, sometimes loathe them, vegetables are such a part of our daily lives it can be hard to take a fresh look. Within the covers of this book you will find a market stall of beauty and desirability that will change the way you look at your 5-a-day.

A feast of an anthology! Funny, educative, sexy and thought-provoking, a group celebration of the humble vegetable quickly turns to pure deliciousness. From aubergine to artichoke, salsify to turnip – there's something here for every poetry palate.

Helena Nelson (Happenstance Press)

About the Contributors

The aim of the Grey Hen Press is to collect and share some of today's exciting new work by older women, work that is perhaps not being taken up by mainstream publishers. For older women, especially those who have reached their sixties before realising their writing potential, it is often difficult to build up a publishing history in the expected way. Time is not on our side. But if an older woman has not got ten years to play with before becoming an "overnight success", she does have a special perspective – a lot of years and experience on which to reflect. Serious stuff – but again and again the sharpest of observations are leavened with a wicked sense of humour. Older women have a lot to say, and they say it with style!

Intuitive Music Aberdeen is an ensemble specialising in music created by the performers in response to text or graphic scores or unconventional notations. Performances range from sequences of short pieces including poetry to extended single pieces reflecting the seasons or the times of day. The ensemble has played in many places in Aberdeen and Scotland's north-east, including St Andrew's Episcopalian Cathedral, the Phoenix Centre at Newton Dee, and Blackwell's University Bookshop.

The Apothecaries are a group of friends and published writers who meet regularly in North Aberdeenshire to discuss and criticise each other's work as well as participating in collaborative projects. To date they have performed at Aden Country Park.

Performers

Readers

Margaret Wood
Mandy Macdonald
Bernard Briggs
Haworth Hodgkinson

Musicians

Mandy Macdonald (keyboard)
Colin Edwards (guitar)
Haworth Hodgkinson (recorders)

Venue

Blackwell's University Bookshop • 99 High Street • ABERDEEN • AB24 3EN

Links

Grey Hen Press
Blackwell's Bookshop