The Spring Teller
Poems from the Wells and Springs of Scotland
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
96 pages
978-1-906307-76-9 (ISBN)
Description
Every spring has its own song - from potent legendary wells to inspiring new sources. Listening to the voice of each one, world renowned poet Valerie Gillies composed a new poem to fit. The Spring Teller records the author's remarkable journey across Scotland, which took over three years and included visits to over a hundred springs. Each thought-provoking poem mirrors the flow of the water, from still wells locked in the inner city to the free-flowing springs of mountain or glen. In ten sections Gillies' poetry captures the mineral properties of these springs and explores them as sites of healing and cleansing, as places of pilgrimage and modern meetings, of connection between human and nature and, through her own form of poetic environmental activism, expresses how we should preserve these natural wonders.
The Spring Teller contains an intriguing introduction, landmark poems and a new map to help the reader visit these memorable places, while the photographs show the beauty of each spring. This book is a unique guide to the locations of springs in Scotland, their history and folklore and an exploration of their mysterious properties.
The Spring Teller contains an intriguing introduction, landmark poems and a new map to help the reader visit these memorable places, while the photographs show the beauty of each spring. This book is a unique guide to the locations of springs in Scotland, their history and folklore and an exploration of their mysterious properties.
Reviews / Votes
What surprises and continually delights in this collection is its constantly renewed freshness of observation and language, like looking through a clear and powerful lens, which lets us move through the experience of the well with the poet. - EDINBURGH REVIEWMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 209 mm
Width: 136 mm
Thickness: 11 mm
Weight
260 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-906307-76-9 (9781906307769)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
VALERIE GILLIES is an internationally known and highly regarded poet. She became The Edinburgh Makar, poet laureate to the city, in 2005. Her poetry collections include Tweed Journey (1989) which has been described as 'a key text in contemporary writing' (S.B.Kelly). Other award-winning volumes include Each Bright Eye (1977), The Ringing Rock (1995), and The Lightning Tree (2002).
Valerie is an inspirational teacher of creative writing in schools and universities. As a literary arts practitioner she has worked in psychiatric and general hospitals with Artlink, and in community arts with Lapidus. She is co-editor of the Scottish Poetry Library's first-ever interactive poetry map of Scotland, which maps locations and living poets.
She received a Creative Scotland Award to write The Spring Teller, a book of landmark poems inspired by Scotland's springs and wells. Valerie lives in Edinburgh with her husband, the Celtic scholar William Gillies. They have three grown-up children.
Valerie is an inspirational teacher of creative writing in schools and universities. As a literary arts practitioner she has worked in psychiatric and general hospitals with Artlink, and in community arts with Lapidus. She is co-editor of the Scottish Poetry Library's first-ever interactive poetry map of Scotland, which maps locations and living poets.
She received a Creative Scotland Award to write The Spring Teller, a book of landmark poems inspired by Scotland's springs and wells. Valerie lives in Edinburgh with her husband, the Celtic scholar William Gillies. They have three grown-up children.