Himself by the Seaside
Ian Anderson
Alasdair Gordon
Bill Robertson
Cal Wallace
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Himself by the Seaside, a collection of poems and prose by Ian Anderson,
Alasdair Gordon, Bill Robertson and Cal Wallace, four members
of Aberdeen's Lemon Tree Writers, was launched at the Aberdeen Douglas Hotel on
Saturday 24 September 2011 as part of New Words 2011.
Published by Lemon Tree Writers, and with a cover illustration by Cal Wallace, the
book is available at any Lemon Tree Writers event.
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Review by Steven Porter
Alasdair Gordon may open this anthology of poetry and prose from four of Aberdeen's
Lemon Tree Writers with some love poems, but don't be fooled into thinking this
is an anthology for Valentine's Day. His excellent High Wire is a striking
contrast. So much so that it is hard to believe it was written by the same person.
High Wire is something of a narrative poem, written in the historical present,
about Scottish emigrants setting out for Canada. But there is an unexpectedly sweet
ending. Himself by the Seaside, the Gordon poem that provides the title for
this anthology, is both descriptive and evocative, ensuring that we are all given
the opportunity to savour the many sensations of the coastline.
Again, there is a noticeable shift in Gordon's later poems in the anthology. Blundergeist
seems like more of a stream-of-consciousness experiment, but includes some highly
original phrasing, such as ‘the horsey clatter of the every day’, and
intriguing lines about giving a pig bubble gum. The mind boggles. One wonders if
the poet saw ‘the guy spinning plates on stage just before Elvis came on’
or if this was plucked from a psychedelic dream or film. Gordon also dishes up some
humourous wordplay with In The Bistro, where a famous chef puts ‘the
hurt into yoghurt’. Sounds like Hell's Kitchen, but much tastier.
Bill Robertson's stories could appeal to adults and teenagers alike. Although both
Stupid Baby and Still Life feature childhood perspectives and memories,
these tales are all the better for not presenting the past as more virtuous or innocent
than the here and now. Growing up has its traumas and young people are not easily
fooled by selective rose-tinted memories, even if doesn't take long to be tricked
into subscribing to this view. Make no mistake, the seventies or eighties had their
horrors too, much like any other decade. Robertson's tales reflect this, while not
losing sight of the good times in the form of games and other cultural references
from back then. There might just be a twist in the tale, à la Roald
Dahl, but that would be telling.
Cal Wallace is another short story writer partial to taking on a child's persona.
As in Robertson's stories, sinister undercurrents are not far from the surface.
‘It’ features an imaginary friend who gets up to no good. The nastiness
has only just begun. Wallace's other story, The Black Stuff, is unlikely
to be picked up by the Irish Tourist Board. Hopefully the establishment in question,
an Irish Fawlty Towers run by a miniature Basil by the sounds of it, does not feature
among their recommendations. However, the story is to be commended for the attention
to detail in Wallace's prose and the images he conjures up — not all pleasant!
There's also a controversial debunking of the Guinness myth. Once tasted, never
forgotten, indeed.
Ian Anderson's mature poems, while also quite dark, add sobriety to this anthology.
My personal favourite is probably Sunset, in which the poet asks who still
remembers those so neatly laid / in soldierly array / round each bend in the road?
Carefully chosen words that echo the best in war poetry from ‘crimson Flanders’.
And no North-East collection would be truly complete without some Doric-Scots. Happily,
this is provided by Ian Anderson's verse. In both Ashes and Black and White
Days, life and death converge as the poet's observing eye watches the journey.
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Steven Porter, October 2011
Steven Porter is the author of The Iberian Horseshoe — A Journey
(badosa.com, Barcelona 2007), Shellfish and Umbrellas (poetry: Koo Press,
Aberdeen 2008), Blurred Girl and Other Suggestive Stories (Thunderclap Press,
New Jersey 2010), and Countries of the World (fictional memoir / sports fiction:
Breogan Books 2011).
stevenjporter.wordpress.com
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