Richard Anderson
Mark Pithie
Gráinne Smith
Michelle Wyllie
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Kelly's Cats
Kelly's Cats, a collection of poems and prose by Richard Anderson,
Mark Pithie, Gráinne Smith and Michelle Wyllie, four
members of Aberdeen's Lemon Tree Writers, was launched at the Aberdeen Douglas Hotel
in February 2011.
Published by Lemon Tree Writers, and with a cover illustration by Helen Elizabeth
Ramsey, the book is available at any Lemon Tree Writers event.
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The best anthologies feel like an effortless balancing act: a consistent theme without
monotony. Kelly's Cats achieves that. There's thoughtfulness in the selection
of pieces; poems both in English and Scots are punctuated by Michelle Wyllie's concise
and clear prose pieces, the first of which gives the collection its title.
Kelly's Cats has a distinct sense of place: Aberdeen city with all its grittiness
and dry humour. Richard Anderson provides political satire with an edge sharp enough
to make you wince as you laugh (and I loved his tribute to the nose); Mark Pithie
gives us a series of acute commentaries on the city landscape, tinged with sadness
and memory. Gráinne Smith's poetry sketches skateboarders, a homeless boy
and an ancient corpse with equal delicacy.
It's a short but enchanting collection that lingers in the mind, and it ends on a
timely and relevant question.
Gillian Philip
Author of Crossing the Line and Firebrand
www.gillianphilip.com
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Richard Anderson was born in Ayrshire and lived in several other parts of
Scotland before settling in Aberdeenshire in 1975. He worked in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
as a surveyor before retiring and taking up creative writing in 2000.
His poetry often comments about aspects of Scottish life and has from time to time
been published in local anthologies.
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Mark Pithie is the assumed alias of Adam Maxwell-Farquhar, the mysterious
weaver of supernatural tales, who spends most of his time in darkness, scaring himself
witless with his dark thoughts and visions.
As an occasional poet, Mark or rather Adam would like to make an exception for the
launch of Kelly's Cats, and venture from his garret room into the brightness
of the outside world — for one day only.
He hopes you like his contributions.
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Gráinne Smith's favourite activity is finding ideas for her stories,
poems, plays and even her non-fiction books among the people and places where she
has lived, worked and dreamed since she was a few months old — North-East
Scotland.
To learn more about what she's been up to in writing (reality and research, havers
and dreams, but nae tellin which!) check out www.grainnesmith.co.uk.
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Michelle Wyllie was born and raised in Aberdeen and has been taking her writing
seriously since 2006 when she embarked on the first of two creative writing courses
at Aberdeen College. Her writing is usually inspired by the history of the North-East
of Scotland or London and the stories featured in Kelly's Cats are her first
published stories. Her ultimate writing ambitions are to publish historical novels
and maybe even a biography.
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