2006
The death of Muriel Spark on 13th April at her home in Italy has been marked by many warm and appropriate tributes. In Scottish PEN her death touched us particularly as one of our Honorary Members, and because of the charm and friendliness she radiated whenever we met her.
Muriel was an enthusiastic supporter of International PEN and of the Scottish centre in particular. She said in her speech when she became an honorary member:
“All my experience as a woman of Scottish background leads me to believe that the principles of PEN are especially natural to the Scottish character with its independence mindedness, its will to sincerity in public affairs, its sense of our unquestionably being born free.”
As these remarks suggest, she had no doubt that she was “Scottish by formation”. She often spoke about the influence of her childhood and education in Edinburgh, and she never lost her affection for the place, even after so many years abroad. Her last visit to Edinburgh was during the Edinburgh Festival of 2004 at which she gave a memorable talk at the Book Festival. Several of us had a delightful meeting with her over lunch. At that time I was editing a collection of autobiographical essays, Spirits of the Age. We spoke about it and that afternoon Muriel in her hotel room wrote a postscript to her contribution. It ended with these words:
“To me Edinburgh is the seat of the Enlightenment, the home of law and reason. This city has always been harmonious in its design, far-reaching in its outlook, with the imperative of freedom informing the whole of its civic life. Long it may remain so.
I owe to my Edinburgh education a formative experience which has influenced the whole of my work. First of all, the savage sweet Border ballads, the spirit of which I think is often reflected in my writings. They truly entered my life-blood as a child. Without a knowledge of these Border ballads nobody could understand my work. Although I have lived abroad for many years, I am always well aware that I am Scottish both by birth and by formation.”
Paul Henderson Scott
August 2006.
Bookfringe/Scottish PEN Alternative Arts Breakfast – 16th August 2006
Not All Thud and Blunder – How do we Cope with Scottish Culture Today?
Speakers – Lesley Riddoch, Robin Harper, Donald Smith, Stuart Kelly and Michael Russell (chair)
This lively and stimulating discussion covered a range of topics, from the nature and function of democracy itself, to the role and perception of the media, and to the sense of marginalisation experienced in some areas of Scottish culture.
Donald Smith put forward the view that democracy was not yet fully functioning, in fact was only beginning, since democracy needs to include the views of all of its members.
When it came to discussion of the media, Lesley Riddoch pointed out that dissent and disagreement were too challenging for them. Des Dillon and Janet Paisley for example, had been removed from River City, and Lesley’s own phone in program had been ended, because of this fear of dissent and of animated views and opinions. This led to the interesting comments – one by a member of the audience - that the people who run the media see the world as a projection of their point of view, and so will necessarily want to promote that point of view. Another from Michael Russell, who said that program makers think that their remit is to fuse the vision, rather than to represent all diverging visions or views.
While on the one hand Stuart Kelly felt that Scottish literature is thriving, with two books by Scottish writers on the Booker prize list, others felt that their languages, dialects and accents were marginalised and not represented. And while some individual Scottish writers and publishers were thriving, the problem of lack of funding for arts organizations in general is ongoing. Scottish PEN supports writers and writing in Scotland and also works for the release of imprisoned writers all over the world, yet faces the constant problem of finding sufficient funding for basic activities and essential projects. The Edinburgh Bookfringe, set up in 2004, which represented and gave a platform to many Scottish writers during the international festival period, has not been able to continue, for lack of interest and support.
Co-operation versus competitiveness in the arts was also discussed. The arts need not necessarily be competitive, as music, dance and theatre especially, involve close co-operation. Lesley Riddoch mentioned how in Cape Breton dance is something that everyone does, people dance together and enjoy it for its own sake.
And a comment by Stuart Kelly re parochialism in a wider sense, was particularly appreciated. ‘I overheard’ he said, ‘a couple of Americans asking a taxi driver to take them to George If Bridge!’ And while we may not like the historical implications of the name George IV, it was agreed that we do not want to start re-naming our streets in the way that communist and post-communist countries have done.
The feeling I came away with was that this discussion in and of itself was refreshing, stimulating and necessary. How can we promote more discussion of this kind, rather than having goals, initiatives and participants decided for us by various committees and ‘commissions’?
Morelle Smith
Scottish PEN member John Coutts is a retired university lecturer who lives in Stirling. He has translated
'The Power of Goodness', published by Friends International Library. The stories are about non-violence and peacmaking, and aim to promote peace and reconciliation.
As well as Russian John speaks French, German and Efik.
March 2006Iyad Haliatly, Scottish PEN member, took part in Artists in Exile Event in Glasgow, March 2006
Iyad's full description of the part he played in the Artists in Exile event in Glasgow can be found in Members NewsWhen I stood on the soap-box with a noose snaking out of it and recited my poem aloud - in Arabic - of lost homeland, and of wanting to belong, here, I knew that there was none of the audience on the bus could understand what I was saying, but I just kept on going with my lyrical voice and my body language delivering my words, appealing to the people, to Glasgow, and to Scotland to close the gate of death, and open the gate of life in front of the new comers and me.
April 2006
Author of the Lymond Chronicles, King Hereafter and The House of Niccolo series of historical novels and the Johnson Johnson series of detective stories, Dorothy Dunnett was an accomplished writer, a distinguished portrait painter and a tireless contributor to the cultural and literary life of Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, she published some 23 books in all, attracting a worldwide following of readers who meet regularly to discuss her work.
This exhibition at The Writers Museum, (April 2006) looks at the life of Dorothy Dunnett and her work as an historical novelist. During the run of the exhibition, in late April, the Dorothy Dunnet Readers’ Association is dedicating a commemorative stone to their favourite novelist in the adjacent Makars’ Court.