North Idea writers
Alex Cluness: 2005
Alex Cluness was born in 1969. His work has been published in The Herald, Northwords, Markings, Lallans, Poetry Scotland, New Writing Scotland, The New Shetlander and Shetland Life. His first collection, Shetland and Other Poems is published by The Shetland Times; Disguise, his second collection, is published by Kettillonia.
Lise Sinclair: here
Lise Sinclair was born in 1971. She lives in Fair Isle, Shetland. Her poetry has been published in The New Shetlander, Shetland Life, The Pull of the Moon or Bicycle Dreams, Parnasso, and has been translated into Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Icelandic and Norwegian. She has also written a suite of music for cello, harp, viola and voice for poetry from Shetland: Ivver Entrancin Wis.
Malachy Tallack: In Prague
Malachy Tallack was born in 1980. His poetry has been published in The New Shetlander and Shetland Life, and in 2005 he won the Shetland Writing Prize for a short play called 'A Measure of Love'. He has also released three albums of his own songs: The Desert (2003), Edges & Spaces (2005) and from the thorn (2009). He is currently editor of Shetland Life magazine. www.malachytallack.com
Matthew Wright: Topping Up
Matthew Wright was born in 1975 and brought up in Kirkwall, Orkney. He has worked as, among other things, a crab shell packer, lab technician and a barman. He now lives in Burra, Shetland. His work has appeared in The Pull of the Moon or Bicycle Dreams, Northwords, The New Shetlander and Shetland Life. He has read his work in Faroe, Iceland, Aberdeen and at the Wordplay book festival in Lerwick.
James Sinclair: Gulf Stream Blues
James Sinclair was born in 1961 and has lived his whole life in Lerwick. He began writing only in his forties, but his poems have since appeared in The Pull of the Moon or Bicycle Dreams, The New Shetlander, Sucking Mud, Pushing Out The Boat 6 and The Shetland Arts Trust’s Poetry Postcard book. He has read his work at Word and Wordfringe in Aberdeen and at the Wordplay Festival in Lerwick.
Mark Ryan Smith: Midnight & Tarantella
Mark Ryan Smith was born in Lerwick in 1976. He studied English Literature at the University of Glasgow, and is at present an assistant in Shetland Archives. Mark contributes poetry regularly to the New Shetlander and elsewhere. He is currently researching a PhD on Shetland Literature.
Donald S Murray: Praising the Guga
Donald Murray is a Shetland-based writer, originally from Ness in the Isle of Lewis. His poetry and prose has appeared in many newspapers, magazines journals and anthologies, as well as on national radio, and his previous publications include Special Delivery (shortlisted for the Saltire award, 1998), West Coasters (shortlisted for Callum McDonald Memorial Prize, 2003), Between Minch & Muckle Flugga (Kettillonia, 2005)and Speak to Us Catriona (2007).