Before we get down to celebrating our members’ March successes – we have a couple of latecomers for February Successes.
Carolyn O’Hara delivered two talks, the first of which, on 4th February at Dalrymple SWI, was Finding Oculeus: Exploring Life in Ayr in 1898, based on columns written for The Ayrshire Post by her great-grandfather, W.G. Wallace – the material that later formed the basis of her social history book. The second talk entitled Who was Sir John Steell? Was given on 5th February to Prestwick History Group. An exploration of the life of this modest Scotsman who was the most successful British sculptor of the 19th century, famed for his statues of Robert Burns..
At the end of the month, Rose McGregor was asked to share two of her poems The Kelvingrove Bandstand (in Scots), and The Dancing Chandelier (in English) at a Cancer Care Fundraiser at Dalserf Church.
Rose kickstarts our March successes – she was invited to read a poems and cutty tales in Scots as guest speaker at East Kilbride Burns Club on 2nd March. She was also involved in a lively Q&A session where members of the club shared memories sparked by the poems. Well done Rose.
Carolyn O’Hara was the invited guest speaker at Troon Family History Society om 19th March. The subject of her talk was – More From Oculeus.
Damaris West maintained her excellent run of success with a trio of poems published over the month. Summer from Winter and So this was where he stood both appeared in Poems for Persons of Interest, while Earthquake, Castelluccio published in The Woodside Review.
The Crafty Coo in Ayr was the setting for Kids Crafty Craft Day and International Women’s Day on March 8th. Marion Husband was invited to read her books to the children then they took part in theme based activities that complemented her stories – map making, crowns, hats and bookmarks. Well done, Marion.
Core Contributors to Writers Narrative – an e-magazine aimed at the writers on Substack, Susan McVey and Linda Brown each had an article published in the March issue.
Susan’s World-Building That Comes Alive, gives advice to ‘world-building’ authors on how to avoid the ‘info dump trap.’ Linda’s Using Cultural References to Anchor the Past offers tips to fiction writers on how to ground their work in a particular era. Both articles are well worth a read.
Meanwhile Linda and Chris Palmer were published in the Mar/Apr ‘Outdoor’ edition of Ayrshire Magazine.
Linda’s nature article Chiffchaffs and Pipits – Exploring the Mast Road from Priestland recounts her mammoth walk along a country road above the Irvine Valley and the wildlife encountered. Her second piece – Hillhouse – The Kilmarnock Based Charity With a Big Heart –highlights the essential work and future plans of the charity.
Chris is in the garden once more, although you’d hardly guess it from his intriguing title – The Story of a Next Shirt, Caledonian Pearl & Sweet Aperitif . Caledonian Pearl is, of course, a variety of potato and Sweet Aperitif is a juicy tomato. His second article – The Dick Institute – Brian the Lion, Malky McCormick and an Excellent Empire Biscuit – celebrates the wonders of ‘The Dick,’ Kilmarnock’s gem of a library, museum and exhibition space.
www.ayrshiremagazine.com
March came to a close with good news from Tracy Harvey – oor member wha scrieves her poyums in Ayrshire Scots, her mither tongue. She has self-published a book of her poetry – Leeann and Betty Throu the Waa. Tracy’s book, illustrated by friend of AWC, Ken O’Hara, and featuring 25 of her fabulous poems. Congratulations, and guid luck wi yer cutty tales, Tracy.
That concludes another busy month, showcasing the hard work, talent and incredible creative spirit running through our club.
Congratulations everyone whose work has been published , shared and performed.
Ayr writers are sure spreading awareness of how being a member of this club gives great support, guidance and opportunities for all genres of writing skills .
Robert Burns would be proud of us