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Edwin Morgan’s death has deprived us of a true great of literature Words: Allan Radcliffe Festival Tweeters hype the shows
E dwin Morgan was a Glasgow writer: born in the city’s West End, he was raised in Rutherglen and studied and worked at the University of Glasgow. Much of his writing reflects his love of the city and its changing nature, and he was never afraid to explore Glasgow’s seamier side, most prominently in the poignant, unflinching ‘Glasgow Sonnets’ and in standalone poems such as ‘Glasgow Green’, which describes violent male- on-male rape. Yet
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Morgan was anything but parochial. He translated numerous foreign works, including pieces by Brecht, Neruda and
Pasternak, and he updated classic canonical works such as Christopher Marlowe’s Dr Faustus. He experimented endlessly with form and gave voice to mythical creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster (‘Sssnnnwhufffll?’) and aliens living on Mercury (‘Gawl horrop. Bawr.’). His classic 1973 collection From Glasgow to Saturn reflected his fascination with space travel. Morgan’s decision to come out as gay at the ripe young age of 70 provoked a fuss in the media. But while many of his tenderest and most sensual love poems, including ‘Strawberries’ and ‘The Unspoken’, use the ambiguous second person, he does deal with explicitly gay encounters in poems such as ‘Christmas Eve’, which depicts a
fleeting encounter on a bus.
in his writing and In recent times Morgan battled cancer and spent his final years in a nursing home. And yet his unending curiosity and ability to evolve, the humanity and compassion the displayed timelessness of his work have meant his poems have continued to find new readers. He collaborated on a song with Idlewild in 2001 and contributed poems to the Chemikal Underground project Ballads of the Book in 2007. Coincidentally, Morgan died the day after the results of the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s poetry competition, named after him, were announced. It’s a measure of his enduring popularity with readers of all ages that the news of his death became the number one Twitter trend for that day, with fans sharing their favourite works, including the achingly tender love poem that reads, ‘When you go / if you go / And I should want to die, / there’s nothing I’d be saved by / more than the time / you fell asleep in my arms’.
HELEN ARNEY KARMA RATING: 90 POSITION: 7TH
@belgiano Very much enjoyed @helenarney’s Songs for Modern Loving tonight. Clever, funny and heart-warming.
@natmetcalfe For a moment I thought @helenarney had a proper quote from David Bowie on her flyer. @FringeofReason OMG, not only was @helenarney’s show awesome, she’s actually the nicest person IN THE WORLD!!! :)
@Amaihel What’s the best stuff to see at the Fringe in the final week? Apart from @helenarney ofc.
@glitterysah went to see @helenarney’s show tonight – AMAZING!! She is so lovely and funny and she let me play on her uke after the show, yay! fun times!
@BjornGrainger The wonderfully sweet @helenarney who I had a slight crush on after seeing her show at the Mach Comedy fest. But don’t tell her that . . . ■ Helen Arney’s Songs for Modern Loving, Just the Tonic @ The Caves, 556 5375, until 29 Aug, 7.35pm, £8 (£7).
www.edtwinge.com
TAKE5 FESHTIVALSH: FIVE SHOWS GETTING YOU TIPSY
The Difference Between Gin And Bacardi Presented in the boozy confines of the Hive nightclub, this drama tells of three friends coping with adolescence. Which, as we all know, generally involves amorous entanglements, family issues, self- identity, the looming spectre of adulthood and – you guessed it – a fair amount of booze.
Taste Whisky @ Leslie’s Tutored Tasting Edinburgh’s finest local bar, John Leslie’s (no, not that one) is offering you the chance to learn the arts of whisky tasting. Twelve distilleries are taking part, including Glenlivet, Laphroaig and Talisker, and if you overdo it, remember that Scotland’s other national drink – the trusty Bru – is a great hangover cure. Beer Goggles A free Fringe comedy show that ponders the great questions of bar philosophy: is the glass half-full or half-empty, or does it in fact just have too much head on it? One of the participants, Jim Campbell, is an Amused Moose and So You Think You’re Funny finalist for 2009; if he makes you laugh, go ahead and buy him a pint.
Days of Wine and Roses Jazz and booze: whether it’s the Beat poets’ bottle of wine, or the glass of bourbon on a New Orleans grand piano, the two are dizzily intertwined. Tony Bennet and Bill Evans performed a version of this classic on their 1975 collaboration, which now forms the basis of a tribute by vocalist Jonathan Cairney and pianist Euan Stevenson. A Pint For The Ghost There’s a South Yorkshire legend that tells of a pub where the ghosts come to share their tales. It’s fitting, then, that this legend has been adapted by the morbidly-monikered Helen Mort into poems and stories to be performed at the Fringe; even more fitting that it should be performed at what is purported to be Edinburgh’s most haunted pub.
10 THE LIST 26 Aug–9 Sep 2010
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