Today’s poetry news selection takes a look at the shortlists for the Scottish National Book Awards, the Rumi and Persian Language festival and finally, the naming of Walt Whitman Way.
Scottish National Book Awards Shortlist
At an event that took place earlier this week, The Saltire Society made the announcements regarding this year’s Saltire Literary Awards to which they will be adding two brand new prizes.
The two new awards will be for Scottish Book Cover and a very special
Award for Lifetime Achievement. In total there will be 11 prizes in 2019 and
the winners will be announced on 30th November at a ceremony which
will take place in Edinburgh.
The Saltire Literary Awards are widely considered to be the national
book awards of Scotland and have awards which span six different categories –
non-fiction, fiction, history, research, poetry and first book. There are also
awards in two separate publishing categories – emerging publisher and
publisher.
The Calum MacDonald Memorial Award is another award that will be given
and is presented to a publisher who during the previous year has been
responsible for the publication of an exceptional example of a pamphlet of
poetry. This award is given in association with the Scottish Poetry Library.
The awards have previously been noted for recognising early talent with
winners like Kate Clanchy and Michel Faber.
The entrants this year have come from all over the world. The only stipulation in place is that entrants need to have been born in Scotland, currently live in Scotland or have produced a work that is about Scotland.
The entries in the poetry category this year include books that have
been written in both English and Gaelic.
Rumi and Persian Language Poetry Festival to be Held in Albania
On November 7th in Tirana, Albania the “Rumi and Persian
Language Poetry Festival” will be taking place.
The festival will feature a varied programme including a theatre performance and a recitation of Mowlana one of Rumi’s poems. A number of prominent figures from the artistic world in Albania will be taking place, and there will also be an unveiling of one of Rumi’s poetry books.
The festival is being run with the support of the Iranian Cultural Attache in Albania and with assistance from the Albanian National Theatre, and some of Albania’s noted artists.
Walt Whitman Way Day
Saturday 2nd November will see the naming of Walt
Whitman Way and Ryerson Street in Brooklyn.
The day will be dedicated to celebrating the life of the poet and
also his writing. He had strong connections to Brooklyn and the naming of Walt
Whitman Way is just one of the ways in which the city has decided to honour
him.
The Council Majority Leader for New York City will be making a
speech on the day and there will also be readings of Whitman’s poetry from a
number of well-known poets from the city. There will even be a birthday cake to
celebrate the 200th anniversary of the poet’s birth date.
