Brian Johnstone – författare

Brian Johnstone’s third collection from Arc, to be published as the poet turns 70, is full of memories, from the poet’s own past and from the lives of the people he has encountered over the years. Family, friends, places, landscapes, photographs, events emerge from these pages with a clarity informed by a humanity and understanding as the poet looks back. This is a highly accessible book that will have a wide appeal, especially for newcomers to poetry.

Scotia Extremis brings together a gallimaufry of poets to take a sideways look at what makes - and makes up - Scotland by examining the country's 'icons'. Featuring specially commissioned works by the National Makar Jackie Kay, plus acclaimed poets including Robert Crawford, Imtiaz Dharker, Douglass Dunn, Vicki Feaver, John Glenday and almost 100 more, all are tasked with probing extremes.Each brace of contrasting poems tackles the extremities of the nation's culture by looking obliquely at 'icons' at opposite poles to each other. From Laphroaig versus Buckfast, to Oor Wullie against Black Bob, to Jimmy Shand meeting Jack Bruce, and Cullen Skink taking on Irn-Bru, these vivid and varied poems bring to life the people, places and motifs that form the complex and contradictory soul of Scotland.

This book is also available as a eBook. Buy it from Amazon here.The third full collection by Brian Johnstone, and his second to be published by Arc in their Poetry from the UK & Ireland series.A grounded yet playful collection from an assured poet, flexing his muscles into newer territory. As well as the deep lineage of rural landscapes that populated previous collections, here Johnstone treats us to an extended trip to the circus, where the glitz and thrill of the big top and its stunts are peeled back to allow us into the physical and emotional rigour that forms the show's backbone. Elsewhere poems transport you more literally through music, movies and TV history, around Europe and into the distant past, again balancing between illusion and the tension that supports it in the more mundane world. And throughout, the tone and language also plays an ingenious balancing act between the structured, the rhyming and the informal. This is a personal and expansive collection, honest and exploratory."Brian Johnstone appears to have taken to heart, or learned by instinct and experience, Robert Frost's advice to avoid approaching a poem's subject too directly. A consequence of this is that Johnstone's poems establish their own presence, leaving room for mystery and lyricism to emerge with a convincing uniqueness. Dry Stone Work is a robust collection, packed with original strengths, delicacies, variety, and a vivid awareness of life. An impressive collection, then, not just to be recommended, but to be read and re-read." - Douglas Dunn"The use of language is authentic and precise, and the perception of an often-hidden world fascinating and genuine." - David Morley on The Ring Cycle sequenceBorn in Edinburgh in 1950, Brian Johnstone has lived in the Fife countryside since 1972. He has published two full collections and three pamphlets, as well as appearing in anthologies and other publications in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK and in Europe and the Americas.

A grounded yet playful collection from an assured poet, flexing his muscles into newer territory. As well as the deep lineage of rural landscapes that populated previous collections, here Johnstone treats us to an extended trip to the circus, where the glitz and thrill of the big top and its stunts are peeled back to allow us into physical and emotional rigour that forms the show's scaffold. Elsewhere poems transport you more literally through film and TV history, around Europe and into the past, again balancing between illusion and the tension that supports it in the more mundane real world. And throughout, the tone and language also plays an ingenious balancing act between the structured, rhyming and informal. This is a personal and expansive collection, honest and exploratory.