The Morning After II

Get your mind out of the gutter…this post is called the Morning After because I wrote this (or the bulk of it anyway) the morning after my April 11^th reading in Scotland at the Aye Write! Festival. Why am I only now posting it? Well, I’ve been sick like sick like a dog sick since my return from Scotland. I don’t blame Scotland or anything…but seriously why is it so cold?

The event itself is a bit of a blur. Thank God for this record that it happened and I spoke and said things.

From left Gemma Robinson, me, Ivory Kelly, and Martin McIntyre. Gemma is a professor and was our facilitator, Ivory is a writer from Belize and Martin’s a writer from Scotland.

What stands out for some reason is me nearly coughing up a lung during Belizean writer Ivory Kelly’s reading; thankfully she didn’t punch me in the face for potentially messing up her reading (if it’s any consolation, Ivory, I’m still coughing). I remember too in the after drinks portion of the event that I received some complimentary feedback and had a lovely chat with a gentleman about the links between Scotland and the Caribbean. Our small band which gelled really well then went to a pub to unwind the rest of the evening. The following morning I did an audio recording for the Commonwealth website – a reading and interview – before hitting the road with Ivory to explore the town and then later to take in some of the festival. Everyone was great really – the folks from the Commonwealth and from the British Council, as well as the festival folks; Gemma and Martin – the other members of our panel; Jamaican writer Kei Miller who is every bit as engaging as he is on the page and social media – but I’m glad that I got to meet him in person and as we would say in Antigua taste his hand after he invited Ivory and me over for dinner (I still can’t stop talking about his ackee lasagna and those cocktails). Kei came to our panel and his was one of two other panels we were able to attend before the Aye Write festival wrapped. It was a whirlwind of a time.

I had a couple of extra days on my own (albeit that one of those I was benched by the flu and rain) and I was able to take the train about an hour out from Glasgow to Balloch at the foot of Loch Lomond where I was able to walk around for a bit along the lakeside, up the hillside…  before kicking back with fish and chips and “a pint” at Palombo’s where, per the signs, a point of pride is that the fish is all locally caught and the potatoes locally grown. I was still sick as hell that day but it’s still one of my favourite days of the trip because I was effectively at the fault line between the low lands and highlands (you know, the Scottish Highlands from whence comes mythical fictional character Duncan McLeod of the Clan McLeod or so I told myself…don’t judge me) and because I don’t feel I’ve been somewhere until I’ve explored for a bit…and I don’t mean the inside of clothing stores…though I explored a few of those too.

And speaking of explorations, I have to say, sitting in that diner in Loch Lomond, I felt a wave of gratitude at how fortunate I’ve been to be some of the places I’ve been whether on my own steam, as a journalist, in some other work capacity, or as a writer. I can’t help thinking that whatever else my life proves to be, it hasn’t been stationary.

Here are some links re the Glasgow panel (with thanks to the organizers of the Aye Write! Festival, the British Council, the Commonwealth Foundation, Gemma Robinson who chaired our panel, and co-panelists Ivory Kelly and Martin McIntyre):

Pre coverage – http://repeatingislands.com/2014/04/10/commonwealth-voices-an-interview-with-antiguan-writer-joanne-c-hillhouse/

Coverage during: http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/commonwealth-writers-conversation-tongues/

Post coverage – http://birdtreebellandfish.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aye-write-glasgows-book-festival.html#comment-form

 

Images in this post courtesy Ivory Kelly.