15 Poems of Iain Crichton Smith
A Commentary
Readings by Iain Crichton Smith, with commentary by John Blackburn
This double CD covers the major themes of Iain Crichton Smith’s career: the struggle between light and dark and his ambivalent attitude towards religion, sometimes oppressive, sometimes full of grace.
17 Poems of Edwin Morgan
A Commentary – Volume 1
Readings by Edwin Morgan, with commentary by Professor Roderick Watson
The poetry of Edwin Morgan is varied and original, filling a series of volumes spread over more than fifty years. This collection focuses on two contrasting sides of Morgan’s work: poems centred on the life of his home city of Glasgow, and the poetry coming out of his fascination with space and science.
23 Poems of Edwin Morgan
A Commentary – Volume 2
Readings by Edwin Morgan, with commentary by Professor Roderick Watson
Volume 2 contains poems on such topics as Glasgow, love, family, and larger world issues, and moves from acute observation of reality to often surreal heights of imaginative invention. These are the poems of a man who has maintained and extended his range of interests and poetic skills with the advancing years.
19 Poems of Norman MacCaig
A Commentary
Readings by Norman MacCaig, with commentary by Professor Edwin Morgan
These recordings of Norman MacCaig reading his poems, with introductions and commentary by Edwin Morgan, cover the major themes of his poetic career, from the tightly structured earlier poems to the free verse of his later books.
James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
A Commentary
by Douglas Gifford
In this double CD Professor Gifford guides the listener through the turns and twists of Hogg’s novel, accompanied by atmospheric readings of selections from the text by John Shedden. Both psychological and supernatural elements are explored, along with the background to Hogg and his works.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Thrawn Janet’ and ‘Markheim’
A Commentary
by Ian Campbell
Professor Ian Campbell contrasts two of Stevenson’s short stories: ‘Thrawn Janet’, set in the Scottish Borders in the early eighteenth century; and ‘Markheim’, set in a pawnbroker’s shop in late nineteenth-century London.