The Dark Skies at Wigtown Book Festival

Two exciting pieces of news: my new poetry pamphlet 'The Dark Farms' (Roncadora Press) will be launched at Wigtown Book Festival at my reading there on Wednesday 3 October, as part of the Dark Skies theme for this year's Festival.

Lunkie Hole, Silver Flowe

                                                  The Night Horses

                                                  are stalled between sleep and dreaming.
                                                  In the steading they lower their massive heads
                                                  to the earth’s nod. In darkness
                                                  white-faced Clydesdales lip at nothing.



And secondly, I met with artists Jo Hodges and Robbie Coleman, who have been appointed artists in residence for the Galloway Dark Skies Park and Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere.

Robbie and Jo are planning a variety of curious and interactive ways to introduce the Dark Skies Park to festival-goers, and we're developing a collaboration which looks really exciting.  Find out more here.

I spent eight months of 2011 walking in the Forest, exploring ruins, talking to residents, poring over old maps and books and (while dodging some of last summer's rain) delving in Newton Stewart Museum.  I became completely absorbed by this remote, roadless place where hill farming is shrinking back off the high ground, and farms are abandoned, in some cases disappearing completely, except for a placename on a map, under the commercial forest plantings that have been put in during the second half of the 20th century.

The nights are very black, and very starry.