You can keep up to date with the latest developments in my writing life here.
03 March 2023New Poetry Book to launch soon
My much anticipated book of sea poems called Briny is about to be launched into the world, thanks to Red Squirrel Press.
Appropriately enough we will have the launch event at the Scottish Association of Marine Science in Oban on Monday 13 March at 4.30pm. All welcome!
Here's what the blurb for the book says: Briny, the latest collection of poems from Mandy Haggith, reflects her passion for the sea, whether lapping the shores of the northwest Highlands where she lives or afloat on the wild waters of the Minch. The poems throng with sealife, from barnacles to bow head whales, charting sailing passages and swims, drawing deeply on intimate lived experience of the marine world. A sharp, clear lyrical voice sings here with seabirds and seals.
And here's a wonderful quote about the book from Liz Lochhead: ‘The intimate informality of her address to this, her deepest, most beloved subject, from the smallest, most particular aspect to the widest sweep of it, and the sensuous precision of her always accessible language coupled with an often MacCaig-like wit, make for a collection as salty and bracing as the sea itself.’
I am very excited!
08 February 2023Lost Eden is found!
The long-awaited book consisting of four novellas, one by me and the other three by Douglas Thompson, Margaret Elphinstone and DP Watt, is now available. It's a big, chunky volume and a fascinating book, with each of the authors taking a different take on the theme of formal gardens. My novella is inspired by the house and grounds at Inverewe, home of Mairi Sawyer, and one of my characters is loosely based on her. The garden in the story is very much Inverewe Gardens, but the story is pure fiction. I hope you'll enjoy it. You can buy a signed copy here. If you're in Europe and probably if you're elsewhere too, it will be more cost-effective to buy direct from the publisher, Zagava, in Germany - see here.
The launch event, cancelled in the autumn, is now going ahead at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, on Tuesday 21 February at 7pm. If you're in the Central Belt, please come and meet the authors and learn more about the book. You'll be very welcome. More details here.
