Tapsalteerie Press have just published a new collection of poetry in Scots by the SLC’s very own makar ben the virtual hoose, Stuart A Paterson. Stuart, who was born and raised in Ayrshire, is a former poet in residence in Dumfries and Galloway and, after spending several years abroad in England, returned to Scotland in 2012 to take up the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship with the Scottish Book Trust. His book ‘Border Lives’, inspired by life in Dumfries and Galloway, was published in 2015 by Indigo Dreams and in the same year he became the Scots Language Centre’s official poet.

Now Stuart has published his first collection of verse wholly written in Scots and entitled simply ‘Aye’. It is 32 pages long and contains a foreword by well known writer, editor and publisher Dr Joy Hendry.  The booklet (SKU 978-0-9926631-8-6) is priced £5.  If you would like more information, or to order a copy of Stuart’s collection, please contact the publishers at info@tapsalteerie.co.uk . If you would like to learn more about Stuart please visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/patersonpoetry.

Tapsalteerie Press, which is based at Craigievar in Aberdeenshire, was founded in 2013 as the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign, and is headed by Duncan Lockerbie. Tapsalteerie are primary focussed on promoting and publishing poetry in Scots, particularly if the work is innovative and has something different to say, but they also produce work in English and Gaelic too. They currently have a full publishing schedule into the new year but if you would like to offer work for consideration then Tapsalteerie would like to hear from you by e-mail at submission@tapsalteerie.co.uk .