Briny reflects the poet's 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.
"A wild, joyful book of sea-longing and sailing from Assynt to the Arctic with a beloved skipper, immersed in the mysteries and glories of a salty world full of seals, otters, dolphins and gannets. This book is a joy: astringent and effervescent as the northerly lochs and seas it celebrates. Wise and infused with a wry, slant glint which Norman MacCaig would have enjoyed, this book refuses to romanticise the sea and its perilous state yet celebrates the utter freedom and joy of sailing from loch to outer sea and on to the Arctic." Pippa Little, author of Time Begins to Hurt, Twist and Overwintering
"This collection is a sailor’s logbook of observations, aware that time is running out for our species if it continues to abuse its home. Yet the language has the energy of optimism whether in the exuberant ‘Sky socks’ or the refined ‘Zen-gardener’, all brimful of love for stones, animals and selected humans. Here is a poet who can hear and heed good advice from the birds. Hope appears as suddenly as flocks like ‘crumbs shaken from a tea towel' or ‘ash from a burned-out fire’." Ian Stephen, author of Maritime, Waypoints, A Book of Death and Fish and Boatlines
"A wild, joyful book of sea-longing and sailing from Assynt to the Arctic with a beloved skipper, immersed in the mysteries and glories of a salty world full of seals, otters, dolphins and gannets. This book is a joy: astringent and effervescent as the northerly lochs and seas it celebrates. Wise and infused with a wry, slant glint which Norman MacCaig would have enjoyed, this book refuses to romanticise the sea and its perilous state yet celebrates the utter freedom and joy of sailing from loch to outer sea and on to the Arctic." Pippa Little, author of Time Begins to Hurt, Twist and Overwintering
"This collection is a sailor’s logbook of observations, aware that time is running out for our species if it continues to abuse its home. Yet the language has the energy of optimism whether in the exuberant ‘Sky socks’ or the refined ‘Zen-gardener’, all brimful of love for stones, animals and selected humans. Here is a poet who can hear and heed good advice from the birds. Hope appears as suddenly as flocks like ‘crumbs shaken from a tea towel' or ‘ash from a burned-out fire’." Ian Stephen, author of Maritime, Waypoints, A Book of Death and Fish and Boatlines
Used availability for Mandy Haggith's Briny