Ian Stephen

Just to say, by signing off 'Gone me'. Have not been active since a considered post at time of USA election was censored. Mr Musk's embrace of the German far right make this platform impossible for me. Will deactivate shortly.

At Bridges Between @BirlinnBooks @ScotStoryFest Thinking back to working between the Skellig this summer. On the oral and written culture of The Blaskets.

Atlantic Ireland. Reliving voyages and the stories they brought me too. Guid Craic, Waverly Bar, Edinburgh 7.30 tonight Fri. And Scottish Storytelling Centre Sunday 6pm

portobellobookfestival.com discussing Boatlines from @BirlinnBooks in 3 way conversation Sat 5th 1800

@washingtonpost "What a sham" 🙄

Got to hand it to Harris Football Club for best comment. Guardian and New York Times nil Harris FC 1

@alastairmci The people of France have shown another way - rather than assimilate the rants of the far right 'stop the boats' - or keep dropping policies passed by conferences, common cause has to be found. Not going to be easy but...

@IanStephenSY And to think that it’s a lad from Tong! (Imagine the pride if he’d not become translocated from island values … but then he’d probably never have got elected in the US).

“With fear for our democracy, I dissent.” Justice Sonia Sotmayor. Chilling breezes in the USA, France, Clacton. If thinking people can work together... Can France show a way?

nytimes.com/2024/06/28/opi… Clarity and care in the New York Times editorial today. As the ballad says, 'truth is brighter than the light, falsehood darker than the night'

Wonderful to be joining the @drunkmusepoetry family soon. 'The Bone Folder' my debut Full Length Collection will be sharing shelf space with some outstanding poets. Amazing to me, 3.5 years after I began to write poetry. So many folk to thank for getting me here 🙏💖🙌

@LesleyRiddoch @pimlicat @BestForBritain I did eventually find na Eileanan Siar but this seems the most crude of guides without regard to several key issues -have to trust voters of conscience more savvy than the 'guidance'.

@pimlicat @BestForBritain OK - I inserted my postcode and it came back with 'bad gateway'. With no inclusion of Scots in alphabetical list (and no indication it was only England at the top) I gave up.

Hi @BestForBritain - you don't seem to have included Scottish constituencies in your analysis. Which is a bit weird since SNP are the only major party pledging to rejoin the EU.

A full-scale Israeli military assault on Rafah is taking place. Thousands of people have been killed and all main hospitals have shut down. The UK must suspend arms transfers to Israel to prevent their use in further atrocities. #CeasefireNOW map.org.uk/campaigns/susp…

The current @paperboatswrite zine, with writers such as @kittyjmac pondering where “time has been slippery, great globs of it whirling out of grasp & then all our river grief becoming spate”; and @IanStephenSY delicately contrasting Lewis community with the uprooted Donald Trump.

'Salmon Netters Balmedie' by my late uncle Donald Smith catches the working lives of folk along this stunning shore, years before Trump 'fixed' it.

Briny by Mandy Haggith, published by Red Squirrel Press, 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. Read a short excerpt from Briny here: highlandbookprize.org.uk/2023-longlist-…

@david_gange Well done that man - you fair covered the miles, land and sea - very much looking forward to the book - will look out.

Just pressed send on the finished manuscript of the book that comes after The Frayed Atlantic Edge. Called Afloat, it's about North-Atlantic ocean journeys, sealife, & communities - built on little rowed & paddled boats - who've called these sea-ravaged or icebound coasts home.

To celebrate Maxim Znak’s place on this year’s Republic of Consciousness Prize shortlist, please join us at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, on 17th April, where the winner will also be announced @Foyles #freeMaxim

‘It’s vital to keep the microphones switched on’ Many thanks to @englishpen for an important discussion on freedom of expression within the publishing industry, and what we can do to support individual artists. @LondonBookFair 2024. #voicesofdissent #lbf24