The John Maclean Centenary Concert

The following article was written by Jim Aitken and was first posted by Culture Matters. It spotlights the exceptional concert held as part of Celtic Connections in Glasgow’s Concert  Hall. THE JOHN MACLEAN CENTENARY CONCERT Celtic Connections put on a wonderful concert recently, in memory of Scotland’s great Marxist revolutionary, John Maclean (1879 -1923). Glasgow’s magnificent…

To breathe the air of peace – review of Gerda Stevenson’s ‘Tomorrow’s Feast’

Jim Aitken has written this review of Tomorrow’s Feast by Gerda Stevenson which was first posted by Culture Matters. Tomorrow’s Feast is Gerda’s most recent book of poetry, written in English, Lallans and a short item in Gaelic. TO BREATHE THE AIR OF PEACE Tomorrow’s Feast by Gerda Stevenson is her third poetry collection. It is…

Uday, One Day

The following poem was written by Jim Aitken and first posted by Culture Matters. Any extra comment by the editors of this blog is superfluous in the face of such a heart-rending killing. Uday, One Day by Jim Aitken In memory of Uday Abu Mohsen who lived only one day after being killed during the…

Portrait of a revolutionary: Guevara in Kilkee

The following article was written by Jim Aitken and was first posted by culture matters.   PORTRAIT OF A REVOLUTIONARY: GUEVARA IN KILKEE   Sixty years ago, in 1963, an Aeroflot flight from Moscow was on route to Havana and had to stop at Shannon airport due to fog. Shannon, then as now, is famous…

Now Ukraine

We are posting the poem Now Ukraine by Jim Aitken which will be published by Culture Matters in Jim’s forthcoming book Declarations of Love. NOW UKRAINE 1. Yes, it is absolutely ghastly and gruesome. Yes, Putin is responsible for war crimes because war itself is a crime, a failure. I started marching during the Vietnam…

Popular Culture, Brexit And One Nation Toryism

The following article by Jim Aitken, first appeared on the Culture Matters blog. There was a palpable sense of euphoria on the BBC during the morning after the night before of the General Election of December 12, 2019. It had a feeling of glee about it; a childish excitement that the un-English dragon of socialism –…

Review of ‘Quines’ by Jim Aitken

We are posting this review by one of our contributors, Jim Aitken, of Quines, Poems in tribute to the women of Scotland, written by Gerda Stevenson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerda_Stevenson). This review was first posted by Culture Matters. Accompanying illustrations of textiles are by artists from EDGE: Textile Artists Scotland.   A FEARLESS GAZE OF HOPE – ‘QUINES’  …

JIM AITKEN WRITES AN APPRECIATION OF TOM LEONARD

Jim Aitken, poet and playwright,  has written an appreciation of the Glasgow poet, Tom Leonard, who died on 21st December, 2018. It can be seen on the Culture Matters blog at:-  http://www.culturematters.org.uk/index.php/arts/poetry/item/2972-ach-well-all-livin-language-is-sacred-an-appreciation-of-tom-leonard _________ also see:-