Lesley Harrison

Lesley Harrison – poems, projects, writing.

lf_lh_seahouses_1100

The Tay Estuary Forum was doing its job in April of bringing people together from different backgrounds but with a shared interest in land, waterways and sea.  Artist Jean Duncan introduced poet and writer Lesley Harrison who had her own exhibit  on Mapping the Edge. 

Lesley kindly agreed to send some examples of her poems and writing for the Living Field web site ….. beginning with …..


Extracts from Auchmithie Calendar Twelve Haiku

January

winter comets.
our village is ice-bound,
the ground strewn with stars.

May

cod – saithe – ling
net and line
unraveled at high tide.


Poem Postcards
Birds of the North Sea postcard 1_1100

Birds of the North Sea. Lesley writes: These boards are part of the dune stabilisation east of the mouth of the Dichty. The boards have weathered beautifully – they are now lovely shades of silver, with patterns and sworls appearing that echo the flow patterns of the river through sand or waterweed. [See the links below to Making Space for water.]


lf_lh_pc_stncld

Lesley Harrison lives on the north-east coast of Scotland.  In her writing she explores how we locate ourselves inside our landscape; how residual layers of historical and cultural data, along with light, language, memory and/or our collective unconscious overlap and merge to form our sense of place.  Much of her poetry uses the east coast as case study.

Her pamphlet ‘Upstream’ (2013) was the outcome of Making Space for Water, an arts/science collaboration funded by Creative Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, investigating the hidden urban rivers of Dundee and Aberdeen.  The poems sequence ‘Beyond the Map’ (2012) explores our residual folk memory of Dundee’s 19th century whaling industry.

She is currently developing a collection which explores the poetics of the North Sea coast.

Links

Lesley’s web: Lesley Harrison poetry and auchmithiecalendar.wordpress.com

auchmithie_calendar

A pocket book of 12 drawings and haiku recording a year in the village. Drawings by Sarah Maclean.

To buy 12 Haiku and other works, see Lesley’s web site and mail her  at auchmithiecalendar@gmail.com

Making Space for Water makingspaceforwater.wordpress.com

Tay Estuary Forum

[last updates 2 June 2016; 31 May 2023 to add new links]