Now that all the contributors to the Arbroath anthology To Whom It May Concern have had their piece posted on this page and now safely stored in the Archive, where they can be accessed here, it is the turn of those members who responded to my invitation to reply to whatever anthology piece they wanted to to have their say. Although there have not been many such responses, all of them showed a willingness to engage with the spirit of the piece they responded to, becoming part of the conversation as it were.
The first up is Kevin Rowswell, who responded to Jane Lamb’s plea A Request To My Son’s Kindergarten Teacher, which you can read here. Jane’s poem was a plea to recognise creativity in a child and not fetter it by rules such as colouring inside the lines. Kevin has let his imagination run riot like the child described in his response, which is from a frazzled kindergarten reader. Enjoy!
Kevin says of himself and his poem (link below) Kevin Rowswell’s poetry explores relationships, survival and the beauty, cruelty, humour and tragedy of the human condition. His work integrates universal themes of natural and social justice. Kevin has studied performance and has broadcast his work.
“A Request to my son’s Kindergarten teacher reminded me of my parents’ robust defence of my own behaviour at school. I thought it was only fair that the long-suffering teacher had the final say.”
https://federationofwritersscotland.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/dear-concerned-parent.pdf
The contributions from our current Makar Finola Scott and our current Scriever Charlie Gracie will remain accessible on the web-site until all the posts from the members who exercise their right of reply have been displayed and do of course appear also in the printed version of the anthology. You can read Finola’s rousing call to all ‘Braw Lassies’, originally written for a Stellar Quines project, at https://federationofwritersscotland.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/braw-lassies.pdf
You can read Charlie’s letter to Mother Earth, a masterly deployment of Swiftian irony (think ‘A Modest Proposal’) at
https://federationofwritersscotland.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/to-mother-earth.pdf
Any comments on any of the pieces published should be sent direct to me at acclarke6@btopenworld.com Don’t forget if you are a Federation member not already accepted for the Arbroath anthology you can write a response to the poems posted. Email me at the above address for details.
