West

A new collection of poems inspired by the landscapes of Scotland and beyond, and dedicated to Kenneth’s late sister, peace activist Helen Steven: ‘She was Scotland to me …’ Kenneth Steven is best-known as a poet, although he’s also very much a novelist and children’s author. It’s the wildscape of Scotland that has been his primary inspiration. He grew up in Highland Perthshire and was taken every summer to the west coast and the islands. At the heart of those islands was Iona, the place that from childhood has been his spiritual home. The poems are full of shining images of land and sea, and of echoes of the people who once lived in these wild and remote places; a potent reminder of the history in our geographies. Kathy Galloway Kenneth is regarded as one of Scotland’s finest poets and prose writers, gaining excellent reviews for his work. His admirers have included the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes. Ron Ferguson