Niall Campbell Readings
Scottish poet Niall Campbell published his third collection The Island in the Sound with Bloodaxe in September 2024. He launched the book in person in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and has given readings at the inaugural Summit Festival in West Yorkshire, the Berwick Literary Festival in Autumn 2024, and will be reading at the Push the Boat Out festival in Edinburgh on 23 November. Scroll down for the video of his joint online event with Bloodaxe on 24 September 2024, and to watch a video interview of Niall reading from and talking about this new collection in the Just Another Poet series.
Niall Campbell's debut Moontide won both the Saltire First Book of the Year Award and the inaugural £20,000 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. His second collection Noctuary was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2019, as was fellow Bloodaxe poet Vidyan Ravinthiran's second collection The Million-petalled Flower of Being Here. Born and raised on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Niall now lives in Fife.
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Niall Campbell's poem 'The Night Watch' from Noctuary was chosen as one of 20 'Best Poems of 2019' featured on the Scottish Poetry Library's website. The poem, along with audio of Niall reading the poem and comments from both him and editor Roseanne Watts can be found here.
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Niall Campbell’s poem ‘Tongues of Water’ from his third collection The Island in the Sound was featured as Poem of the Week in the online regional newspaper the Yorkshire Times of 9 November 2024. The poem was accompanied by Steve Whitaker’s perceptive commentary. Read online here.
‘Niall Campbell’s poem of love and identity finds the perfect metaphor for a sense of collective spirituality in the protean ebb and flow of the tide.’ – Steve Whitaker, Poem of the Week, Yorkshire Times, on ‘Tongues of Water’ from The Island in the Sound
FORTHCOMING READINGS
Saturday 23 November, 2.30pm
Push the Boat Out Festival: On Fatherhood, with Raymond Antrobus and Niall Campbell
Dovecot Studios, Ladies Baths, Edinburgh
Raymond Antrobus and Niall Campbell have written extensively about fatherhood, love, and masculinity. Antrobus’s most recent collection, Signs, Music, reflects on imminent fatherhood and stepping into this role, while Campbell’s collections Noctuary and The Island in the Sound are filled with the discoveries of what it is to become a father. This event is chaired by poet and new father, Samuel Tongue.
This event will be BSL interpreted and live captioned.
£12/£10 (Free with Festival Pass) - more details and booking here.
PAST READINGS
Tuesday 24 September 2024, 7pm
Online launch reading by Nia Broomhall, Niall Campbell, Sarah Holland-Batt and Laura Wittner, with translator Juana Adcock
Niall Campbell joined the authors of our other September titles to celebrate the publication of their books with readings and discussion. This free Bloodaxe launch event was streamed on YouTube Live and is now availabe on this YouTube page: https://youtube.com/live/GIeiEhAvavQ
VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH NIALL CAMPBELL
Just Another Poet, Niall Campbell, online 5 November 2024
Niall Campbell was interviewed by Taz Rahman for the Just Another Poet video series. Niall was filmed reading poems from his third collection The Island in the Sound as well as responding to questions about growing up on South Uist, his poetry, poetic inspirations and his plans for Poetry London. Niall read and introduced his poems ‘The Apprenticeship’, ‘Morning Lessons’, ‘The Windows’, ‘The Death of the Birds’ and ‘Island Sonnets: Delos’, all from The Island in the Sound.
‘Taz Rahman interviews the Bloodaxe poet and Poetry London editor Niall Campbell.’
NIALL CAMPBELL A GUEST ON MAKAR TO MAKAR
Makar to Makar, livestreamed Thursday 9 July 2020, 7pm
Niall Campbell was Scotland’s National Poet Jackie Kay's guest on Makar to Makar on 9 July, alongside fellow Scottish poet William Letford. The event was streamed live at on 9 July, and is now available on YouTube - see below. With music from singer Claire Brown.
Niall Campbell’s page on Makar to Makar is here. He writes about his favourite bookshop and library, and there are links to the audio recordings Niall posted on his website.
Niall read ‘The Night Watch’, ‘First Illness’ and ‘Good Night’ from Noctuary, and ‘The Work’, ‘Rodin Sculpts ‘The Kiss’’, ’’The Letter Always Arrives at its Destination’’ and ‘Leave Poetry’ from Moontide. He also read a new poem ‘Exiting the Library’. Jackie Kay said ‘There is something timeless in the quality of the work’ after he had finished reading. Niall’s set started at 35.49
Makar To Makar | Episode 9 | Jackie Kay with Niall Campbell, William Letford and Claire Brown
Fellow Bloodaxe poet Imtiaz Dharker was a guest on Makar to Makar on 4 June 2020. Links to all the episodes, with full credits to all the poems read – including Jackie Kay’s poems published by Bloodaxe - are here.
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NIALL CAMPBELL READS FROM HOME
Niall Campbell read for the 2015 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Colette Bryce.
Video recordings of Niall Campbell reading two poems from Noctuary from his home have been posted on the John Hewett Society's website here.
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Listen to Niall Campbell narrate a poem he wrote especially for the Radio 4 feature Ballad of the Fix, about Scotland's drug problem, here. This was a BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Week.
[05 September 2024]
