Niall Campbell's The Island in the Sound on BBC Radio 3 & in The Scotsman
South Uist poet Niall Campbell published his third collection The Island in the Sound in September 2024. It was launched online with Bloodaxe on 24 September - scroll down to view the video.
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.
In The Island in the Sound, Niall Campbell draws on his native South Uist to create an archipelago of memories, lyrics, observations and folktales that place the small islands of his birthplace into conversation with moments from literature and history. The Sound of the title has a double meaning, both a thing that might be heard but also a body of water between islands or mainland, from the Norse word Sund.
Born and raised on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Niall Campbell now lives in Fife. In March 2024 he took over as Editor of Poetry London.
ONLINE POEM OF THE WEEK FEATURE FOR NIALL CAMPBELL
Yorkshire Times, Poem of the Week, Saturday 9 November 2024
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. The poem was accompanied by Steve Whitaker’s perceptive commentary.
‘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
https://yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Poem-Of-The-Week-Tongues-Of-Water-By-Niall-Campbell
VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH NIALL CAMPBELL
Just Another Poet, Niall Campbell, 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.’
POEM OF THE WEEK FEATURE FOR NIALL CAMPBELL
The Scotsman, Poem of the Week, Saturday 5 October 2024
Niall Campbell’s poem ‘A Man Carrying His Own Door’ from his third collection The Island in the Sound was featured as Poem of the Week in The Scotsman magazine of 5 October. The poem was accompanied by an introductory comment.
'The poems in the book place his Hebridean homeland in an ever-shifting mosaic of tidal gifts, memories, folklore, conversations and people. Always there is an awareness of the sea that surrounds, that change is constant, and that there is no going back.’ – The Scotsman, Poem of the Week
In print only.
NIALL CAMPBELL INTERVIEWED ON LANTERN SCOTTISH POETRY PODCAST
Lantern Scottish Poetry - Inheritance: Niall Campbell, podcast released 15 December 2023
Niall Campbell was interviewed for the first live recording of the Lantern Scottish Poetry podcast. It was recorded in front of an audience at the Push the Boat Out festival in Edinburgh in November 2023. Niall read poems from his two Bloodaxe collections and discussed about homes and poetic homes with podcast hosts Ally Heather and Scotland’s Makar Kathleen Jamie. He also spoke about growing up on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Niall read ''The Letter Always Arrives at its Destination’' and ‘The Work’ from Moontide, and ‘The Night Watch’ and ‘Good Night’ from Noctuary.
‘Multi-award winning poet Niall Campbell joins Scottish Makar Kathleen Jamie and host Alistair Heather on stage at the poetry festival 2023. Our theme is inheritance and tradition.’
Poems from Moontide featured at the top of the episode, and Niall read his poems from Noctuary from 18:15. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kkt7YHnIKU76bs0tuBq9z
NIALL CAMPBELL PRESENTS BBC RADIO 3's THE ESSAY
The Essay: An Turas / The Journey, BBC Radio 3, Wednesday 15 November 2023, 10.45pm
Scottish poet Niall Campbell presented and contributed to special edition of BBC Radio 3’s The Essay featuring five writers from Scotland, who all narrated a piece in their own language or dialect (with no translation).
Niall Campbell now lives in Fife, but was brought up on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides. He recorded this piece for BBC Radio 3 on the island, looking out to sea – or The Sound, as it is known. In his third collection The Island in the Sound, published in September 2024, Niall returns to South Uist, which was the inspiration for much of his award-winning debut collection Moontide.
The other four writers were Rahat Zahid, speaking in Urdu from Glasgow, Len Pennie in Scots from Fife, Peter MacKay in his native Gaelic from Edinburgh, and Mae Diansangu, speaking from Aberdeen in the Doric dialect of north east Scotland.
‘Five celebrated writers from around Scotland sit at their nearest window and share, in their own language or dialect, what they can see and how it makes them feel about their homeland. This immersive audio collage takes us on a tour of modern Scotland's plurality of languages, dialects and cultures. Niall Campbell of Hebridean South Uist lets his eyes scan the waters of his island, and his mind wander beneath the waves. He considers, in English, the Norse influence in the naming of his surroundings.’
This beautiful multi-lingual audio feature will remain available on BBC Sounds. Listen here.
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ONLINE LAUNCH READING
Tuesday 24 September 2024
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. He was reading from his third collection The Island in the Sound.
This free Bloodaxe launch event was streamed on YouTube Live and is now availabe on this YouTube page: https://youtube.com/live/GIeiEhAvavQ
[10 October 2024]
