tapsalteerie poetry night: Rachel Plummer & Mae Diansangu

"Diansangu disrupts colonial and heteronormative conceptions of the past by giving voice in Scots and English to queer, Black and feminist perspectives that have been overlooked for far too long. An essential read." – Shane Strachan

"Rachel Plummer is telling new myths about love and sex, transformation and discovery, being and belonging, death and hope, all the while following the bright logic of words’ music. These are poems to read your sweetheart in bed at night and poems to curse your enemies: they’re magic." – Harry Josephine Giles

Join us to celebrate the recent publication of two new Tapsalteerie poetry books - Mae Diansangu's 'Bloodsongs' and Rachel Plummer's 'Once I Carried Three Crows'.

Mae's 'Bloodsongs' shifts between English and North-east Scots in an ode to matters of the blood: queer carnality; black rage; the crude power of myth; how history is felt in the body. Offering retellings of legends and biblical stories as well as perspectives on injustices faced today, this radical debut collection marks the arrival of an exciting new voice in Scottish poetry.

Rachel's vivid and surreal 'Once I Carried Three Crows' presents contemporary myths born from experiences such as the process of ageing, disability, intergenerational relationships, body image and sexuality. Here we find stories of the woman who married the North Sea, of ghosthouses and of birdhouses, of Iris, the first granny in space, and of the worm that eats memories along with ‘half a glass / of iced Chianti’. Following on from 'Wain: LGBT reimaginings of Scottish folktales', their collection aimed at younger readers (Emma Press, 2019), this highly anticipated new collection is Rachel Plummer's first for grown-ups.

About the poets:

Mae Diansangu is a queer poet and spoken word artist from Aberdeen. She has performed at literary festivals across Scotland and appeared on BBC Scotland’s Big Scottish Book Club and BBC Radio 4’s Tongue and Talk. Her series of poems “black lives, heavy truths” is part of the National Library of Scotland’s collection.

Rachel Plummer is a poet living in Edinburgh. They are a Scottish Book Trust New Writer’s Award winner (2016) and have published widely across numerous magazines and journals. Rachel has two children, three guinea pigs, and entirely too many books.