A third chapbook, Alias Isobel by Morag MacInnes was launched in Orkney, May 2008. The poems, written in the Orkney dialect of a century ago, create a loose narrative around the story of Isobel Gunn. She disguised herself as a man so that she could work for the Hudson Bay Company and was only found out when she gave birth to a baby!
The pamphlet is hand-finished, and includes wonderful illustrations by John Cumming, complementing the poems and evoking the location and era. It is also published in an edition of 300 numbered copies, available from Porteous Brae Gallery, Tam McPhail’s bookshop, the Waterfront, Café Hoy, Orcadian shop and the Shetland Times Bookshop or the author, priced £5.
Reviews
“Alias Isobel is a dazzling, profound narrative poem drawn from recent Orcadian history…”
Review of ‘Alias Isobel’, Neal Ascherson, The Sunday Herald, 30th of November 2008
“Morag MacInnes’ poem, Language was teh Scottish Arts Council’s Scots Poem of the Month for August 2008.”
‘Scots Poem of the Month – August 2008’, Scottish Arts Council, August 2008
“Alias Isobel represents very fine poetry by an accomplished wordsmith.”
‘Fine poetry, quality production’, Ron Ferguson, The Orcadian, 15th of May 2008
“Morag MacInnes gives Isobel a voice, a strong, uncompromising, earthy Orkney voice, and lets her tell the tale herself…The poems are lean, forceful and memorable.”
Review of ‘Alias Isobel’, Laureen Johnson, The New Shetlander, 2008