John Bolland

My writing focuses on identity, resilience and inter-generational responsibility, the predicaments we share in day-to-day working life in factories and fields, as parents and lovers. Originally from Paisley, I have based myself in the North East of Scotland for most of the last four decades.

I write across a range of forms and my poetry and short fiction in Scots and English has been widely published in magazines and anthologies. My collection Fallen Stock was published by Red Squirrel in March 2019. My practice is informed by the lived experience and language of both the North East and Central Belt, and by a long career in the international oil industry. In addition to graduating with distinction from the M.Litt course at Glasgow University, I have an MSc in Theoretical Chemistry and a strong grounding in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

I am an experienced reader and performer and, in recent years, my work has involved creative collaborations with chronic pain sufferers, folk in recovery from alcohol and drug misuse, theologians, and an advertising agency (as writer in residence). I also have experience, from my previous career, of facilitation and event management for very large groups.

(Works in Scots)