Tro Chloich Na Sùla

CLÀR, 2014. 104 pages. Paperback.

Myles Campbell's new Gaelic poetry collection (late 2014) brings together contemporary and traditional themes. The first half of this innovative anthology features poems based loosely on the old metric tradition of dàn direach - structures employed by the medieval Gaelic and Irish bards who created poems using tightly constructed verse systems. Campbell presents an exploration of the effect of belief on some well-known European artists through the ages. We encounter the work of painters such as da Vinci, Gauguin, Blake and Chagall.

In the second half of the book, the style is that associated with contemporary free verse. A further twenty poems allow Campbell to examine a number of ideas encompassing themes including community, politics and nature. There are poems of a more personal nature too. The book includes author notes on the verse as well as biographical information on the artists.

This is an international anthology, moving effortlessly between Gàidhealtachd and the wider world.