ST ANDREWS: Wednesday, 26 October 2022 at St Leonard’s Chapel, from 7.30 pm

ABERDEEN: Thursday 27 October 2022 at Books & Beans, 6.30pm - 8.30pm

INVERNESS: Friday 28 October 2022 at Waterstones, from 2pm

OBAN: Saturday 29 October 2022 at Oban Library, from 11am

About the book

The Last Woman Born on the Island (Vagabond Voices, 2022) is an exploration of the past and the present, and a celebration of the landscapes, both physical and emotional, that make up our lives. Where are we from? Can we ever really go back there?

The title poem is set on an unnamed Hebridean island which could be St Kilda, could be fictitious, or could be a symbol for what we have lost and what we yearn to rediscover. Much of the collection is set in the author’s homeland of Scotland.

Some poems contemplate the history and traditions of the Highlands and Island – from the HMS Iolaire disaster off Lewis in 1919, to the knitting of Eriskay ganseys, the legend of The White Cow at Callanish stone circle, and the work of herring girls at the start of the 20th century. Others consider Scottish dialect, and the country’s wildest and most beautiful landscapes.

What it is to belong to a place, let alone to two places? In one long poem, the author stands between her home country and her adopted country of France, letting her feet talk us through the places they have been. Who is the last woman and where is the island?

Click here to buy the collection

About the poet

Sharon Black is from Glasgow and lives in a remote valley of the Cévennes mountains in France. Her poetry is published widely and she has won many awards for her work including First Prizes in the Guernsey International Poetry Competition 2019 and The London Magazine Poetry Prizes 2019 and 2018. She is the author of 3 other full collections: To Know Bedrock (Pindrop, 2011), The Art of Egg (Two Ravens 2015; republished Pindrop, 2019); The Red House (Drunk Muse, 2022); and a pamphlet, Rib (Wayleave, 2021). Since 2016 she has been editor of Pindrop Press. www.sharonblack.co.uk