#UntitledTwo: Neu! Reekie!

Neu! Reekie! #2

by Kevin Williamson (Editor), Michael Pederson (Editor), Ryan Van Winkle (Contributor)

A follow up to last year’s immensely popular #UntitledOne. This year’s anthology gives us more of the promising and established names in British poetry who have all shared the Neu! Reekie! bill. Many of the works are new, many are favourites read at the events; all are savoured, sublime, sumptuous voices within poetry already.

Contributors include: Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie and Liz Lochhead as well as younger poets: Rachel McCrum and Ryan van Winkle as well as poets from the spoken word circuit: Luke Wright and Ross Sutherland. Accompanying the book is a downloadable compilation album.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2016

About the author

Kevin Williamson (born 1961) is a Scottish writer, publisher, and activist. He is a Scottish socialist and republican and was an activist for the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP). He was also the architect of their radical drug policy, which included the legalisation of cannabis and the provision under the National Health Service of free synthetic heroin to addicts under medical supervision to combat the problems of drugs in working class communities. He wrote a regular weekly column, "Rebel Ink", for the Scottish Socialist Voice.

His first collection of poetry, In a Room Darkened, was published in 2007 by Two Ravens Press.

In December 2010, with fellow poet Michael Pederson, Kevin Williamson founded Neu! Reekie! A prize winning literary production house they describe as “a literary, music and animation collective with an international output; plus a record label and publishing house in tow”

Reviews

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, I went into #UntitledTwo: Neu! Reekie! wanting a fun, mindless escape, and I got a book that kept poking at me instead. Williamson, Kevin follows a group of old college friends reuniting for a weekend, and the scene around the fire pit, where one casual comment cracks the whole group wide open, is perfectly awkward. Some of the dialogue is a little too neat. For readers who like reunion drama and uncomfortable truths. Skip it if you want pure, easy fun.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look, I'm picky about this kind of book, and UntitledTwo: Neu! Reekie! still won me over. Kevin Williamson has a knack for making ordinary moments feel like they matter. It's not flawless, and the middle drifts, but I never felt bored. Good for readers who love small stories done right, skip if you need a big plot.