a rabble of glints: a collaboration

I’m delighted that Red Squirrel Press will publish a collection of poetry from Mairi Murphy, Donal McLaughlin and me in the autumn of 2025.

We are are three West of Scotland writers with strong Irish roots. Donal, born in Derry, emigrated to Paisley as a child. Charlie & Mairi are second and third generation respectively. The childhoods of all three coincided with the Civil Rights movement in the US & Northern Ireland. Awareness of different forms of discrimination, of the struggle for basic human rights, informs the stories & poems these authors have been writing about emigration & immigrant experience. 

The three of us worked together for a workshop at the 2021 Paisley Book Festival and have developed our work since. 

Stay tuned form more updates. In the meantime, here are some of the poems that will appear in the book.

Outside the Car – Mairi Murphy

prompts from the north – Donal McLaughlin

Arum Lilies, Belfast – Charlie Gracie