Chrissie Gittins , poet and author of short stories and radio dramas, will be spending May in Shetland as a writer in residence.
This will be Ms Gittins' second spell in the islands, having worked with schools in 2010. Her published poetry collections for both adults and children have been critically acclaimed; for example, two of her children's poems won Belmont Poetry Prizes in 2002. She has read her poetry and stories in places ranging from the Royal Festival Hall to the Poets' House in New York. Her plays for BBC Radio 4, including Starved for Love, Life Assurance and Dinner in the Iguanodon, have starred Patricia Routledge, Jan Ravens and Sorcha Cusack.
During May, she will be resident at The Booth, a studio on the waterfront in the village of Scalloway which is made available to visiting writers and artists. She will be working with primary schools in Hamnavoe and Scalloway and will give a children's poetry reading at the Shetland Times Bookshop on 18 May. On 22 May, she'll take part in an evening of adult poetry and music at the Shetland Library.