Brian Whittingham

Brian Whittingham is a Scottish writer, editor and lecturer on creative writing.

Early life and career

Brian Whittingham was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1950. He lived in a council tenement in Drumchapel until the early 1970s. Before becoming a full-time writer he worked as a steelworker/draftsman in Glasgow shipbuilding yards close to the Titan Crane. He worked on the squad that built the QE2, launched 1967 and attended a gala dinner on board in 2008 to mark the ship's retirement to become a floating hotel in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.

Personal life

He has two children. He enjoys the Scottish climate and travel. He is an art fan with a preference for Post impressionists work.

Works
Poetry
  • Bunnets 'N' Bowlers (A Clydeside Odyssey) (Luath Press)
  • Drink The Green Fairy (Luath Press)
  • Septimus Pitt & The Grumbleoids (Luath Press, illustrated by Mandy Sinclair)
  • Old Man from Brooklyn and The Charing Cross Carpet (Maricat Press)
  • Swiss Watches & The Ballroom Dancer (Taranis Books)
  • Ergonomic Workstations & Spinning Tea Cans (Taranis Books)
  • Industrial Deafness (Crazy Day Press)
Editorial work
Plays
  • Diamonds in Bedlam
  • The Devil's dandruff
  • Boo!
  • Smugglers and Black Damp
Performance
  • Ballad of the Big Ships - he read his poetry and told stories of his life in the shipyards.[1][2]

He recorded Edwin Morgan's poem, "The Loch Ness Monster Song" as a tribute along with other invited poets, to celebrate Edwin's 80th Birthday.

His workshops have consisted of teenagers writing poems in the sand on the Normandy beaches, senior citizens writing their memories whilst sitting in tramcars in Glasgow's Transport Museum, youngsters writing plant poems in Glasgow's Winter Gardens and Hawaiian students writing dialect pieces in Seattle University.

He has worked as Writer in Residence for East Lothian Council.[3] He has enjoyed long term fellowships at Yaddo in Seattle[4] and Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship at Chevillon Grez in Paris.[5]

References
  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/radioballads/2006/ships/
  2. Ballad of the Big Ships event
  3. Writers Groups
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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