Declarations on Freedom for Writers and Readers

Declaration on Freedom for Writers and Readers is an anthology of poetry and prose exploring freedom of expression. The year 2020 marks the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath in which the Scottish nobility appealed to the Pope to support the nation’s fight for freedom from ‘the rule of the English’. The need to hear and understand each other is as urgent now as it ever was. This project was conceived and realised by Scottish PEN which, for nearly 100 years, has been campaigning for freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas across borders. Declarations includes many voices, featuring some of Scotland’s leading writers such as Karen Campbell, A C Clarke, Carl MacDougall, and James Robertson, as well as writers from overseas.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface by T M Devine Introduction Mario Relich, Alasdair Gray on the Declaration of Arbroath: a personal view Jim Aitken, Abbot Bernard’s vision Donald Adamson, The wirth o freedom* Alex Nye, The price of freedom David McVey, From Bannockburn to Arbroath Gerry Loose, Isle of Bute Declaration Christiane Oetter, My forefathers tell me G W Colkitto, You say Declaration of Arbroath Christie Williamson, So long Donald S Murray, A different declaration Sylvia Anne Telfer, Declaration from the Castle of Perseverance Mairi Murphy, In praise of argument A C Clarke, Correspondences Karen Campbell, Saorsa Solomon Jessie, Show me Colin Robinson, Resistant Louise Eldridge, Unvanquished Lawrence Schimel, The freedom to write Chris Wright, They told me Anne Murray, Images of freedom Greg Chatterton, Bushveld suburbia David Bleiman, The ugly truth Mary McCabe, Maide-Crochaidh – Hanging stick Rosemary Hector, Babel Jock Stein, Tones of destiny* Linda Lewin, The fig tree Seth Crook, Declaration of naming rights Elaine Webster, Freedom of speech Finola Scott, The set o declaration M T Taylor, Witness Jenni Calder, A 20th-century tale Charlie Gracie, Asylum accommodation survey, Glasgow Miriam Vaswani, An old word for frost Steve Harvey, A figure of speech Gavin Baird, A meaningful declaration James Robertson, Early days Carl MacDougall, Even now Helen Boden, A declaration of hush Beth McDonough, My son asserts his unwritable need of hazes   Judyth Hill, Song for the dark times Anne Connolly, Engraved Richard (Spike) Munro, Thought police Loretta Mulholland, The Thammasat massacre Elspeth Brown, Declaration of Dunbar* Kirsten MacQuarrie, No honest woman Julian Colton, Selkirk fog Ian Crockatt, Master class David Manderson, Declaration: language, freedom, voice Jane Archer, Letter to Behrouz Bouchani Kirsty Logan, Letter to Stella Nyanzi Chris McQueer, Letter to Galal El-Behairy Ricky Monahan Brown, Letter to Lydia Cacho Chitra Ramaswamy, Letter to Varavara Rao James Robertson, Letter to Ahmet Altan Zoe Wicomb, Letter to Shakthika Sathkumara *Award winner