Roddy Scott

"I came from a poor background but was interviewed successfully for Stirling University, at 18, in May 1980 and became a teacher of English and French in the HIghland region, retiring in 2016. From 1985 to 1992 I was a writer and spoken word performer. The first person I worked with was Tom Leonard in 1985, in Paisley Central Library, as part of a writers’ group I attended. I left the group aged 23 and joined Barrhead Writers, earned recognition slowly, and was published in their wee anthology. In 1989-91, I joined the Basement Writers, near Shadwell Tube Station, London and also joined the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers – an England, Wales and Scotland-wide organisation which supported writers in groups all over the country. I was writing poetry constantly during those years and getting some published in the Newsletter of the FWWCP and performing my work at open mics. During this time I performed Spoken Word in Brighton, Bristol, Manchester and London, attended poetry workshops and writing articles. In 1991-92, I attended the Pollockshields Library Writers’ Group led by Janet Paisley, who sadly passed away. She was a genius to work with and I continued to write poetry and send material for publication and to competitions. I was the leader and co-founder of Fort William Writers’ Group, from 1995-1998, and managed to get the group’s anthology published by Lochaber Council. Some of my work was published there as well as in a local free periodical for householders in the Fort William area. While I was teaching English in Hong Kong, 1998-2006, my work was published in Outloud, an anthology of poets in Hong Kong. It included mainly Spoken Word performers, in various venues, around Hong Kong. My poem appears next to Professor Agnes Lam of Hong Kong University, so I felt very pleased indeed with that success. In 2021, a call-out to creatives was made by One Ren, Renfrewshire Council’s arts wing. We were asked to write a poem of between 40 and 45 words to help people to feel positive again after lockdown, cheer them up. My poem (‘Sma Shot Reel’) was chosen along with two others- a 6 Metres-high poster was created and posted up beside Paisley Gilmour St train station, and stayed there for 3 weeks. I currently run the group, Paisley Writers 2024, along with our secretary Alison Guild, which was started in January 2024, in Paisley in Central Library and Methodist Central Halls. In July 2024, Together with Anne C Clarke, a Scottish Poetry Library listed Scottish poet, I sub-edited the monthly newsletter of Federation of Writers Scotland (FWS). We have steady attendance and great writers. I have been published by: Sentinel Literary Magazine; Dreich Magazine; Flash Fiction North (July 2024); Highland Park Poetry Anthology, Illinois, USA (Amazon: July 2024); Cerasus Poetry Magazine (soon in 2024); Andy Jackson’s (FWS) Patchwork Poem- a collaboration of poets from the FWS who contribute to his ‘patchwork’ piece every year."