Shane Strachan was determined to become a writer ever since the days when he was a primary school pupil in Fraserburgh and lapping up literature.
Yet it wasn’t until he was studying the likes of Lewis Grassic Gibbon and Nan Shepherd and such works as Sunset Song and The Living Mountain during his English degree at Aberdeen University that he started to explore the potential of writing in Doric.
From the outset, he loved it and has shone in a variety of roles, whether as a scriever, poet, exhibition curator or one of the new Doric columnists in the Press & Journal.
When is Shane Strachan’s new book being launched?
And his acclaimed debut poetry book DWAMS will be launched next week at Spin Aberdeen on Friday, March 29.
His early stories, some of which were published professionally, focused on the north east fishing communities where he spent his formative years.
But, even as he was chronicling these tales during his PhD in Creative Writing at university, Shane developed his Doric and performing skills through the Aberdeen Student Show, subsequently co-scripting the last two productions, Dirty Danestone, and Ayetanic, which together raised over £245,000 for local charities.
The titles reflect his attitude to popular culture and the arts in his homeland. He’s not interested in living in some ivory tower. On the contrary, he’s out there, capturing the opinions, perspectives and witticisms of people in his own community.
What is DWAMS about?
He said: “DWAMS is dedicated to the city of Aberdeen and is a ‘best of’ from the past eight years across a variety of projects for both page and stage.
“A lot of the poems are inspired by art and design in Aberdeen, such as Union Street’s iconic buildings which I wrote about for the 2016 Look Again exhibition Unreal Estate, and artworks held by Grampian Hospitals Arts Trust where I was a writer in residence.
“Readers may recognise themselves in DWAMS, because two of the poems are completely composed of things overheard in the bus shelters of Union Street for a theatre project called The Shelter which I created in 2018 with support from the National Theatre of Scotland.
“There is also another poem from an earlier NTS production, Granite, which was originally performed by [River City actress] Joyce Falconer in Marischal College Quad.”
There’s humour in the book in abundance. But there are also serious themes and longer works, composed during the Covid lockdowns, of which Shane feels particularly proud.
One was originally brought to fruition in collaboration with Ten Feet Tall theatre company as part of their Splendid Isolation project and reflects on different romantic relationships in Aberdeen in the aftermath of Brexit.
Another narrative poem, Dreepin, reflects on what he regards as “Aberdeen’s bad romance” with the oil industry, presenting it as “an abusive North Sea sugar daddy.”
Bill Gibb also makes an appearance
He added: “The most recent poem I wrote for the collection reflects back on my memories of researching fellow-Brocher Bill Gibb’s life and fashion career [with, among other luminaries, Twiggy] for my 2019 exhibition, short film and podcast.
“The poem, Just Another Job, compares the auctioning of livestock at a mart during Gibb’s childhood with his fashion models making their way down the catwalk.
“It has quickly become an audience favourite!”
As has Shane with his eclectic tastes, diverse material and passion for Doric.