The Wigtown Book Festival is to celebrate the life of the poet Alastair Reid, who died this week at his home in New York, with a special event and a series of readings throughout the week.
Reid, who was 88 when he passed away at home in New York this week, is widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent poets of his generation, whose poems such as “Curiosity”, “Weathering” and “Scotland” have entered the canon of Scottish Literature.
A distinguished translator of South American literature, he has been acclaimed for his renderings of Pablo Neruda and his friend Jorge Luis Borges. He also spent more than three decades writing for the New Yorker on a wide range of subjects from sport to politics and was for a long time the magazine’s South America editor.
Born in 1926 in Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Reid was the son of the local minister and the doctor. His career took him abroad for much of his life. A spell in the Royal Navy during the second world war, was followed by time in America, France, Spain, Switzerland and the Dominican Republic.
Despite living in Manhattan, Reid returned regularly to Wigtownshire with his wife Leslie, often spending the spring and summer near his birthplace. He was a strong supporter of the project to make Wigtown Scotland’s National Book Town and of Wigtown Book Festival from its inception, and gave his time generously, first as a festival trustee and, more recently, as patron.
This year’s Wigtown Book Festival programme features an additional event at 7.30pm on Friday 3 October, which will celebrate Alastair’s life and work. Among those taking party will be the writer’s friend and fellow festival patron, BBC special correspondent Allan Little. In addition, there will be readings of Alastair’s poems at selected events during this year’s 10-day festival.
Festival director Adrian Turpin said: “Alastair brought irreverent inspiration to all of us. He had a wonderful sense of mischief both on and off the page – and would I am sure have been the first to raise a quizzical eyebrow at the deserved eulogies he has received. To say that he was much-loved is an understatement.
“Nobody was more proud of his Galloway roots than Alastair – yet he was an internationalist who saw the whole world as a playground for his insatiable curiosity. In addition to the activities at this year’s festival we will be looking, after the event, at how we can permanently mark his legacy.”
Tickets to the free event are available online at www.wigtownbookfestival.com or from the Wigtown Book Festival box office on 01988 403222.
