Dàin is Òrain Innseachan an Taibh

Marcas Mac an Tuiarneir

’S e Polaris an ceathramh co-chruinneachadh aig a’ bhàrd Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, a bhios a’ sgrìobhadh ann an Gàidhlig is Beurla is a tha air iomadh duais a choisinn le a chuid bàrdachd. Air ainmeachadh air An Reul-iùil, tha an co-chruinneachadh ga thogail air bun-bheachdan a’ chinn a Tuath is ionnanachdan cànanach is cultarail – tha ‘Polaris’ a’ ciallachadh ‘cànanan’ anns a’ chriopto-chainnt ghèidh Polàiris. Tha an t-saothair ùr-nòsach seo a’ trusadh sgeulachdan bho bheul-aithris, eachdraidh is cùisean làitheil, a bhuineas don na eileanan seo – Innse an Taibh – bun gu bàrr.

A’ ceasnachadh mhodalan is thròpaichean Aonachdach, Nàiseantach is sgìreil, ’s e litreachas mar fhianais a tha seo, a’ sgrùdadh aithrisean nam meadhanan mòra is a’ sireadh mhion-ghuthan, a chaidh a chall no a sheachnadh, gus an toirt am bàrr is fon phrosbaig. Le bhith a’ dèanamh seo, tha buaidh mhòr teòirig fheiminich is iar-cholonaich air a’ bhàrdachd.

A’ cur car air fasain làithreach is bàrdachd na Gàidhlig air fhoillseachadh le fèin-eadar-theangachaidhean a’ bhàird na cois, verso recto, bidh Polaris a’ toirt a-steach dhreachan eile de bhàrdachd thùsail Mharcais ann am mòran den na mion-chànanach tùsanach den na h-eileanan seo: Beurla Ghallta, Gàidhlig na h-Èireann is Mhanainn, Cuimris, Còrnais is Deàrsaidhis, air an cumail ris a’ cho-chruinneachadh le feadhainn den na bàird is eadar-theangairean as fheàrr aca. Nan cois, gheibhear eadar-theangachaidhean eile ann am feadhainn den na cànanan den Roinn Eòrpa, a bhios gam bruidhinn an-seo, cuideachd, a bharrachd air taghadh de bhàrdachd anns a’ Pholàiris, leis a’ bhàrd fhèin.

Ged a bhios a’ bhàrdachd seo a’ nochdadh gluasad bho chuspairean nan co-chruinneachaidhean foillsichte aig Marcas (‘Deò’, 2013; ‘Lus na Tùise’, 2016; ‘Dùileach’, 2021), tha dlùth-chaidreamh is coiteantachd sa bhàrdachd fhathast, rud a chòrd ris an luchd-leughaidh aige cho mòr gu ruige seo is a choisinn Duais Ghàidhlig Bhaile na h-Ùige ann an 2017 is Duais na Bàrdachd aig a’ Mhòd Bhiortail 2020 is a’ Mhòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail ann an 2021, am measg tòrr dhuaisean eile. ’S tric a tha na dàin ann am Polaris nam bàrdachd subhachais is sin a’ sireadh dàimhean a chruthachadh tro choitcheannas cultarail is gnàth-eòlas cumanta, fhad ’s a bheir iad meòmhrachadh air cò ris a tha e coltach a bhith a’ buntainn ris na h-eileanan seo, fad nan chiad fhichead bliadhna den aonamh linn fhichead.

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Polaris is the fourth collection from award-winning Gaelic- and English-language poet Marcas Mac an Tuairneir. Named for the North Star, the collection builds on intersecting notions of ‘northness’ and linguistic and cultural identities – ‘Polaris’ means ‘languages’ in the gay cryptolect Polari. This ground-breaking new body of work harvests from a cross-section of folk narratives, historical accounts and current affairs, spanning the length and breadth of these islands – the Atlantic Archipelago. 

Interrogating Unionist, Nationalist and regional models and tropes, the is literature of record, problematising mainstream narratives and seeking to uncover and foreground lost, unheard of, or otherwise marginalised voices. In this, the poetry is heavily indebted to feminist and post-colonial thought. 

Inverting the current trend of publishing Gaelic poetry with the poet’s own translations, verso recto, Polaris includes reimaginings and reworkings of Marcas’ original works in many of the native minoritised languages of these islands: Scots, Irish, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Jersey French, contributed by some of the their respective literatures’ finest poets and translators. Alongside them also feature translations into some of the languages of Europe, which also find a home here, as well as selected works in Polari, contributed by the poet himself. 

Whilst marking a departure from Marcas’ three previous collections (‘Deò’, 2013; ‘Lus na Tùise’, 2016; ‘Dùileach’, 2021) the poetry retains all the intimacy and universality that has so pleased Marcas’ readerships, to date and secured for him the Wigtown Gaelic Poetry Prize in 2017 and the prize for poetry at the 2020 Virtual Mòd and the 2021 Royal National Mòd, amongst many other accolades. The poetry of Polaris is frequently that of celebration and seeks to build on cultural commonalities and shared experiences, whilst reflecting on what it is to belong to these islands, in the second decade of the twenty-first century. 

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Irish-language translator: Ben Ó Ceallaigh / Manx: Custal y Lewin / Cornish: Taran Spalding-Jenkin / Welsh: Ifor ap Glyn / Scots: Stuart A. Paterson, Richard Huddleson / Scots-Yiddish: David Bleiman / Jersey French: Geraint Jennings / Polish: Anna Karbowska / Austrian German: Lily Wallner / Polari: Marcas Mac an Tuairneir

‘Polaris’ (‘Reul-iùil │ Lodestar’)

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