Kenneth Steven is a perennial favourite of the Booked! festival. This was his fourth appearance as we had received so many requests to have him back. The theme of the evening was the transition from winter gloom to the glorious light of summer and this was reflected in many of the poems that Kenneth read throughout the evening. He had visited Loch Lomond earlier in the day and he expressed his sheer pleasure at just how beautiful an area it is.

Kenneth read from three of his poetry collections: Columba, Wildscape and Salt and Light. Celtic Christianity is a thread that runs through all of his work and many of his poems celebrate the people and landscapes that embody these spiritual sentiments. Kenneth is a superb reader of his own work and he also supplied anecdotes and insights into the creative process between each poem. He writes in a small cabin in his mother’s garden in Aberfeldy, as his native Dunkeld is too busy and noisy during the tourist season.

He gave us a fascinating insight into how he was inspired to write particular poems – “There is no legislating for when a poem will appear out of the pen”. Small moments, such as the way light interacts with a landscape, can be the catalyst for a poem. His work celebrates the beauty of the ordinary; one poem expressed the simple joy of collecting eggs from a local farm. After his readings, Kenneth received many questions from the audience. He gave out good tips for all budding writers, including one to always carry around a notepad to jot down specific words and ideas. He told the audience that it is the sounds of words, particularly verbs, that are of real significance and he will read a poem out loud and test it again and again until he has got it right. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the evening and as well as signing books Kenneth graciously fielded many more individual questions.