Sheena Blackhall is a Scottish poet, novelist,

short story writer A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, illustrator, traditional story teller and singer. Author of over 180 poetry pamphlets, 15 short story collections, 4 novels and 2 televised plays for children, The Nicht Bus and The Broken Hert. Along with Les Wheeler, she co-edits the

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

resourc
Elphinstone Kist
and has worked on th
Aberdeen Reading Bus
as a storyteller and writer, also sitting on the editorial board for their children's publications in

, promoting Scots culture and language in the North East. In 2018 Aberdeen University awarded her the degree of Master of the University. In 2021 she was appointed SPL’s poetry ambassador for the Scots language.

Biography

Sheena Blackhall (b. Sheena Booth Middleton) was born in 1947 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, daughter of the manager of Strachan's Deeside Omnibus Service, Charles Middleton, and his second cousin, farmer's daughter Winifred Booth. She was educated in Aberdeen, but summered in Ballater for many years. Her brother, Ian Middleton, was an accomplished organist and clavichord player, who was the manager of a merchant bank in São Paulo, Brazil, where he settled and died. During the typhoid epidemic in Aberdeen of 1964, Blackhall was hospitalized in the town's City Hospital for several weeks. The family transport firm, owned by her aunt, closed as a side effect of this. After a year's study at

Gray's School of Art Gray's School of Art is the Robert Gordon University's art school, located in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the oldest established fine art institutions in Scotland and one of Scotland's five art schools today, and ranked among the Top 20 ...

, Blackhall passed a teaching diploma and worked for a time as a special needs teacher, marrying and raising a family of 4 in this period, when she wrote children's stories for BBC Radio Scotland. In 1994 she obtained a Bsc (Hons. Psych) from the Open University, going on to gain an M.Litt with Distinction from

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 2000. From 1998–2003 she was Creative Writing Fellow in Scots at Aberdeen University'

Elphinstone Institute and is currently attached to the Institute as an Honorary Research Associate. In 2003 she travelled as part of a group to Washington, showcasing Scotland's culture as a guest of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. In 2007 she was Creative Writing Tutor at the Institute of Irish and Scottish studies at King's College, and two years later was Writer in Residence during Aberdeen University's Word Festival. In April 2009 she was inaugurated as

Makar A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet. Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth cent ...

for Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland.Scottish Book Trust
The Doric Board appointed Blackhall Nor East Makar for 3 years in November 2019, when her 146th pamphlet was published

Awards and honours

She has won the Robert McLellan tassie for best Scots short story 3 times (1989, 1990, 2001) and the Hugh MacDiarmid trophy for best Scots poem 4 times (1990,2000,2001,2010). In 1992 she shared the Sloane Award with Matthew Fitt from St. Andrew's University. Other prizes include awards from the Doric Festival, the Bennachie Baillies, and from the TMSA for ballad writing and traditional singing. She has twice been shortlisted for the Callum Macdonald Poetry Pamphlet prize (2005 & 2009). In 2007,

Lallans Lallans (; a variant of the Modern Scots word ''lawlands'' meaning the lowlands of Scotland), is a term that was traditionally used to refer to the Scots language as a whole. However, more recent interpretations assume it refers to the dialects o ...

Magazine awarded her the William Gilchrist Graham prize for best Scots short story. She has also been shortlisted for the McCash poetry prize. She has also won the prize for best Scots Poem at Wigtown. Her short story 'The Wall', was the winning entry in Bipolar Scotland's 2013 competition, featuring in the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. In 2016 she became an Honorary Fellow of the WORD Centre for Creative Writing, Aberdeen University. In 2019 she was presented with The Janet Paisley Lifetime Achievement Award.In 2020 Blackhall became an Honorary Officer of Merit of the Confraternity of the Knights of the Most Holy Trinity (Priory of Scotland) . She was to be awarded the Eagle of Honour medal, to be presented by the Knights after the coronavirus pandemic passed.

Influences

She trained as a Creative Writing tutor with Survivor's Poetry Scotland, under Larry Butler, and was a member of the Arts and health organization, Lapidus. A Buddhist, she goes on annual retreats to Dhankosa, Balquidder. Blackhall also worked alongside Aberdeen's well loved 'first lady of drama' Annie Henderson Inglis MBE at

Aberdeen Arts Centre Aberdeen Arts Centre is a theatre and arts centre on King Street in Aberdeen, Scotland with a 350-seater auditorium. It is a Category A listed building. The building was originally the North Parish Church. The church was converted to an Arts ...

, from 2003–2010 delivering weekend storytelling and drama workshops for three- to eight-year-olds.

Works

Novels

* ''Double Heider Loon'' 2003 ( Itchy Coo) * ''Minnie'' 3 x CDs, one book
SLRC
2004 * ''The Quarry'' Lochlands 2007 * ''The Gods of Grayfriars Lane'' Lochlands 2008 * ''Millie''
Reading Bus
2010 * ''Jean Eyre'' by

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

. 2018. Translated into North-East Scots by Sheena Blackhall and Sheila Templeton
Evertype
* ''Fey Case o Dr Jekyll an Mr Hyde'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

. 2018. Translated into North-East Scots by Sheena Blackhall, and with illustrations by Mathew Staunton
Evertype
* ''The Winnerfu Warlock o Oz'' by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

. 2018. Translated into North-East Scots by Sheena Blackhall, and illustrated by W. W. Denslow
Evertype
. * Translation into North East Scots by Sheena Blackhall of O Mice and Men by John Steinbeck pub. evertype 2018

Short stories

* Nippick o Nor East Tales ''Keith Murray Publications'' 1989 * Reets ''Keith Murray Publications'' 1991 * A Hint o Granite ''Hammerfield Publications'' 1992 * Braeheid. A Fairm an its Fowk ''Hammerfield Publishing'' 1993 * A Kenspeckle Creel ''Hammerfield Publishing'' 1995 * Wittgenstein's We
G.K.B.Enterprises
1996 * The Bonsai Growe
GKB Enterprises
1998 * The Fower Quarter
GKB Enterprises
2002 * Indian Peter ''Thistle Reprographics'', Limited Edition 2004 (children's stories in Scots) * Pie in the Sky ''Thistle Reprographics'', Limited Edition 2004 (adult stories) * Victor Vratch & ither bairn tales ''Lochlands'', Maud, 2009 * Isle o the Deid ''Malfranteaux Concepts'' 2010 * The Jam Jar * 2013: Aberdeenshire Folk Tales By Grace Banks & Sheena Blackhall,pub by The History Press, 2013 . *2014: Scottish Urban Myths and Ancient Legends (Urban Legends) by Sheena Blackhall, & Grace Banks pub. The History Press * The Chimaera Institute: e-book 2011 Smashwords * The Honey that Came from the sea: e-book Smashwords * Jessie the Jumbo: e-book 2014 : e.pub smashwords.com

Poetry books

* Blackhall, Sheena (2014) The Space Between: New and Selected Poems Aberdeen University Press, pp. 153 + xiv. * Stagwyse Selected Poems ''Charles Murray Trust'' 1995 * The Skreich, Poems in Scots & English ''Lochlands'' 2010 * Victor Vratch the Craa ''Lochlands'' 2009 * Figurehead (Poems & Prose) ''Lochlands'' 2009 * The Ship of Fools (Poems & Story) ''Malfranteaux Concepts'' 2009 * Cats in a Gale ''Lochlands'' 2009 * Danse Macabre: Writings Round a Festival (Poems & Songs) ''Lochlands'' 2009 * A Visit to Planet Auschwitz (Poems & Prose) ''Lochlands'' 2009 * The Barley Queen (Poems & Prose) ''Malfranteaux Concepts'' 2009 * Peacock (Poems) ''Lochlands'' 2009 * Wittins (Selected Poems) ''Diehard Publishers'' 2010 * The Young Wife pamphlet 181 pub Malfranteaux Concepts
Full list on BlogWhat the Open ''Library holds''
* A Bard's Life, published by Rymour Books 2021

References

Sheena Blackhall
Scottish Poetry Library