Reviews

Expect the Best: Elspeth Murray

Poetry and other entertainments from the vivacious Elspeth Murray with special guest Eddie Gibbons

Thursday 7 May 2009

Books and Beans, Aberdeen [Map]

We did not know quite what to expect from poet and writer Elspeth Murray — a newcomer to the Wordfringe festival, but she certainly lived up to this event's title — Expect the best. After a warm-up by poet Eddie Gibbons, Elspeth launched into the first of two sets of poetry and we knew instantly that we were in for a treat. Divided into seven categories (from which she invited the audience to "choose a number"), her poems ranged from the pastiche to the villanelle; from the serious to the comedic to the deliriously daft; from scathing attacks on the goobledegook of bureaucracy to the thoughtful tenderness of her new poem Your Life is a Work of Art. Examples of her work with schoolchildren and adult groups illustrated her patent belief that poetry is for everybody. And through it all, Elspeth emanated an infectious sense of enthusiasm and joy which lit up her performance and captivated her audience. Whether speaking in the accents of Kent, Liverpool or Edinburgh, reading a poem in Latvian or a poet's translation into Czech of Burns' My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, Elspeth's performance bore out the truth that good poetry, read aloud with integrity and passion, transcends the boundaries of mere dialect and language. Come back next year, Elspeth — we love you!

Moira Brown