Leading Aberfeldy-based poet Jon Plunkett feared there would not be enough copies of his new poetry collection at a recent launch after the first print run sold out before the event.
The writer was appearing at the Watermill Bookshop in Aberfeldy last Friday to sign copies of ‘A Melody of Sorts’, his first book, containing 60 poems, published by Red Squirrel Press.
“I had a problem, but a good problem,” Jon explained. “Because it is rare for poetry books to sell at any great rate. Numbers sold is not the reason you do it.
“I’ve had pamphlets published before, so I was very happy to see a bigger collection of my work out in print.
“The original print run was of 300, but the rep from Red Squirrel Press informed me at the Stanza poetry festival two weeks back that they had all sold out within three weeks, so we were frantically trying to get more done for the Watermill launch event on March 15.”
Jon Plunkett - who is taking a leading role in the Soutar Festival of Words in Perth next month - has been writing recently about transformation.
The cover of ‘A Melody of Sorts’ is a painting of a raven by his wife, Lyndsay Turk.
The image is reference to one of the poems inside, about a human who transforms into a raven. He revealed it was a thought he had while out for a walk in Aberfeldy.
‘Conclusion’ is poem inspired by Jon’s work to create the Corbenic Poetry Path near Dunkeld: “I see nature taking over the features that people created along the path - moss edging around the stones, lichen coating the wooden boards, growth around the outdoor poems. Nature is claiming back the words.
“The collection, particularly the newer works written specially for this book, speak of the interaction between man and nature, some positive, some negative ways.
“The natural world is very much on the move. The theme which links the poems is unstoppable movement, that could be time, psychological, geographical. Everything is enacting a kind of migration.”
‘A Melody of Sorts’ by Jon Plunkett costs £10 and is available from the Watermill Bookshop in Aberfeldy, The Corbenic Shop in Dunkeld and also direct from Red Squirrel Press.
