Description

Under a Gannet Sky is a powerful and atmospheric collection of poetry rooted in the coastline surrounding the small fishing village of Crovie, Scotlands most unique and perfectly conserved fishing village on the north-east coast. Moving beyond the village itself, these poems travel the wider landscape of cliff paths, storm-torn seas, shifting barley fields, wildflowers, seabirds, weather systems, and the quiet details that shape life beside the North Sea.

Written through sustained observation and deep connection to place, the collection explores the relationship between land, sea, memory, wildlife, and language. Gannets wheel above towering cliffs, tides uncover hidden treasures along the rotten shore, foxes move silently through sleeping gardens, and weather rolls in heavy from the horizon, altering both landscape and mood. Throughout the collection, nature is never backdrop alone, but a living presence carrying rhythm, history, and continual change.

Alongside the English poems sits a substantial body of work written fully in Doric, the traditional language of north-east Scotland, including Unner A Gannet Sky, the poem which led to Anne Wiseman becoming the 2026 recipient of the Rabbie Shepherd Quaich for Doric Poetry. These poems celebrate not only the richness of the coast itself, but the enduring voice of the region and the language shaped by it.

At once reflective, immersive, and vividly grounded in place, Under a Gannet Sky invites readers to slow down, look longer, and step fully into a coastline alive with weather, birdsong, salt, history, and light.