Older News
Here are some older news items on Christine's poetry:
May 2013
The Scottish Poetry Library voted Christine's poem, Discontinuity, one of the Best Scottish Poems of 2012.
Christine also followed up last month's launch of Havera: the Story of an Island with an Edinburgh event co-hosted with Havera historian J Laughton Johnston. The launch took place at the Scottish Poetry Library.
April 2013
The Shetland Amenity Trust launched Havera: the Story of an Island at the Shetland Museum in Lerwick. This book, co-edited by J Laughton Johnston and Christine is a collaboration between them and Mark Sinclair (photographer) and Pauleen Wiseman (musical composition).
Here is a recording of Christine reading the poem Water from the Havera collection, taken from a Radio Shetland interview with Mary Blance.
- HighWater
October 2012
Christine shared a platform with two other début novelists - Lisa Ballantyne and Kenneth MacLeod - at the Portobello Book Festival on the 6th of October.
She will be in Ireland later in the month, with Shetland fiddler Eunice Henderson. They will be performing along with poets and musicians from Nordic lands, including Iceland.
September 2012
Christine was Writer-in-Residence for primary schools in Shetland during September, as part of the annual WordPlay literary festival. Her plan was to help children with writing stories in Shetland dialect and have some fun in the process. The teachers may have had potential school closure issues hanging over them, but they were determined to make the experience for children as rich as possible. In such circumstances, the main contribution a writer can make is one of affirming mother tongue: modelling linguistic versatility and nipping any notions of linguistic inferiority in the bud!
Angus Reid's Call for a Scottish Constitution (shown on the right) seemed at home on the foyer walls in the new arts' centre Mareel, as did Christine's Shetlandic version.
One highlight of the visits for Christine was in Mid Yell, where she tracked down the shed which had been the former school at Gossabrough, East Yell; and in which her mother had started her teaching career in the 1930s. This simple poem, Scöl - shed - scöl, is maybe not just an affectionate link with her mother, but also a commentary on both school closure and conceptual art?
Christine also handed over the awards for Young Writer of the Year - three of the four winners had elected to write in dialect. Their work and delivery were stunning. There was also a slot in the festival which she shared with the Swedish novelist Karin Altenberg.
And it was a rare treat to have three books in the local bookshop window: poetry collection, novel and children's storybook!
April 2012
Christine will be taking part in a Festival in Orkney over the weekend of 13-14 April. There will be a story-telling session with children on Saturday the 14th and an evening event for adults on Saturday along with local winners of a writing competition. At this event Christine will speak about her recent novel and also read some poems in English and Shetland dialect.
Two of her poems have recently been set to music: an English version of Fireworks owre Bressa Soond is featured on Fiere, a CD by the duo Twelfth Day and singer Joy Dunlop. One of the duo - Orkney-born Catriona Price - composed the music for the poem.
Whatsoever things are lovely has been set to music by a senior pupil at The Mary Erskine School, as part of her musical composition studies. You can also listen to an Audio Recording of the poem.
The poem Discontinuity has been selected for the anthology Best British Poetry 2012, due from Salt in the summer. This may well be the first poem in Shetland dialect to appear in such an anthology. This anthology, like its long-running US counterpart, showcases poems which have appeared in British journals, newspapers and ezines in the past year and each poem is accompanied by a note from its author. This year's guest editor is Carcanet poet Sasha Dugdale.
December 2011
The UK's recent windstorms kept many Scots indoors. This led Christine to write a light-hearted poem, Whirlwind.
Another month and another review of And then forever. Follow this link to read The New Shetlander's review of 'And then forever'.
Blackwell's bookshop on South Bridge, Edinburgh has just restocked Christine's novel and it is also available from The Shetland Times Bookshop's website.
Christine has been a member of the Edinburgh-based Shore Poets for many years. The group has just celebrated its 20th anniversary and have released from the shore, a CD of poetry and music to mark the event. Christine has contributed a poem to the CD and was part of the team who compiled the poetry.
November 2011
Christine's novel, And then forever was reviewed by The Scotsman.
If you live in Edinburgh, you can pick up Christine's novel at Blackwell's bookshop, South Bridge. If not, then it is available online from The Shetland Times Bookshop.
Here are some more reviews of And then forever:
"In her well-handled use of history, De Luca has written a novel which is large in theme and scope but the relationships of the characters remain at the centre of the book."Review of 'And then forever', Mark Ryan Smith, The New Shetlander, Yule Issue 2011 No 258 (Read the full review)
"De Luca demonstrates a keen eye and freshness of vision when conjuring places...the author inexorably draws us into their web without recourse to surprise or suspense or sentimentality."'Tale of love and romance delights', Tom Adair, The Scotsman, November 2011 (Read the full review)
"We still get a sense of very real lives and places, which is particularly evocative as seen through the faded glamour of the tourist today, compared with the snow, the effort and the sawdust then."Review of 'And then forever', Diana Esland, November 2011 (Read the full review)
October 2011
Christine took part in two international literary festivals in Canada: the Thin Air Festival in Winnipeg and the Festival International de la Poésie in Trois Rivières, Québec.She described the Winnipeg Festival as "well organised, friendly and high energy". In the Francophone festival Christine had to read in three languages (French, English and Shetlandic) at each of the 26 events in which she was involved!
Two memories in particular stand out for her: taking part in an event with a group of local people who write mainly for therapeutic reasons and who had difficulty standing up in front of their peers and reading their poems; and, at another performance, learning that the old man who came late and left early was Jean Chrétien, the former PM of Canada.
Christine's other October event was the Edinburgh launch of her novel And then forever at the National Library of Scotland on the 19th of October. Over 90 people were there to hear Diana Hendry chat with Christine about the novel.
September 2011
Christine launched her first novel, And then forever, in Shetland in September.
Part historical, part contemporary quest, the two stories of this novel intertwine and reflect one another with considerable deftness. They are, above all else, about the human condition, and the constraints on deciding our own destinies.
You can read more in Christine's interview with the Shetland Times
March 2011
The Scottish Poetry Library voted Christine's poem Gaet-markers, from North End of Eden, one of the Best Scottish Poems of 2010.
September 2010
Christine launched her sixth poetry collection, North End of Eden, at the WordPlay Book Festival in Lerwick. The book is published by Luath Press.
Here are some of the poems from North End of Eden:
July 2010
Christine and Christie Williamson pick up the prize at the 2010 CMMA awards. Christine edited Christie's poetry collection, Arc o Möns. It was published by Hansel Cooperative Press.
