Jim Ferguson Essays and Notes
In addition to writing extensively on Robert Tannahill (1774-1810) Ferguson has written numerous essays, and reviews. Some essays have been published in Variant and reviews in Gutter magazine. Ferguson also wrote 'A History of West of Scotland Housing Association' which was published in 2006. The essay work covers Irish Fiction, Prison Fiction, Spoken Word in Scotland and individual writers such as Tom Leonard and John La Rose.
20th Century Prison Blues (an essay informed by four novels) Variant 8, Summer 1999.
The novels discussed are The Star Rover by Jack London, Men in Prison by Victor Serge, Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler and Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan. Ferguson focuses on several comparative aspects and levels of meaning in these works - their parallel use of the interior monologue as a metaphor for incarceration broadens out into a discourse on personal freedom.
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That is all my Bum: Thoughts on contemporary Irish fiction Variant 11, Summer 2000.
“It was stated that while the novel and the play were both pleasing intellectual exercises, the novel was inferior to the play inasmuch as it lacked the outward accidents of illusion, frequently inducing the reader to be outwitted in a shabby fashion and caused to experience a real concern for the fortunes of illusory characters..." continue reading pdf
Identity and Interpretation in Literary Practice
Variant 12, Spring 2001.
People involved in the practice of literary art are often asked about their sense of identity, their sense of place; do others interpret their work correctly? what is it about their background etc? what makes them want to be writers?
These questions are sometimes shot-through with marketing spin. Nevertheless, there is no denying that they are important. Whether the answers to the questions are of any use is debatable, but the process of trying to answer, of thinking about them, is certainly useful. What follows is a collage concerning these issues...
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Tom Leonard was one of the most adventurous and dazzling poets of the second half of the twentieth century. I considered him a teacher and friend. A person of great generosity and compassion. His death at the end of 2018 came as a shock leaving a great sense of loss for me. I was very pleased to be asked by the poet Nicky Melville to write a piece on Tom for the online literary magazine Black Box Manifold. The essay "Notes Personal" on Tom Leonard can be found here.
John La Rose was a vitally important writer and his book "Unending Journey" is a wonderful read. La Rose was one of the founders of New Beacon books, he was a highly engaging personality, warm, generous, friendly. I reviewed his "Unending Journey" around 2015, read it here.
