Ian Stephen
Ian Stephen is a writer, poet and storyteller from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. His first published book of poems, (Malin, Hebrides, Minches) was with Dangaroo Press, Denmark (1983) and his most recent (Adrift) with Periplum, Czech Republic (2007). A new and selected poems, maritime, will be published by Saraband in Spring 2016. He joined us on our City to City project featuring artists from Glasgow and Lahore.
Ian received a major Creative Scotland Award to navigate the settings of traditional stories in 2002 and this remains his working practice. He has taken part in many international residencies and festivals, representing Scotland in The Czech Republic, Cape Clear Island, Ireland, Isle d’Ouessant, France, Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada, and in Tasmania (2015).
His re-telling of Western Isles Folk Tales published by The History Press (2014) was described as ‘brilliant and compelling historical artistry in word and illustration!’ by the Canadian storyteller Dawne Macfarlane. His debut novel, A Book of Death and Fish (Saraband, Glasgow 2014), a book of the year in The Guardian and The Herald was described as ‘a celebration of the Scottish oral tradition’ in The Scotsman.
