Jen Hadfield

Jen Hadfield is a poet. She doesn't write "poetically" in the sense of oblique or flowery prose, the book is quite clear and lovely to read. But as one would expect from a poet, she loves words passionately. As a sometime linguist, I really enjoyed this book. It's studded with Shetlandic words like walnuts in pane di noci and I savoured each one. She also has an awareness of the creative act that is relatable to anyone who writes or does any kind of art, visual or fibre or other.

This book show more is a joy to read. show less

I really enjoyed this memoir from poet Jen Hadfield who has lived in Shetland for almost 20 years now – she gives us an insight from the vantage point of the sooth-moother, the incomer to Shetland, and as an islander, although no incomer is ever totally an insider, no matter how long you are there. Using the words from Shaetlan as chapter headings, she leads us around this wonderful landscape and its communities, characters, mythologies, evolutions, while still reminding us that nothing show more and nowhere is free from change. show less