I’m grateful to Write Out Loud for this sensitive and engaged review of ‘Return by Minor Road’: “Many of us, myself included, will never forget Dunblane. This is a fitting tribute to those whose lives were tragically cut short at such a tender age.’‘
My thanks to Neil Leadbeater for such a sensitive and engaged reading of the book.
“This tragic incident – the deadliest mass shooting in British history – is the focus of Williamson’s third poetry collection.
Anyone who is familiar with Dunblane, as I am, will know the place is closely associated with the river that flows alongside it below the High Street. Its measured flow “over light-grey-brown / oblong stones” is intricately linked to the roads and wooded valleys that surround it. In the first section of this book, the river is “forceful as a key” as it unlocks all the doors into the past. Through this landscape, Williamson revisits the scene of the tragedy and reflects upon it in a series of powerful and moving poems…
The [collection] poses the question: how much of a place do you ever really leave, and how much do you end up taking with you?Many of us, myself included, will never forget Dunblane. This is a fitting tribute to those whose lives were tragically cut short at such a tender age.’