Brian Johnstone
Brian Johnstone was born in Edinburgh in 1950, and lived in the Fife countryside from 1972. Returning to writing in the late 1980s, he published four full collections, a memoir and four pamphlet collections, and appearing in numerous anthologies, literary journals and other publications. His work has been published in Europe, North America and Australasia as well as the UK, and has been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
In 1998 Johnstone was a founder of StAnza: Scotland’s International Poetry Festival which takes place in St Andrews each March. He served as Festival Director of StAnza from 2001 to 2010, as Festival Consultant from 2010 to 2013 and went on to be Honorary President. He was a founder of Edinburgh’s Shore Poets in 1991, and has organised readings for several arts festivals, as well as being an events chair for the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Wigtown Book Festival.
Johnstone was a frequent collaborator with visual artists, and was the poet member of Trio Verso, a collaboration with saxophonist Richard Ingham and bassist Louise Major, dedicated to presenting live poetry and improvised jazz-inflected soundscapes. His work has been arranged by composers Rebecca Rowe, for vocal ensemble Capella Nova, and Richard Ingham for 20 piece jazz orchestra.
After stepping down as the Festival Director of StAnza he focused on his own work, releasing a number of publications. Dry Stone Work, a collection about ‘rural landscapes’, was published in 2014. His memoir, Double Exposure, was published in 2017. Juke Box Jeopardy, a collection of poems about his relationship with music, was published in 2018. His fourth and final collection, The Marks on the Map, was published in April 2021, shortly before his death.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, he was involved in virtual events including a poetry reading on West Wilts Radio, and a memoir reading.
He died in Fife on 3 May 2021. Big Lit 2021, held in August of that year, was dedicated to his memory.