FROM THE BURGH AND BEYOND – Editing by Committee
The Burgh Blatherers, a group of Scottish storytellers, undertook an extraordinary venture to publish a collection of their cherished spoken-word stories. Fueled by the spirit of Scotland's Year of Stories, their ambitious goal was to unveil the book at the illustrious Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Assisted by the knowledgeable Book Whisperers, the committee of 17 contributors embarked on a collaborative journey, navigating the intricate process of choosing, editing, and harmonizing their diverse tales into a cohesive masterpiece. Despite encountering setbacks and unanticipated obstacles along the way, the editing committee, comprised of individuals with unique skills, combined their efforts seamlessly. Together, they triumphed over challenges, infusing the essence of Edinburgh into the fabric of their literary creation. With each turn of the page, the book resonates with the dynamic tapestry of their enthralling storytelling shows. Experience the joys, tribulations, and triumphs of their extraordinary endeavour firsthand as they recount their remarkable journey in their own words.
There were times when we thought it couldn’t be done, but as Bob later wrote in the book, ‘Where there’s a Will…’
The Burgh Blatherers are part of the oral storytelling tradition in Scotland’s ceilidh culture. Until the Covid lockdowns, we met in a pub once a month to tell each other stories. We did not think of ourselves as authors.
But one April meeting in 2022 Bob, our illustrious chairman, said, ‘Its Scotland’s Year of Stories, why don’t we publish a book of our favourite spoken-word stories - and why don’t we launch it at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in October?’ A club celebration and emerging from pandemic Zoom cocoons at a live storytelling event as well? 17 tellers said an enthusiastic ‘yes’. But how would we do it?
We had amazing support from Mary and Lea at the Book Whisperers who encouraged and simplified the ‘self-publishing’ process every step of the way, but even so, choosing, editing and herding 17 contributors into a cohesive book is not a straightforward process. We decided to do it by committee!
It went better than you might have feared. Our team was blessed by complementary skills – Ruaridh’s computer know-how let us collate and collaboratively edit at a time when we were still largely meeting on Zoom, Maria’s flair created the uniting theme of one of our own shows, Bob was the steadying presence with an eagle eye for proof-reading detail and yours truly, Harriet, was the pulse of the administration. Dropbox was our friend, time was our enemy in getting speedy four-way consensus.
In our shows, we find the loosest themes encourage the most interesting variety and for the book we chose, simply, Edinburgh. Our contributors offered us two favourite stories with any connection to Edinburgh, written as they would tell it. There is a world of difference between a literary short story and a 10-minute spoken telling and we favoured the story that most reflected our contributor’s spoken voice. Stories from fable to history, riddles, personal, fiction and traditional.
Of course our beautiful multicoloured spreadsheet of dates and deadlines slipped, with delays and unexpected events: We forgot all about a back cover blurb and the process of choosing a cover image proved surprisingly difficult given our general concord with the aural aspects – perhaps as storytellers we have more experience of dealing with words than pictures!
But I would like to thank my fellow editing committee for our ego free and cheerful collaboration. Given our inexperience, and busy lives, I don’t think any of us could have completed the project alone. Over the 5 months from start to finish when one of us was inevitably distracted by events there was always someone holding the reins. We were delighted to launch our very first book on 17th October on stage at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Our printed book reflects all the quirky vibrant variety of our shows. We look forward to many more to come!
This article was written by Harriet Grindley for Bob, Ruaridh Maria and Harriet, the Burgh Blatherers Book Editing Committee 2022
Discover their captivating book, "From the Burgh and Beyond - Editing by Committee," and immerse yourself in the enchanting stories of the Burgh Blatherers. Get your copy today at Amazon.