Slate, Sea and Sky

When I first read Norman Bissell's poems, one ordinarily harassed day in Glasgow, one of his meditations on city life made me laugh so much that I wrote it on a post-it note and stuck it to my wall. His poems are full of such lines: a calm voice that I want to carry away and keep in my mind's ear. I loved the place the poems took me to. Here is the voice of a poet who is grounded in place, at home in the world. - Gerrie Fellows, author of four poetry collections.

There is lovely work here, limpid and light, a careful simplicity of line, open to the voices of the city and the calm, restorative spaces of nature. - Catherine Lockerbie, Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

On his journey Norman Bissell takes a clear-eyed look at the world around us; celebrating people - and elements, rocks and minerals, birds, hills and waters as living things - with integrity, passion and compassion. His life is laid open for us with honesty, shedding light on what it is to be human in the search for what is. - Gerry Loose, Scottish Arts Council Creative Scotland Award winning poet.