Former Elgin Academy teacher Richard Bennett to release Poetry of Moray book
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A FORMER English teacher at Elgin Academy has published a book collating poetry from Moray, which will be available to buy from Monday, August 30.
Richard Bennett, who worked at Elgin Academy for 25 years, as well as Milne's High for five years, became interested in poetry many years ago.
He had been collecting old poetry for some time and, at the start of lockdown, decided to turn this collection into a book.
The 200-page book, entitled Poetry of Moray, features pieces by 35 poets from different local towns and backgrounds, with works dating from between 1448 and 1984.
Richard said: "I've been collecting poems for a long time, but it was lockdown that gave me the focus.
"I was inspired by an interest in poetry, language and the place.
"Moray is important to me and I became more and more interested in the culture and heritage of the area.
"I discovered there has been a lot of good poetry written in Moray over the years.
"The majority of poems in the book are to do with Moray, the people, the place, the culture, the way of life and what people did in their daily lives.
"I found that really interesting."
Poetry of Moray is not the first book that Richard has had published, having already written A Celebration of 200 Years, a book on the history of Elgin Academy.
However, this book is somewhat of a family venture for Richard – with his son John publishing the book and his daughter Joey designing the cover art, which is a picture of Ben Rinnes.
The launch of the book will take place on Wednesday, September 8, at 7.30pm in Elgin Library.
Thanks to financial support from The Doric Board, a copy of the book will be donated to schools and care homes across Moray.
It will also be available to buy in local book stores and online at the price of £9.99.
