by Michael Pedersen
In this soft and tender epistolary memoir, Scottish poet Michael Pedersen recounts his most impactful friendships, with at its core the one he shared with musician, singer and artist Scott Hutchison, abruptly cut off by Hutchison’s death in 2018.
Pedersen takes us through the before – all the previous (friend) love stories that seem to have led him to Scott, from Daniel to David to Rowley to Jake, from Edinburgh to Durham to London and back – and the inevitable after, when life goes on and how.
The book is an elegy, telling Scott stories new and old, some he was a part of and others not, “just in case,” in often quietly lyrical and devastating prose. Yet, the focus on emotions and grief is counter-balanced by the physical quality of the book and of Pedersen’s friendships, from smooches to giggles to warm meals – a parade of bodies and body parts and a bestiary of animal and vegetal imagery (from ill-fated Muffin the hamster to a moment that “split open like an orange, leaving everyone revitalised and sticky”).
Both quirky and touching, I will be adding this book to the list of those I had to hug for a minute or two after I finished reading (before going to hug my friends). I know I will be coming back to it in the future.
Review by Leti