Profile

"I was brought up in Galloway, in south west Scotland, a place easily missed by travellers. Here beyond Dumfries is a Highlands of its own jutting westwards with soaring mountains, dark lochs, hidden glens, rushing rivers, stunning beaches and gems of towns. It also has a rich cultural heritage and a distinctive dialect. It is here I was shaped and this, I'm sure, is reflected in my poems.

After marrying Anne, in Glasgow, where I worked, we spent some years in Birmingham and London, loving the cultural diversity of the Big Smoke. Then it was back to Glasgow to settle south of the Clyde in the rolling hills of the Mearns. We now have a son, a daughter and two grand daughters.

I have always dabbled in writing, particularly poetry because it gives me freedom to explore different subjects. Most of my poems are sparked off by something I have seen, read or heard. Very often just one line is the starting point and I enjoy the process of developing and refining the work. I have called this collection ' Pathways in Poems ' because my life is a journey and the poems mark stages along its path."

Poetic Pathways costs £5.00 and can be purchased directly from the author, who can be contact via email at ianx@talktalk.net, by phone on 0141 639 4234 or 07948 700329, or by post to 1 Blackfarm Road, Newton Mearns, Glasgow, G77 5H.