The Short Stories: Wittgenstein's Web

Published by GKB Books in 1996, Wittgenstein’s Web is a collection of short stories, including the award-winning 'Spikk' and 'The Craigendarroch Kelpie'.

A spider does figure in the pages of this book, but is not named Wittgenstein. That honour belongs of course to the philosopher whose words are quoted in the short and very personal essay on creative writing which introduces this collection of Doric tales – fiction which ranges from the other-worldly to the earthly; from high tragedy to black comedy; and from the bizarre to the mundane. Wittgenstein’s Web illustrates the creative process of weaving language into that web of varied colours and textures which characterises Sheena Blackhall’s artistry.

Three of the tales, 'Muckle Fush – Teenie Fush', 'Road Rage' and 'The Mither' are Doric translations of short stories by Italo Calvino, Alberto Moravia and Italo Svevo respectively.

'A celebration of locality... pervades the work of Sheena Blackhall and.... she explicitly rejects the ideology of the Lallans movement, preferring the 'real' language of her kith and kin.'
John Corbett, Written in the Language of the Scottish Nation (1999)

ISBN 0 9526554 1 1
Out of print, but a copy can be found in the National Library of Scotland.