John Bolland writes novels, poetry and short fiction, paints and makes prints and animations. He lives and works in the North East of Scotland. His work addresses themes of resilience and identity. A graduate of Glasgow University’s M.Litt. programme, he was runner-up in the V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize and a prize-winner in the Fish International Short Story competition.

His work has appeared in Gutter, The Interpreters House, Northwords Now, Lallans, The London Magazine, Poetry Scotland, Aiblins, Pushing Out the Boat and a number of anthologies.

His first full collection of poetry, Fallen Stock, was published by Red Squirrel Press in March 2019.   His second collection, Pibroch, was published by Red Squirrel Press in January 2022.

His film-poems, Blur Times and Ingangin have een shown at events curated by the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and the Royal Geological Society.

Since 2014 he has been writing and creating on a full-time basis and is listed on the Scottish Book Trust Live-Literature Database.

In recent years he has been involved in residencies and projects in a range of environments from a PR agency to a Theology faculty.

In January 2022, his spoken word show – Pibroch –  premiered in the North East of Scotland.  THe production was co-Directed by Mark Thomson, former Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh and supported musically by Fraser Fifield and a team of professional set, lighting and AV  designers, The show explores parallels between the Climate Emergency and the Piper Alpha Disaster in 1988, using words, music and striking visual imagery to express the personal and social experience of Piper Alpha survivors and explore the challenges each of us faces in a warming world.

During 2023, with support from Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund, Pibroch toured Scotland, performing the work and facilitating discussion in 13 venues from Shetland to Galloway. The development of Pibroch and reflections on the associated discussions are available via the pages What I heard about Climate Justice and Cruineachd on this website,

He is currently working on related projects,:Twilt, Improvement Notice and Reflecting on a Future Dance.

His writing skills are complemented by hands-on experience in teaching, project management, and workshop design & facilitation.

Details of publication through magazines and channels other than this website can be found by following the following link: publications.

His visual arts works include painting in both acrylic and watercolour and print techniques such as linocut, woodcut and collagraph.  His film making practice primarily expolits 3D modelling and animation techniques.  Examples of John’s artwork can be viewed in the John Bolland – Visual Art page of this website.

He delivers creative workshops in a variety of environments – from addiction recovery groups to web-marketing teams – combining visual arts, poetry and prose in both Scots and English to explore themes such as addiction recovery, pain management or the simple joy of language.

Alongside a life-long commitment to the arts as a vocation, John is a graduate chemist and has had a varied career in academia, education and, between 1989 and 2014, in the upstream oil and gas industry. His work over the past 35 years has involved academic research, training, software systems design and development, project and operational management in the energy sector, business development and management systems design and documentation. These roles have engaged him in projects in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Russia, Australia and the Caribbean. He has wide experience of management of strategic relationships between major multi-nationals, in cross-cultural facilitation, capability development and corporate governance and assurance.

Since 2019 he has been a recovery activist working with groups and organisations seeking to reduce the harms associated with problematic alcohol and drug use.

And he plays sax, low whistle and small pipes.

He is available for readings, workshops, mentoring, editorial support and commissions.  If you are interested in his work, please feel free to follow him on twitter or get in touch using the form below.