Joan Ure

Betty was my grand-mother and a very caring soul she was. I have many fond memories of her, and what she stood for. She did her all for humanity and for that I commend her. The rest of the story is for me and a select few to know. Best wishes to all of the Carswells, Eric ...Elizabeth Thoms Clark (June 22 1918 – 1978) was a poet and playwright who used the pen name Joan Ure.

Life

Born Elizabeth Thomson Carswell on June 22 1918 in Wallsend of Scottish parents who moved to Glasgow, she was called Betty. She wrote her first play, "Cendrillon", in French, for the 4th year school class to perform.

Already pregnant, she married Jack Clark. She fictionalised all her relationships, including that with her daughter, Frances.

Having been born in England made her self-consciously Scots and she adopted an ironic refrain throughout her public writing: "Scottish, more or less" and "as Scots as I am". In correspondence she wrote "I could say I am an Englishman, and spite 'em all."

Work

She chose the pen-name Ure, because it sounded more Scottish to her. The first name commemorated her sister, Joan, who committed suicide. Death by suicide was one of her themes, summed up in the poem, In Memoriam 1971, published in Scottish International.

Her poem Signal at Red, written 1964, is addressed to her correspondent, John Cairns, and alludes to her lover, Ian Hamilton Finlay, she'd put on plays with at The Falcon Theatre in 1962, hers being Punctuated Rhythms. He's also the disappointing lover referred to in her short story, Midsummer's Eve, published in Words 6 in 1978. She claims he was almost the death of her, though she doesn't specify how & there's nothing in the correspondence, 1963 - 1971, to suggest she ever proposed leaving her husband for him.

One of her best plays is the revue Nothing May Come of It which incorporates song and dance. She characterises people she knew including her correspondent as the lead actress in Nothing May Come of It as well as Puck in Seven Characters out of the Dream.

None of her plays was full-length. Her one major work is her correspondence with John Cairns which provides a framework for understanding her life and work.

She was well known in literary circles for her temperament after throwing a cup of tea in Alasdair Gray's face before she died, as well as for her writing.