Giles, then, is stealing back snippets of speech from the polyphony of voices that have been through the Govanhill Baths over nearly a century. Similarly, in ‘Blue Ghaists’ the mists of oam mingle with these ghosts of Govanhill past, and other poems such as ‘Nicht shift at the slipper baths’ elaborate the ritual of trying to let go and relax after work while still being in a prim and proper age. […] Giles is to be praised for the variety of his approaches to these Baths, from a series of haikus, to a concrete poem of the baths when full of people which is worthy of Edwin Morgan.
— Richie McCaffrey, Sabotage Reviews
My second pamphlet, Oam, launched in November 2013. It was the result of a residency with Govanhill Baths, a wonderful once-and-future swimming pool in Glasgow. It’s a sequence of poems in contemporary Scots, all inspired by the Baths and its incredible history. You can read one of the poems here on National Collective.
The pamphlet is £2 plus postage, with all proceeds going to the Govanhill Baths Community Trust, helping the project reopen as a community swimming pool and wellbeing centre