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Blog Our Sweet Old Etcetera

Blog Our Sweet Old Etcetera

Behind the scenes at the Scottish Poetry Library

The Magic Eye moment

22 February, 2012

A poetic examination of poetry, those 'Magic Eye moments when it finally comes right', by Kona Macphee.

writing in the journal by redcargurl, under a Creative Commons licence

In September of this year, Salt Publishing will be releasing In Their Own Words, an anthology edited by Helen Ivory and George Szirtes, and featuring short pieces from contemporary UK poets writing about their own poetics.  Here's what I had to say on the subject.

Nothing but the Poem: Elizabeth Bishop

20 February, 2012

Our Nothing but the Poem sessions are very popular, and the latest ones, dedicated to Elizabeth Bishop, were no different. What did those attending make of the author of 'One Art'?

Photo: Chris Scott

We’ve had a beautiful problem in the last year or so: too many people wanting to come to Nothing But the Poem sessions.

Three poets: Tom Leonard, Don Paterson, William Letford

20 February, 2012

Three poets, three generations of Scottish poetry, one unmissable event.

tom leonard by lady in the radiator under a Creative Commons licence

Talkies

16 February, 2012

Cinema is barely a hundred years old; poetry is old as language. Although film is the upstart, poetry and poets have embraced it. If only filmmakers were so deft.

Hollywood Sign by Vlastula under a Creative Commons licence

Love poetry?

14 February, 2012

We all like to get a card and chocolate on Valentine's Day, but the real affair commemorated on the 14th of February is between poetry and love.

Love Heart <3 by -Weng- under a Creative Commons licence

Absent Friends

9 February, 2012

We say goodbye to three memorable poets and friends of the SPL who have died recently: Pearse Hutchinson, Andres Ehin and Wisława Szymborska.

Andres Ehin. Photo: Roddy Simpson

A Tale of Two Dickens

6 February, 2012

Acclaimed in his day and our own as a great novelist, Charles Dickens celebrates his bicentenary on February 7 2012. What is less talked about is his debt to poets - and his influence on poets to come.

561 (Charles Dickens) by danielweiresq under a Creative Commons licence

Charles Dickens is renowned as a master of prose. In this year marking his bicentenary, his novels are amongst the best known of any, while his characters remain literary archetypes. What is less known is his relationship with poetry: the poets he read, the lines he wrote, and the verse he inspired.

In Praise of Libraries

3 February, 2012

Saturday 4th February marks the first National Libraries Day. But what's so special about libraries, anyway?

Library by aha42 | tehaha under a Creative Commons license

Lost for Words?

2 February, 2012

Got a few lines of a poem running around your head that you can't track down? Is it driving you to distraction? We know someone who can help.

detective by olarte.ollie under a Creative Commons license

Leonard Cohen, poet

30 January, 2012
Songs of Love and Hate (back) by svennevenn under a Creative Commons license

Leonard Cohen has been called 'the poet laureate of gloom'. He did in fact begin his career, not as a musician, but as a poet in Montreal. What was his verse like? And why did he decide to focus on music instead?

Songs of Love and Hate (back) by svennevenn under a Creative Commons license