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Behind the scenes at the Scottish Poetry Library

2012

Showing 1-10 of 41 results

Events, dear boy, events

14 May, 2012

There's a lot more going on at your friendly, neighbourhood Scottish Poetry Library. So much so, we now have a person dedicated to putting on events for us, Jennifer Williams. In the first of her blogs for the SPL, she tells us about settling in - and what she has in store for you!

Untitled by lipar, under a Creative Commons licence

I’ve just completed my first fortnight as Programme Manager at the Scottish Poetry Library – and what a joyous time it has been.

Best Scottish Poems 2011

11 May, 2012

If we could call it ’20 Splendid Scottish Poems’ or ’20 of the most interesting Scottish poems…’ that might be a more accurate label, but it doesn’t have the bite of ‘best’. And the chosen poets should have their moment of basking in the ‘best’ light.

Image: Martin O’Donnell’s Boat by Alice Myers

Browning versions

4 May, 2012

It’s shaping up to be a year of bicentenaries. We’ve already had two – Charles Dickens and Edward Lear – and on 7 May, Robert Browning makes it a third. As we remember him, we also recall the musical based on his famed romance with Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Robert Browning by Steve Hunisett, under a Creative Commons licence

'Is there anybody there?' A century of 'The Listeners'

4 May, 2012

May 2012 marks the centenary of the publication of Walter de la Mare's The Listeners. Why does this mysterious poem still command attention while the reputation of its author has dimmed?

Haunted House by Sean MacEntree, under a Creative Commons licence

Ali Smith on Margaret Tait: 'argumentative, spontaneous-seeming and energetic'

30 April, 2012

Ali Smith believes Margaret Tait is one of the most bafflingly overlooked of Scotland’s versatile twentieth-century artists. In an extract from the foreword to a new collection of Tait's writings, Smith explains why this poet and filmmaker matters.

Margaret Tait © Alex Pirie

Margaret Tait is one of the most bafflingly overlooked of Scotland’s versatile twentieth-century artists. At last, the truly neglected aspects of her work are now addressed by Poems, Stories, and Writings, a new collection of her writing over the decades.

‘EM was here and is’

27 April, 2012

A new poem by David Kinloch is a personal look at Edwin Morgan's legacy.

National Portrait Gallery 024 by byronv2, under a Creative Commons licence

Picturing Shakespeare

23 April, 2012

Few have added to the glory of England and its language in the way Shakespeare did – and continues to. In the same week that Edwin Morgan would have celebrated his 92nd birthday, we take a look at the poem he wrote about the bard.

Shakespeare by reuvenim, under a Creative Commons licence

Laird Byron

19 April, 2012

Lord Byron only spent the first 10 years of his life in Scotland, and once he left, he never returned, at least not in person; his imagination is another matter entirely. Just how Scottish was Byron?

Lord Byron by hummingcrow, under a Creative Commons licence

How Scottish was Byron? Blessed with a baronetcy and educated at Dulwich, Harrow and Cambridge, he might, in other circumstances, be seen as a pillar of the English establishment. He only spent 10 years of his life in Scotland, his first decade more or less, and once he left, he never returned, at least not in person; his imagination is another matter.

Lost for Words? Can you help?

18 April, 2012

Here at the SPL, we often field enquiries from users curious about verse they don’t know the origins of. This time, our poetry 'detective' needs your help.

Sherlock Holmes by By givingnot@rocketmail.com, under a Creative Commons license

In the Wake of the Titanic

13 April, 2012

Outside of war, has there ever been a public event that has inspired as many poems as the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912? While the ship itself proved mortal, as a subject it is invincible.

Titanic Exhibit by daveparker, under a Creative Commons licence

Outside of war, has there ever been a public event that has inspired as many poems as the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912? While the ship itself proved mortal, as a subject it is invincible.