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Scotland's
Poetry
Bringing people and poems together

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Search from over 3,000 selected poems on this site or explore our full collection in our online catalogue

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Find out about our latest resources, projects and events

Happy National Poetry Day

This year's theme is Wonder. Check out our brand new videos featuring our Young Makars and find free resources, poems and inspiration.
Discover the poems

Parliament oak to become poem-baton

Announced on National Poetry Day, 1 October 2026, the baton will be made by LGBT woodworkers and unveiled on Human Rights Day, 10 December.
Learn about the poem-baton

2026 Books are My Bag tote bags

This year's limited edition Books are My Bag tote bags are available to pre-order now for dispatch after Bookshop Day on the 10th of October.
Pre order yours here

Read the winning poems

...in this year's Young Religious Poets Competition and find out what the judges thought.
Read on
Steve Smart and Samuel Tongue in recording studio

Nothing But The Film Poem - Episode 2

Our second Nothing But The Film Poem podcast where the SPL's Sam Tongue chats with filmmaker Steve Smart about three film poems that caught their attention.
Hear here

Dymphna Bursary 2026

The Dymphna Bursary is awarded annually to a poet resident in Scotland who identifies as neurodivergent or has a learning disability. The award will be £2000. Find out how to apply here.
Click here for more.

Storytelling as a means of survival

Iona Lee reflects on her residency in Greenland in July 2026
Read the blog
Peter Mackay and Selina Tusitala Marsh standing alongside Robert Fergusson statue

Selina Tusitala Marsh & Peter Mackay

While in Scotland Selina recorded a podcast at the Scottish Poetry Library with Scottish Makar, Peter Mackay. She brought her official hand-carved New Zealand Laureate tokotoko stick with her, which accompanies her at all her public events!
Hear here
Black and white etching of seagulls flying

Etching the shape of silence

The poetry library partnered with Edinburgh Printmakers to showcase new poems and prints by a selection of our Young Makars.
Read the poems

Gies a Scots Poem Day 2026

This year’s Gies a Scots Poem Day is something special. 2026 marks the centenary of Hugh MacDiarmid’s A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle — a foundational work for contemporary poetry in Scots, and a poem without which, it’s...
Read the new poems
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio (Pexels)

Rannan Chloinne

The children's poems that have been written for Rannan Chloinne will delight their young readers. In these verses you will find a range of subjects & sentiments – some frivolous, some that will lift your spirits & others that will give you pause, all of them in eloquent Gaelic.
Read the poems here
Painting of famous Scottish poets as 21st-century characters in a pub.

Join our Friends scheme

Our membership scheme is a fantastic gift for someone who loves poetry and Scotland’s literature
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Share our poem of the moment...

Everywhere imbued with a glaikit sense of wonder,
like a friendly foreigner in your hometown-
So far away from the poem are you now,
that the slabs in those big sandy buildings,
all seasoned with rain’s salty affection
Continue reading Addressing the Pigeons
More from Leah Sinforiani
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Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close, Canongate
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2026.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
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