Learn more about the staff, Board, and the Poets Advisory Group of the Scottish Poetry Library.
Our people
Our Staff
Asif Khan
Director. Contact Asif about strategic partnerships, sector advocacy or becoming a patron.Aly Barr
Deputy Director/Head of Operations. Contact Aly about matters related to the running of the Library building or staffing.Colin Waters
Communications Manager. Contact Colin about the SPL's social media, web site, press enquiries, and the Scots Makar Jackie Kay.Beth Cochrane
Beth Cochrane is on secondment to the National Library of Scotland until April 2022. Please contact Aly Barr.Toni Velikova
Assistant Librarian. Contact Toni about collections management, periodicals selection, acquisitions, reference enquiries, cataloguing and indexing, and the archive and cuttings collection.Samuel Tongue
Projects Co-ordinator. Contact Sam about National Poetry Day, Tools of the Trade, publications or new project ideas.Ross Jamieson
Administrator. Contact Ross about the Library's shop, both within the building and online.
Our Board
The board, as the charity trustees, have overall responsibility for the organisation. The Board is responsible for setting strategic direction, approving policies, for employing staff and overseeing SPL performance and finances. Aiming for best practice, the Board has formally endorsed the Scottish Governance Code for the Third Sector.
Board members have a range of skills, experience and different perspectives. Board members are elected by members, but the Board can also co-opt individuals for limited periods.
More information is available here.
Gordon Munro (Co-chair)
Appointed 2017. Councillor, City of Edinburgh Council.Charlie Roy (Co-chair)
Appointed 2019. Publicist, linguist and former teacher.Dr James Ripley (Company Secretary)
Appointed 2018. Academic Librarian.Patrick Corbett
Appointed 2019. Academic.Marcas Mac an Tuairneir
Appointed 2017. Poet.David Forbes Rutherford
Appointed 2019. Accountant.Laura Fyfe
Appointed 2021. Writer and teacher.Chris Wardhaugh
Appointed 2021. Company Director.Claudia Daventry
Appointed 2021. Writer and teacher.Our Honorary Presidents
From time to time, the Board of the SPL asks distinguished poets to become Honorary Presidents of the Library.
Previous Presidents have been George Bruce, Seamus Heaney, Norman MacCaig, Sorley MacLean, Naomi Mitchison, Edwin Morgan, Iain Crichton Smith, Derick Thomson, and Tessa Ransford
Poets Advisory Group
The SPL Poets Advisory Group was established in December 2017 as a means for poets to share their ideas on how the library engages and works with poets across Scotland. Participants contribute topics for discussion in the meetings, and SPL staff may ask for the Group’s feedback on projects. Following the Group’s meetings, detailed notes from the discussion are shared with SPL staff to be taken into account when determining and implementing SPL activities in line with the business plan ambitions for 2018 to 2021. For more information on PAG, click here.
Poetry Groups at the SPL
Several poetry groups meet at the SPL, where the comfortable surroundings and access to volumes of poetry make for a rich writing experience. You can discover more about each of the groups that meet at the SPL here.
We also have a page where you can find out more information about poetry groups that meet outside of the SPL here.