Blog
Kathleen Jamie on ‘How to write a poem for a report’ (Spoiler: Contains brand new poem by our Makar!)
3 April 2023
Artists are the bottom of the heap. So when you’ve got a chance , three minutes in the room with them, you’ve got to make the point that artists are often forgotten about,...Utøya Thereafter
2 March 2023
Over the space of four and a half years, and through the pandemic, Norwegian poet Endre Ruset has been working with UK poet Harry Man to write poems in memory of those who were killed during the tragic events...Seamus Heaney and the Art Speech of Robert Burns
24 January 2023
SPL Comms Manager Kevin Williamson on Heaney on Burns.Poets welcomed to Online Guide by the Scottish Poetry Library
30 November 2022
To mark St Andrews Day, the Scottish Poetry Library is adding 6 new names to its Online Guide to Scottish Poets, improving its representation of poets writing in Scots and Gaelic. Earlier this year the Library invited the public to...Poetry Unravelled
2 November 2022
What do Keanu Reeves, John Lennon, Cher and Kiera Knightley have in common? Read on to find out.Push the Boat Out poetry festival 2022
11 October 2022
Diverse, eclectic, entertaining and challenging - contemporary poetry is in pretty great shape. Push the Boat Out is a cross-genre explosion of poetry, hip hop, and spoken word; the point where artforms from spoken word, live music, hip hop,...Dublin to Edinburgh poetry exchange
3 October 2022
Watch Irish and Scottish young people perform poems they wrote together during a week-long exchange workshop.The Royal Jubilee: From 1822 to 2022
2 September 2022
James Hogg expert Dr Valentina Bold writes about the first performance of James Hogg’s play in 200 years. On December the 2nd, James Hogg’s play ‘The Royal Jubilee’ will be performed for the first time. Written on the occasion...Happy 1st birthday Kathleen Jamie
19 August 2022
A short film of Kathleen Jamie reflecting on her first year as Makar.William Neill
11 August 2022
We are marking a hundred years since the birth of he poet William Neill, with a special display, including a selection of items from our collection.Donnchadh Bàn @ 300 / Duncan Ban @ 300
29 January 2024
A stellar line-up of Gaelic poets join us to celebrate the anniversary of Duncan Ban MacIntyre.Aye Robot
13 October 2026
Poet and academic Professor Alan Riach writes about the unusual road that led to his latest poetry collection What the Sea Gives. There is an Irish-Gaelic term uisge fa thalamh which might be directly translated into English as ‘water...
Scottish Parliament oak to become final Glasgow 2026 poem-baton
1 October 2026
The timber will then be turned into a baton, incorporating the completed poem.