Finola Scott
Finola Scott’s work is widely published in magazines and anthologies such as New Writing Scotland, Gutter, One Hand Clapping, The Ofi Press, Lighthouse and The Irish Pages. Mentored on the Clydebuilt scheme by Liz Lochead, she has been writing since retiring from a life at the chalk face.
Politics, environment and relationships concern her. Matthew Hollis’s words, ‘Poetry is a kind of leaving of notes for another to find’, encourage her to examine her life, to reflect on her place in society. A Makar of the Federation of Writers, Finola knows poetry won’t change the world, but still writes.
Writing in English and Scots, she is winner of many competitions including the McLellan competition (Scots) and the Scots Language Society’s Hugh McDiarmid Tassie. She has been chosen as Cafe Writer’s Writer of the Month as well as Ink Sweat & Tears’ Pick of the Month. She enjoys success with ekphrastic poetry, a winner in both the Paisley Museum’s and Gutter Magazine’s competitions to celebrate Joan Eardley’s centenary. Further, Fife Museums used her poems in Artastic! an exhibition of well-known Scottish paintings.
At the start of 2026 Finola won the Scottish Book Trust’s Words for the Wild competition, (Scots). Early in 2025, she won the Linen Hall Library’s Ulster-Scots Poetry competition, being the first Scot to do so.
A slam-winning Granny, she performs near and far including at The Scottish Parliament, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh Book Festival, Gatehouse of Fleet Festival as well as locally at the SWC and St Mungo’s Mirrorball. Face-to-face reading is important to her as she enjoys the active feedback and community. She also finds it vital to feel the words in her mouth, to feel the shape of a poem.
Finola is indebted to the many groups who encourage and support her writing journey – from her beginnings in Strathkelvin Writers to her engagement with St Mungo’s Mirrorball, Her close involvement with the Federation of Writers Scotland saw her early publications, competition wins and performances. She doubts if she would have made it through Covid lockdowns had it not been for The Open Book’s online workshops, which continue to inspire her. These groups have become a network of friends, ensuring that writing is not a lonely life.
To date she has four publications. Much left Unsaid from Red Squirrel, Count the Ways from Dreich, Trembling Earth from Matecznik Press, and with two other poets, in Modren Makars: Yin from Tapsalteerie. She invites you to her FB page, Finola Scott Poems. Here her work, information about publications and upcoming events can be found.