Born in Glasgow and brought up in Ayrshire, the setting for much of his early work, Stewart Conn has since 1977 lived in Edinburgh and was from 2002 to 2005 the city’s inaugural makar. Publications include Stoats in the Sunlight (Scottish Arts Council prize), An Ear to the Ground (Poetry Book Society Choice) and Under the Ice (SAC book award) (all Hutchinson); In the Kibble Palace, The Luncheon of the Boating Party, Stolen Light, Ghosts at Cockcrow, The Breakfast Room (SMIT 2014 Scottish Poetry Book of the Year) and a selected volume The Touch of Time (Bloodaxe Books); a memoir Distances (Scottish Cultural Press), Aspects of Edinburgh with drawings by John Knight (Scotland Street Press) and most recently a fourth Mariscat pamphlet Underwood; plus as editor 100 Favourite Scottish Poems and 100 Favourite Scottish Love Poems (Luath Press) and Other Worlds: An Anthology of Scottish Island Poems (Polygon).
In his years as head of BBC Scotland’s radio drama department he worked with, encouraged and admired a wide range of Scottish writers. Of his own plays ‘Herman’ and ‘Hugh Miller’ won Fringe First Awards; while those published include ‘I Didn’t Always Live Here’, ‘The King’,’The Burning’, ‘The Aquarium’, ‘Play Donkey’ and ‘Thistlewood’. He is a fellow of the RSAMD, and in 2006 received the Institute of Contemporary Scotland’s first Iain Crichton Smith award for services to literature. He reads a selection of his poems you can listen to on the Poetry Archive website. His own web address is www.stewartconn.com.
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Conn presents a selection of his poems to listen to on The Poetry Archive