Scotland’s Next Generation Young Makars is a mentoring scheme run by the Scottish Poetry Library. Each year it pairs emerging poets with established Scottish writers, giving them one-to-one mentoring and opportunities to share their work at public events.
This page brings together everything we have on the scheme: the current cohort, the poets from previous years, and some of the work and stories that have come out of it.
The current cohort: 2026
2026 Young Makars
Six Young Makars are working with mentors this year: Autumn Walker, Fearghas MacLugh, Harry Ledgerwood, Lexi Ashcroft, Neave Scott and Robert Thorne.
Previous cohorts
Work and stories
- New poems by Scotland’s Next Generation Young Makars: a pamphlet, For Those Who Tend the Soil, containing work by many of our Next Generation Young Makars.
- My Journey from Scotland’s Next Generation Young Makar to Published Poet: Nazaret Ranea writes about her journey from being one of the Young Makars to becoming a published poet.
Young Makars on film for National Poetry Day 2026
For National Poetry Day 2026, six Young Makars from across the scheme’s cohorts appear in short poetry films made with Brand Scotland. Watch the films.