Online guide to Scottish Poets

Ian Abbot1947 - 1989

Ian Abbot was born in Perth in 1947, and worked in agricultural jobs to support his writing. One book of poetry was published before his early death in a car accident, but a collected poems appeared in 2015.

Patricia Aceb.1969

Patricia Ace was born in England and has lived in Perthshire since 1993. Her collection Fabulous Beast was published in 2013, and her work has been included in several recent anthologies.

Helen Adam1909 - 1993

A 'bardic matriarch' to the San Francisco Beats in the 1950s, Helen Adam was born a minister’s daughter in Scotland, and her reputation rests on her mastery, and macabre interpretation, of the ballad forms of her native land.

Donald Adamsonb.1943

Donald Adamson is a poet and translator, and a teacher of creative writing and translation studies.

Margot Robert Adamson1898 -1979

Margot Robert Adamson translated early Scots and English poetry into modern English. In her own poetry she drew upon life in Edinburgh and East Lothian. She also wrote novels, and travel literature ‘for those who stay at home’.

James Aitchisonb.1938

James Aitchison is a Scottish-born writer and educator who has published several collections of poetry across 50-year career.

Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair
Alexander MacDonald 1695 - 1770

Modern poetry in Scottish Gaelic begins with the brilliant, controversial figure of Alexander MacDonald, better known as Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair.

Sandra Alland

Sandra Alland is a Scottish-Canadian writer, filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist based in Scotland.

Alexander Anderson1845 - 1909

Writing as 'Surfaceman', a reference to his time working on the railways, Anderson became a poet and librarian, famed for his poem about wakeful bairnies, 'Cuddle Doon'.

Linda Andersonb.1950

Linda Anderson was born in Aberdeen. After attending Aberdeen University, she began teaching at Newcastle University in 1978, where she has worked ever since.

Morag Andersonb. 1971

Anderson’s debut chapbook, ‘Sin Is Due to Open in a Room Above Kitty’s’ (Fly on the Wall Press, 2021), explores human connections—concealed violence, love, and everything in between

Marion Angus1865 - 1946

Coming late in her life to poetry, Marion Angus wrote during the 1920s, frequently in her native Scots, poems  suggesting social and emotional rejection, and on the ballad-themes of lost love and unquiet spirits.