Skip to content

Scottish Poetry Library

Register/Sign in
Shopping Bag Shopping Bag
Bringing people and poems together
  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Re-Opening FAQ
  • Poetry
    • Poems
    • Poets
    • Poetry Ambassadors 2020
    • Best Scottish Poems
    • Podcasts
    • Poetry and Mindfulness
    • Our National Poet
    • Posters
    • Publishers
  • Library
    • Become a borrower
    • Catalogue
    • Collections
    • Ask a librarian
    • Copyright enquiries
  • Learning
    • National Poetry Day 2019
    • National Poetry Day archive
    • SQA set texts
    • Learning resources
    • New to poetry?
    • Advice for poets
  • Events
    • What’s On
    • Venue hire
  • Shop
    • Scottish Poetry
    • Poetry Pamphlet Cards
    • Pocket Poets
    • Scotland’s Makar
    • Help
  • About us
    • Our story
    • Our people
    • Our projects
    • Jobs
    • Our building
    • FAQs
    • Find us
  • Support us
    • Become a Friend
    • Donate
    • Easy Fundraising
  • Blog
Shopping BagShopping Bag
Ask a librarian
  • Home
  • >
  • About us
  • >
  • Our projects
  • >
  • Poetry Ambassadors
Donate Donate icon Ask a Librarian Ask a Librarian icon

Poetry Ambassadors

Project Archive

Since lockdown necessarily halted our plans for physically engaging with audiences and writing communities beyond Edinburgh, the SPL chose to expand its reach digitally, whilst at the same time opening up our online platforms for new commissions. We have done this through asking four guest curators to select works by poets that they would like to share.

The guest curators – Ceitidh Campbell, Hugh McMillan, Aoife Lyall and Thomas Clark – were tasked with commissioning five poets each to produce a collection of 20 new works in total. The overarching theme is ‘vision’ – the topic of this year’s National Poetry Day in October.

Crucially, the choices made by the curators were made entirely independently without a steer from the SPL. Each curator was made aware of our commitment to equalities and inclusion and we also encouraged them to commission work that included video or audio, as we seek to grow online resources that can be accessed at home, in the classroom or on the move. As we approach National Poetry Day on 1 October, the poems will be presented daily on rotation by curator.

Ceitidh selected poets predominantly writing in Scottish Gaelic and Thomas selected writers writing in Scots. Aoife is based in Inverness, as is Ceitidh, Hugh in Dumfriesshire and Thomas in Hawick. Their inclusion recognises that there is a rich pool of talent across Scotland. If this pilot programme proves successful, we will make available opportunities for expressions of interest for the guest curator roles, particularly for poets living beyond the Central Belt. We will also continue our support for new works in Scottish Gaelic and Scots language. Next year’s theme will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Walter Scott.

To read the poems commissioned by the Ambassadors project, click here.

  • Newsletter signup
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Scottish Poetry Library
5 Crichton's Close, Canongate
Edinburgh EH8 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)131 557 2876
© Scottish Poetry Library 2021.
The Scottish Poetry Library is a registered charity (No. SCO23311).
City of Edinburgh logo Green Arts Initiative logo Creative Scotland logo
By leaves we live

The Scottish Poetry Library is staffed weekdays from 10am – 2pm and is providing a limited service including postal loans and Click & Collect. For details, click COVID-19 in the menu bar above. Dismiss