Fay Young
James Hutton and deep time poetry
James Hutton, the great Enlightenment scientist, was born 290 years ago today (June 3). Here Ron Butlin, former Edinburgh Makar, celebrates the work of the Father of Modern Geology.
Shoulder to shoulder 90 [make that 100] years on
Almost unnoticed in the hubbub of #Holyrood2016 this week saw the 90th anniversary of the General Strike. Here the author reflects on the power of printed news – then! – and on solidarity.
Seize the day
Kathleen Jamie – you can listen to one of Scotland’s premier poets here – asks how many glorious May dawns she’s slept through as Spring bursts upon us and we head for the polls…
Kert-wheeling alleluias
Never mind the meaning, sense the soundscape: dipping into the newly published Best Scottish Poems 2015, Fay Young gives up herself up to the rich world of sound via Edinburgh’s Shetlandic makar, Christine De Luca.
Erased from history: women gardeners
Women were not always welcome in the garden. Fay Young follows the often hidden trail of pioneering women determined to make their way in a man’s world
Och Aye n Aye
The national poets of Scotland and Jamaica, Burns and Marley, shared a passionate concern for the oppressed – and a host of other attributes as well as children born to many mothers. We pay tribute…
Scotland through the fiscal looking glass
The Scottish Government has dismissed pressure from Labour to offset cuts in spending on local services with a 1p on the Scottish Rate of Income Tax. It rejects pressure from the Treasury to agree a…
Poetry helps us face facts of life … and death
David Bowie always accepted that life was finite but called death “a drag”. By the time he released his last album and accompanying video he knew death was imminent. Poetry helps us live with that…
Home thoughts by homeless young people
We think of the poor and vulnerable, especially those on the streets or in refugee camps, at this season. The Rock Trust does this all year round for the young homeless in Scotland’s capital city.…
Sunset song for winter solstice
Even in the turbulent days of global warming the Winter Solstice is a turning point towards the light. Poets, as here George Mackay Brown, celebrate “the pale sun” and fire and ice as “we push…
Ode to Cromarty, Forties, Forth…
Our poetry editor follows humbly in the footsteps of Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy and Blur among many others and pays tribute to the enduring resonance of the shipping forecast as it enjoys its tenth…
Head for the hills
By email, a breath of fresh air. Gordon Peters writes to say he has been climbing mountains, chumming a friend attempting his last Munro and he has documented it in verse – Sceptical Scot is…