Scottish Poetry Library

19/10/2026

Douglas Dunn (1942-2026)
An Obituary

Douglas Dunn, who has died aged 83, was a Scottish poet whose work encompassed a great range of subjects and styles, and who reached his widest audience with Elegies (1985), written in memory of his first wife. The collection won the Whitbread Prize of that year, not only for the best volume of poet...

19/10/2026

Douglas Dunn RIP. A titan of Scottish poetry is gone. Douglas Dunn's fellow poets respond.

Many poets have posted their initial thoughts on his passing on social media with tributes, recollections, as well as reposting their favourite poems.

14/10/2026

Iranian poet, Mehdi Mousavi, was sentenced to 9 years in prison and 99 lashes in 2013, but escaped from Iran in 2015. He will be in conversation with Samuel Tongue and reading from 'The Last Kiss' - his new dual language collection of poetry - at the Scottish Poetry Library on 4th Nov. This will be his first appearance in the UK. Tickets in link below.

05/10/2026

🎙️ NEW! NOTHING BUT THE POEM PODCAST In the latest edition of our Nothing But The Poem podcast, resident host Samuel Tongue – after a meetup of the Friends of the SPL Group – takes an exploratory dive into two poems by Indian poet, Tishani Doshi.

In the latest edition of our Nothing But The Poem podcast, resident host Samuel Tongue – after a meetup of the Friends of the SPL Group – takes an exploratory dive into two poems by Indian poet, Tishani Doshi. ‘Doshi’s work is like the music of Shostakovich; it gives no quarter but compels y...

01/10/2026

Addressing The Pigeons is a new poem performed by four of Scotland’s Young Makars, and written by another Young Makar, Leah Sinforiana. The wonder of poetry and the wonder of nature come together for National Poetry Day 2026, celebrating curiosity and connections.

01/10/2026

Celebrating Wonder and Nature for National Poetry Day 2026
Addressing The Pigeons is a new poem performed by 4 of Scotland’s Young Makars, and written by another Young Makar, Leah Sinforiana. The 4 Young Makars featured here reading Leah's poem are Anousha Stroud, Ben Mann, Elissa Hunter-Dolans and Brooke Collins.

21/09/2026

🎙️ NEW POETRY PODCAST (UPDATE!)
Last week we mistakenly republished Episode 1 of Nothing But the Film Poem instead of Episode 2. Here is the actual second episode of Nothing But The Film Poem podcast where Sam Tongue from the SPL chats with poetry filmmaker Steve Smart about 3 poetry films that caught their attention. The film poems discussed feature poems by e e cummings, John Glenday and William Butler Yeats. Apologies for the previous error.

The second episode of Nothing But The Film Poem podcast where Sam Tongue from the SPL chats with poetry filmmaker Steve Smart about 3 poetry films that caught their attention.

17/09/2026

In 2025 the Dymphna Bursary was awarded to Elizabeth Kelly. Here, she talks about how the bursary has helped her progress as a poet. Closing Date for 2026 Dymphna Bursary is 1st Oct.

The £2,000 Dymphna Bursary is awarded annually to a poet resident in Scotland who identifies as neurodivergent or has a learning disability.

The Bursary is designed to offer a level of transformative support for a poet at a developing point in their early poetry career, especially those who have not had a traditional route to publication.

Full details on the SPL website. www.spl.org.uk

16/09/2026

🎙️ NEW POETRY PODCAST

The second episode of Nothing But The Film Poem podcast where Sam Tongue from the SPL chats with poetry filmmaker Steve Smart about 3 poetry films that caught their attention.

The second episode of Nothing But The Film Poem podcast where Sam Tongue from the SPL chats with poetry filmmaker Steve Smart about 3 poetry films that caught their attention.

01/09/2026

🔈NEW NOTHING BUT THE POEM PODCAST featuring our resident host Sam Tongue taking an immersive dive into 2 poems by Imtiaz Dharker (link in Comments)