Scottish Poetry Library

01/06/2026

🎙️ NEW NOTHING BUT THE POEM PODCAST

Our regular podcast host Samuel Tongue rolls up his sleeves for one of his favourite poets, Selima Hill, examining two poems from her 1997 collection, Violet (Bloodaxe).

Our regular podcast host Samuel Tongue rolls up his sleeves for one of his favourite poets, Selima Hill

26/05/2026

To Scotland With Love: A Moroccan poet, Mouna Ouafik, looks forward to the World Cup and writes of her love of playing football, and for all things Scottish

Every time I play football, dopamine and adrenaline take over everything. Life sharpens. My mind and body switch into high-performance mode. Everything becomes vivid, charged, accelerated. Ideas flash like sparks.

14/05/2026

🎙️ NOTHING BUT THE FILM POEM - EPISODE 1

A brand new SPL podcast which features Samuel Tongue in conversation with poetry film-maker Steve Smart. They talk film poems - or poetry films - what they are - and discuss some interesting examples (includes links to the films)

Nothing But The Film Poem podcast

30/04/2026

🎧Nothing But The Poem - Nick Makoha.

Regular podcast host Samuel Tongue, after a meetup with the Friends of the SPL group, rolls up his sleeves and gets thinking about two poems by Nick Makoha from his much acclaimed and award-listed 2025 masterpiece, The New Carthaginians (Penguin).

What they said about The New Carthaginians:

“A dizzying experience… like Dante entering hell through a rip in the universe, Makoha enters history, accompanied not by Virgil but by a Black Icarus with a microchip for a mouth, and the shade of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat” – Philip Terry (Guardian)

“A moving collection of entangled histories. Makoha’s poems break, cut, scratch and sample with heightened language to remake and renew the boundaries of myth. Do not sleep on The New Carthaginians – Raymond Antrobus

In the latest Nothing But The Poem podcast our regular host Samuel Tongue goes in deep on two poems by Nick Makoha from his much acclaimed collection The New Carthaginians.

28/04/2026

NO POEM, NO PARTY!

Scotland's Makar Peter Mackay has launched a callout for a collective poem by the Tartan Army & the people of Scotland to send the national men's team on their way to the 2026 World Cup. You can submit 1 or 2 lines via the SPL website below.

We invite Scotland supporters to submit lines for inclusion in a collective poem to honour the Men's National Football Team's participation this summer in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

27/04/2026

Scotland’s Makar Peter Mackay has dedicated a new poem, Ris an do-dhèanta / At the Impossible, to the Scotland Men’s Football FIFA World Cup 2026 Squad.

Peter Mackay's poem At the Impossible is dedicated to the Scotland Men's 2026 Football World Cup Squad.

23/04/2026

The Scottish Poetry Library seeks submissions to the fifth year of its talent development scheme for poetry writers aged 16 to 25 years. We will select five young makars in total: three writing in English plus a poet writing predominantly in Scots or Scottish Gaelic. A bursary of £500 will be made available to each poet to support their engagement with the programme.

Three one-to-one sessions will take place with poet-mentors. This activity can take place either in-person or online. Our poet-mentors are Janette Ayachi, Niall Campbell, Aoife Lyall, Victoria McNulty (Scots) and Niall O’Gallagher (Scottish Gaelic).

In addition to the mentoring sessions, public performance opportunities might arise throughout the year. Previous cohort of young makars participated in the programmes of the Dandelion festival in Inverness, StAnza poetry festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and with organisations such as Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Poets’ Republic – and also a public reading with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage. Some of our young makars gave gone on to have debut collections published by the likes of Guillemot Press and Drunk Muse.

The poetry library seeks submissions for its young makars' mentoring scheme.

16/04/2026

Eve McIntosh, one of our Young Makars, will be launching her debut collection, Digital Prophet (Guillemot Press), online at 7pm this evening - in conversation with Jen Hadfield.

Details:
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87065367342?pwd=hu0LrKrolbcLQug1P243lgupI0MHfj.1

Meeting ID: 870 6536 7342
Passcode: 237638

14/04/2026

"To me mentoring is a thought process developed through focussed conversation."

In our latest blog post, Tom Murray reflects on his time as a mentor for our Young Makars programme.

In this blog Tom Murray reflects on his time as a mentor in support of our Young Makars programme.

07/04/2026

🖋️ NEW SPL BLOG POST!

Taylor Strickland writes on the Corbenic Poetry Path which "meanders through uplands, woodlands, and riverside, featuring some of the country’s most notable poets, among them Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay and John Glenday."

Creative Development Officer Taylor Strickland writes about the 10th anniversary of a unique poetry path Jon Plunkett’s normally warm Belfast accent cools. Over a call, he reveals the more challenging aspect to his role as director of Corbenic Camphill Community, a registered charity that aids adu...