SUBMISSIONS INVITED Contemporary Responses to Robert Fergusson Poetry Collection Deadline: 31 Jan 2025 Submissions sought for an exciting new poetry collection provisionally titled ‘Contemporary Responses to Robert Fergusson’. This collection will commemorate 250 years since the death of the influential poet, Robert Fergusson (1750-1774). A key Scottish poet of the eighteenth century, Fergusson’s career was prolific: despite having only six creative years, Fergusson’s output of over one hundred poems and songs is substantial. His poems were written in English and Scots, and often heavily influenced by the reality of his Edinburgh surroundings. His most famous poems include Auld Reikie, ‘The Ghaists: A Kirkyard Eclogue’, ‘Leith Races’, and ‘The Daft-Days’. It is hoped to bring together a diverse selection of poetical works that reflect on, resonate with, and respond to Robert Fergusson’s life, poetry, and legacies. We are thrilled that this collection is contracted with the excellent independent Edinburgh publisher, Taproot Press. Submission to be part of this poetry collection is free. Works must not be previously published elsewhere and must be entirely your own, without the use of AI technologies. We welcome works in Scots, English, and Gaelic. The maximum recommended length of submissions is 40 lines and we welcome one submission per person, as we would like to include as many voices as possible. For more information, please see the project website: robert-fergusson.glasgow.ac.…

For #BlackHistoryMonth2024 we take a wander through our bookshelves and this well-thumbed poetry collection is a much-loved gem. Jackie Kay's 1991 The Adoption Papers is a landmark Scottish poetry book that Elizabeth Burns described at the time as "loud with pain and rage, but sometimes it's as though she whispers too, entering dreams, allowing a delicate imagery... This book is full of fresh, remarkable poetry; its rhythms sing from the page, demanding to be heard." This was Jackie Kay's debut collection and would be the foundation stone for over three decades of work that would eventually see her appointed as Scotland's Makar in 2016, as well as becoming one of the country's most admired and cherished poets.