Scottish Poetry Library Podcast

Commonwealth Poets United is an international exchange between six Scottish poets and poets from six Commonwealth nations. Toni Stuart is a South African poet named in the Mail and Guardian’s list of 200 Inspiring Young South Africans for her work in co-founding I Am Somebody! – an NGO that uses storytelling and youth development to build integrated communities. Rachel McCrum, originally from Northern Ireland, is an Edinburgh resident today, a poet and the co-creator of popular spoken word event Rally and Broad. Both poets visited each other's countries to draw inspiration from a different culture. When Toni was visiting Scotland, she came into the Scottish Poetry Library with Rachel to talk about their exchange trips, how food united them, and how 'when you learn a new language, you gain a new soul'.

In this podcast Jennifer Williams talks to Ilyse Kusnetz who was visiting Scotland during the StAnza Festival 2014. They talk about when to put the poem in the closet, feminism and politics in poetry and what the Scottish Referendum looks like from across the Atlantic. Ilyse Kusnetz received her MA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University and her Ph.D. in Feminist and Postcolonial British Fiction from the University of Edinburgh. Her poetry has been published in journals such as Rattle, Crazyhorse, the Atlanta Review, Stone Canoe, Poetry Review, the Cimarron Review, Poet Lore, and MiPOesias, and her book reviews and interviews have appeared in The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, The New Statesman, the Orlando Sentinel, and The Florida Review. She is the author of a chapbook, The Gravity of Falling. Currently, she teaches English and Creative Writing at Valencia College in Orlando, where she lives with her husband, the poet Brian Turner. Ilyse Kusnetz is the winner of the 2014 T. S. Eliot Prize for Poe

When we think of World War One, our images of the conflict is largely shaped by those of the Western Front or perhaps Gallipoli. It was a truly global conflict, however, and one less remarked upon campaign was that of an Anglo-Indian force despatched to what is southern Iraq today, to secure oli supplies. Perhaps because the campaign turned into something of a disaster. Poet, playwright and songwriter Jenny Lewis' father fought as part of that force. Her new collection Taking Mesopotamia (Carcanet) reimagines the campaign using her father's diaries. It also takes in more recent wars in the region as well as the story of Gilgamesh, the ancient Sumerian warrior king, to create a vision of mankind that repeatedly fails to learn the lessons of war. Lewis took time out from the StAnza poetry festival, where she was appearing in March 2014,to talk to us about war, oil, myth, and the gods.

We talked with Caroline Bird after her recent reading at The Sutton Gallery in Edinburgh. She discusses her latest collection The Hat-Stand Union and reads a couple of her poems. She also talks about the importance of reading for a poet and how an Arvon course she attended when she was 13 persuaded her to transform her readings habits. It obviously worked as she published her first collection at just 15 years of age. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable and produced by Colin Fraser @kailworm of Culture Laser Productions @culturelaser http://culturelaser.com

In this podcast poet Brian Turner talks to Jennifer Williams about the poetry that came out of his own experience as a solider, and how poetry can be a line thrown out by the breath or a question planted inside a reader. Recorded in association with StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival at StAnza 2014.

Niall Campbell is one of the most promising poets of the younger generation of Scottish writers. Hailing from the island of South Uist in the Western Isles, Campbell is a poet whose work is as lyrical as it is intriguing. With his debut collection Moontide just published by Bloodaxe, Campbell took time to talk to the SPL about growing up on an island, his interest in spirituality without God, and the similarities between sculpture and poetry.

On this episode we talk with Korean poet Lee Si-Young and his translator, Brother Anthony of Taize. He reads some of his poems and reflects on how his work has evolved since the military dictatorship in South Korea when it was dangerous and extremely difficult to publish poetry. It 'was a responsibility that young poets had to take to stand up and dare take the risk to oppose and indicate there was another way ahead.' He also discusses his views on political poetry - 'without something that emerges from the human heart you cannot have a poem... If I am simply angry then nothing will come out in terms of poetry. It has to be transformed.' You may find more information about Lee Si-Young and other Korean poets on Brother Anthony's website http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/ We also feature one of the collaborations from SJ Fowler's Camerade project with Marcus Slease and Claire Potter. Listen to more of the collaborations at http://bit.ly/LaserCam and find out more at: http://sjfowlerpoetry.com. Presented by Rya

Alexander Hutchison, a poet and translator in Scots and English, was born in 1943 in Buckie in the north-east of Scotland, and currently lives in Glasgow. His first book Deep-Tap Tree (University of Massachusetts Press, 1978) is still in print. Other collections include The Moon Calf (Galliard, 1990) and Carbon Atom (Link-Light, 2006). Melodic Cells, an interview with Hutchison conducted by Andrew Duncan appears in Don't Start Me Talking: Interviews with Contemporary Poets. (Salt: Cambridge, 2006). Salt also published Scales Dog: New and Selected Poems in 2007. In this podcast SPL Programme Manager Jennifer Williams talks to Alexander about his most recent collection, Bones & Breath (Salt), tardigrades, ancient spears, the poet’s voice and much more!

J.L Williams is a poet fascinated by the possiblility of metamorphoses, whether it be witnessed in the natural world or experienced in one's own life. Her first collection Condition of Fire (Shearsman) was inspired by Ovid, and in her new collection Locust and Marlin (Shearsman) she returns to the theme of change, albeit from a fresh perspective. In our latest podcast, she talks to us about the nature of stone, the poetry of locusts, and just how spiritual she is.

Commonwealth Poets United is an international exchange between six Scottish poets and poets from six Commonwealth nations: Canada, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Nigeria and South Africa. It will establish relationships between artists, organisations and communities through a culturally enriching poetry exchange. You can read more about Commonwealth Poets United at commonwealthpoetsunited.com/ Tanya Shirley, who lives in Jamaica, came to Scotland as part of the exchange trip. She visited the Scottish Poetry Library in early March 2014. While visiting, she spent time discussing her work with SPL programme manager and fellow poet JL Williams. Tanya read poems about her great-grandmother's funeral and her gun-toting grandfather. The poems, like Tanya's conversation, are full of life and laughter. The poetry opens the door on facets of Jamaican life.

Mark Doty speaks with Ryan Van Winkle about daring to do the things in poems that others are scared to do and bringing aspects of your own personality into your writing and your readings. In this wide ranging discussion we cover such topics as Alec Baldwin, dogs, celebration and the importance of reading widely to develop as a writer. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable and produced by Colin Fraser @kailworm of Culture Laser Productions http://www.culturelaser.com @culturelaser.

In this podcast the poet and artist MacGillivray (http://www.macgillivray.org.uk/) reads from and discusses her new book, The Last Wolf of Scotland (Pighog http://www.pighog.co.uk/authors/MacGillivray.html). The collection is an exploration of connections between Scotland and the American Frontier whose form brilliantly reflects the subject matter of the poems. MacGillivray joins SPL Programme Manager Jennifer Williams in a conversation that maps the rich web of influences from which her poetry emerges, taking in Doors frontman Jim Morrison, mock ancient Scottish bard Ossian, and the mysterious ‘Man with Fourteen Lives’. Plus a debate about whether poetry works better on the page or read aloud, or memorised and recited. Image courtesy of Christian Thompson.

Actor-writer-director-singer-songwriter, Gerda Stevenson recently added another string to her bow with the publication of her first book of poetry If This Were Real, which came out on Smokestack Books last year. In interview with the SPL, Gerda discusses how her other life as an actor has influenced her poetry, performing Edwin Morgan’s words on stage, and her rhythmical inheritance from her composer father. She also gives poets tips on how to get the best out of their live performances.

Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable talks with Luke Wright @lukewrightpoet about his first collection Mondeo Man in this interview recorded just after his sell out event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Luke reads a couple of his poems and discusses how he has evolved as a poet, why he felt the need to publish a collection now and how becoming a parent changed his attitude to his own work. http://www.lukewright.co.uk We also feature the track 'Gospel According to the Purple Cotton Dress' by C.R. Avery. http://www.cravery.com Produced by Colin Fraser @kailworm of Culture Laser Productions @culturelaser http://www.culturelaser.com Photo: Steve Ullathorne

In this podcast SPL Programme Manager Jennifer Williams talks to two Hawthornden Fellows Lynn Davidson and Alyson Hallett about where they come from, loneliness versus aloneness, and their current and upcoming work. Lynn Davidson’s fiction and poetry has appeared in journals and her short fiction has been broadcast on national radio. Davidson has received several grants and fellowships to develop her work, including the 2003 Louis Johnson New Writers' Bursary from Creative New Zealand. Alyson Hallett's work spans different continents and art forms. She has a poem carved into Milsom Street pavement in Bath, words etched into glass in a library in Bristol, and she runs the international poetry and public art project The Migration Habits of Stones. She currently works as a Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund. Suddenly Everything is her second full volume of poetry.

Best Scottish Poems is the Scottish Poetry Library's annual online anthology of the 20 Best Scottish Poems, edited each year by a different editor. Bookshops and libraries – with honourable exceptions – often provide a very narrow range of poetry, and Scottish poetry in particular. Best Scottish Poems offers readers in Scotland and abroad a way of sampling the range and achievement of our poets, their languages, forms, concerns. It is in no sense a competition but a personal choice, and this year's editors, the novelists Louise Welsh and Zoë Strachan, checked and balanced each other’s predilections. Their introduction demonstrates how widely they read, and how intensely. The preceding years’ selections are still available on this site. This special podcast features readings by established voices and emerging talent. With readings by Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Robin Robertson, John Burnside, and many more. Image: Seaweed by Lucy Burnett

Sweden based poet Ghayath Almadhoun talks to Ryan Van Winkle about being a Palestinian refuge and his Damascus club The House of Poetry that was a very special kind of open mic poetry event that challenged the authorities prior to the outbreak of the current Syrian conflict. He also reads excerpts from his long poem The City, which is about Damascus - for him, "the only city." Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable and produced by Colin Fraser @kailworm of Culture Laser Productions http://www.culturelaser.com @culturelaser

In this podcast our Programme Manager, Jennifer Williams, talks to Robert Wrigley about his new collection and first book to be published in the UK, The Church of Omnivorous Light: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2013). They also touch on narrative in poetry, the infinite capacity of poetry to talk about love and wild horses on the southern plains of Idaho. Robert was at the SPL in November 2013 for a reading with John Burnside. From Bloodaxe (http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/personpage.asp?author=Robert+Wrigley) - His first book to be published in the UK, The Church of Omnivorous Light: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 2013), draws on several collections published in the US, including Beautiful Country (2010);Earthly Meditations: New and Selected Poems (2006); Lives of the Animals (2003), winner of the Poets Prize; Reign of Snakes (1999), winner of the Kingsley Tufts Award; and In the Bank of Beautiful Sins(1995), winner of the San Francisco Poetry Center Book Award and finalist for the Lenore Marshall Award

Bob Dylan has played many roles in his life: voice of a generation, rock 'n' roll Judas, Christian convert, even Victoria's Secret salesman. The one that concerns the SPL podcast this week is 'poet'. Across two biographies - Once Upon A Time and Time Out of Mind (both published by Mainstream) - Ian Bell has considered Dylan in a more literary context than any other biographer of His Bobness. Over the course of this podcast, we discuss whether Dylan can really be considered a poet, the writers who influenced him, the Scottish connection, and his encounters with poets such as Carl Sandburg, Archibald McLeish and Allen Ginsberg. Image: 020 Azkena Rock Festival 2010 Bob Dylan 26VI10 by Dena Flows, under a Creative Commons

We discuss translation, identity, the value of mistakes and the virtues of bad poetry with the prolific novelist, translator and poet Ouyang Yu, who Ryan interviewed in Darwin, Australia earlier this year. Ouyang reads a number of his poems and discusses the experience of being a Chinese poet who has been living and working in Australia for the past 20 years and how this affects his practice. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable and produced by Colin Fraser @kailworm of Culture Laser Productions @culturelaser http://www.culturelaser.com