Scottish Poetry Library Podcast

The Written World is the Scottish Poetry Library's London 2012 project. To mark the Olympics, we launched a scheme to find a poem for each of the 204 countries taking part, which were then broadcast on BBC Radio. With the project over now, we take the chance to look back on The Written World with its project manager Sarah Stewart. We also talk to Richard Price, whose poem 'Hedge Sparrows' was chosen to represent Team GB, and William Letford, who the SPL asked to write a poem marking the end of the tournament. A trio of poets is rounded out by Mariama Khan, a poet representing Gambia at Poetry Parnassus, another international event linked to the Olympics. Photo of Richard Price performing at the Written World closing party courtesy of Chris Scott. Music by William Campbell.

Ryan chats with Ghanian-born, Jamaican-raised Kwame Dawes. He is a poet of great strength, generosity and kindness, and takes the reader to places very few writers in English are capable of going. His work on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica (http://livehopelove.com/) won him an Emmy award for New Approaches to News and Documentary Programming, and drew much needed attention to a situation that had yet to be fully articulated to a large audience. In this podcast Kwame talks about his life in Jamaica, the country's transition away from its socialist years and its slow struggle to cope with its sufferers of HIV/AIDS, the responsibility of poets in times of political and social difficulty, and his experiences as a self-assessed 'bad journalist'.Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Photo: Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Judy Brown's first book, Loudness (Seren, 2011) was shortlisted for the 2011 Forward Felix Dennis prize for best first collection. Jennifer Williams meets her to discuss how she approaches poetry, using her poem 'Spontaneous Combustion' as a way into her work and methods of composition. The image of Judy Brown was taken by Chloe Barter.

In 1972, Liz Lochhead published her debut collection, Memo For Spring, a landmark in Scottish literature. In an extended interview with Colin Waters, the National Poet of Scotland discusses what the early 1970s poetry scene she emerged into was like, one in which women poets were few and far between. She recalls early meetings with the elder generation - Norman MacCaig, Edwin Morgan, Robert Garioch - and with contemporaries such as Tom Leonard, James Kelman and Alasdair Gray. The future Makar also speaks about life during the era of the three-day week and compares it with an economically troubled present-day that, in some respects, mirrors 1972. And she reads several poems from Memo For Spring. The image of Liz Lochhead is provided by Norman McBeath.

Exciting news! The SPL is changing the way it does its podcasts. Join regular host Ryan Van Winkle and new SPL podcasters, poet JL (Jennifer) Williams and Colin Waters, as they talk you through the new set-up. Plus Ryan and Jennifer read their own work.

Ryan chats with Vermont poet Mary Ruefle about craft, visual poetry and her approach to writing. She also reads a number of her poems. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle @rvwable. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean.

Ryan recently visited the Clunes Booktown Festival in Australia, where he met multitalented poet, novelist, screenwriter, librettist, songwriter and doctor Peter Goldsworthy. They discuss his thoughts on narrative compression and his preferred modes of writing, his love of eastern European poetry, inventing translations, achieving your voice through imitation, Australian identity and why he doesn't want to work full time as a writer. Peter also reads a number of his poems. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean.

Gregory O'Brien recently visited the Scottish Poetry Library and we took the opportunity to have a chat about his remarkable journey to the Kermadec islands. He talks about how he got involved in the project, which was organised by PEW Environment Group and reads some of the work which came out of his involvement. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Links: http://www.thekermadecs.org/ and http://vimeo.com/33871056

In the last of our StAnza 2012 triptych we sit down with Michael Symmons Roberts. In a wide ranging discussion, he talks about poetry as a process of discovery and connection making, poetic license, genomics, the ethics of drugs companies, collaboration, hotels, civil war and being asked to write a poem for a 9/11 anniversary. Michael also reads from a number of his poems. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Photo: Martin Bence

We chatted with Hilary Menos, winner of the Forward Prize for First Collection, at the StAnza 2012 poetry festival in St Andrews. She discusses, among other things, people reading personal things into poems, farming, her editing process and the gestation process of her poems. She also reads a number of her poems. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Mail: splpodcast@gmail.com

Ryan talks with Lavinia Greenlaw at the StAnza 2012 festival in St Andrews. They discuss landscape, distance, fruitful misreading, the relationship of image and self, being labelled a particular kind of writer, finding the right fit for a collection and the long gestation involved in writing some poems. She reads a selection of poems including some from her recent Casual Perfect. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Mail: splpodcast@gmail.com

In the last of our podcasts recorded in San Francisco, we meet up with Greg Wrenn, winner of Brittingham Prize in Poetry and Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Greg talks about how his method of writing relies very much on not being prescriptive and talks us through how he approaches his work. A refreshing insight into the work of a young poet, Greg also reads a selection of his poems. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean.

Matthew Siegel, a poet and essay writer from New York living in San Francisco, chats with Ryan Van Winkle. They discuss how his poetry is informed by the body and how, for him, "real life is poems". He discusses how drawing from his own life informs his work and reads a number of poems from a forthcoming collection. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Photo: Karl Orvik. Visit Matthew's website: http://www.matthewsiegel.us/

Martin Figura's Whistle, which centres on his mother’s death at the hands of his father when he was nine years old, is a remarkable fusion of theatre and spoken word. We caught up with Martin at the StAnza 2012 festival in St Andrews. He reads some of his poems and discusses his approach to the show with Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Mail: splpodcast@gmail.com

Ryan talks with Robyn Creswell, poetry editor of The Paris Review. They discuss his interest in modernism in Arabic poetry, his thoughts on editing and how rap songs were his nursery rhymes. Robyn also reads some poems from recent issues of The Paris Review. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Mail: splpodcast@gmail.com

CD Wright - recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award - talks with Ryan about her award winning One With Others, which explores the civil rights movement in the US. As well as reading excerpts from One With Others and other work, Ryan chats with CD about poetry and politics, her method of working and the influence of her Arkansas upbringing. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Photograph: David Shankbone http://blog.shankbone.org/about/

Adam Zagajewski - recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature - talks to Ryan at the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival about poetry and success, including how long you can feel pleased about prizes and reviews. According to Adam, it is a surprisingly short period of time. We also get the chance to hear a few of his poems and his thoughts on creative writing, melancholy and craft. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Mail: splpodcast@gmail.com Photo from Wikimedia user Slawek's http://www.flickr.com/photos/znani/

Ryan seeks out the peace and quiet of Cecilia Woloch's pick-up truck in LA. They discuss how travel affects her work and how her attitude to insects changed after living in the Carpathian mountains with the author of The Worm Eater's Handbook: A Guide to the Edible Insects of Poland. As well as reading a number of her poems, Cecilia also talks about the novel which inspired her to become a poet, her community work and the writers which have inspired her. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Mail: splpodcast@gmail.com

Jane Hirshfield reads some of her poems and chats with Ryan at her home in California, where she has often been influenced by whatever is at hand. In a wide ranging discussion, Jane discusses what inspires her to write, her thoughts on occupy writers, politics, solitude, spirituality, strangeness in poetry and translation, among other things. Jane will appear at the Scottish Poetry Library on 13th April. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean. Find our more about Jane on the SPL website http://bit.ly/I4OTdo Photo: Nick Rosza

Gabrielle Calvocoressi reads from and discusses poems from her first collection The Last Time I saw Amelia Earhart which includes a series of persona poems, as well as her response to a rejection letter which formed the impetus for excluding pronouns from her second collection Apocalyptic Swing. She also talks about, among other things, her interest in small towns and how poems can function like small communities and how this this affects the ethics and politics of poetry. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser @anonpoetry. Music by Ewen Maclean.