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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Rebecca Carey

The modern Scottish poets rivalling Burns, from Carol Ann Duffy to Jackie Kay

As Burns Night rolls around and we toast a dram to Scotland's bard, let's take a moment to celebrate the legacy he left for modern Scottish poets.

Robert Burns is a rightfully beloved figure and writer with no shortage of powerful work to perform and revisit year upon year. 

From A Red, Red Rose to Tam o' Shanter, you have undoubtedly heard his poems and have likely slurred your way through Auld Lang Syne, glass in hand, too.

But how many modern Scottish poets do you know - can you name them or their work?

The National: A portrait of Robert Burns. Credit: PAA portrait of Robert Burns. Credit: PA (Image: PA)

As you tuck into your haggis, neeps and tatties and reflect on his genius on January 25, learn a little about the poets living on your doorstep who are carrying his legacy forward.

Modern Scottish poets to rival Robert Burns

Kate Clanchy

Clanchy is a poet, writer and teacher who specialises in poetry that explores the themes "men and boys, school and home, the foreign and the familiar, and the grand adventure of parenthood but above all about love in all its forms," says Pan Macmillan. 

Born - 1965, Glasgow

Notable works - Slattern, Samarkand and Newborn

Awards - Eric Gregory Award, Forward Prizes for Poetry, Saltire Society Literary Awards, among others.

Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy works as a Professor and Creative Director of the Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Duffy has written poems across a variety of themes from love to identity. 

She even wrote the poem 'September 2014' on the morning after the Scottish independence referendum.

Born - in 1955, Glasgow

Notable works - The World's Wide, Feminine Gospels, Rapture

Awards - Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, E.M. Foster Award, Lannan Literary Award for Poetry, Honorary Fellow of the British Academy, Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)  and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) among others.

The National: Carol Ann Duffy speaking in 2018. Credit: PACarol Ann Duffy speaking in 2018. Credit: PA

Douglas Dunn

Douglas Dunn is a poet, editor and critic but is also an emeritus professor of English at St. Andrews University where he founded its MLitt in Creative Writing programme. 

Dunn is known for writing about class and displacement as well as urban life and history, according to the Poetry Foundation.

Born - 1942, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire

Notable works - Elegies, Terry Street, The Noise Of A Fly

Awards - An Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, a Cholmondeley Award, a Hawthornden Prize, an Eric Gregory Award, among others.

John Glenday

John Glenday is a poet and an NHS Highland addictions counsellor.

Based in Cawdor, Glenday explores themes that affect us from familial to romantic love in both an intimate and slyly humorous way.

Born - in 1952, Broughty Ferry

Notable works - The Apple Ghost, Undark, Grain, The Golden Mean

Awards - Scottish Arts Council Book Award, Roehampton Poetry Prize, Shortlisted for 2010 Ted Hughes Award, among others.

Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie is a poet and chair of Creative Writing at Stirling University. 

You'll find her work covers many topics ranging from questions about identity to the natural world.

Born - 1962, West of Scotland

Notable works - Findings, Sightlines, Surfacing, The Tree House

Awards - Forward Prize, the Scottish Book of the Year Award, Costa Poetry Award, shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2012, among others.

Jackie Kay

Jackie Kay is a poet, novelist and playwright but she is also a Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University and Cultural Fellow at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Born - 1961, Edinburgh

Notable works - The Lamplighter, Other Lovers, Maw Broon Monologues, Off Colour, The Adoption Papers.

Awards - National Poet for Scotland, Guardian Fiction Prize, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award, CBE for Services to Literature, among others.

The National: Jackie Kay. Credit: PAJackie Kay. Credit: PA

Don Paterson

Don Paterson is not only a poet but a musician, editor and teacher at St Andrew's University. 

Paterson is recognised for not only his black humour but his technical skill and attention to poetic rhythm and style.

Born - 1963, Dundee

Notable works - Nil Nil, God's Gift to Women, Landing Light, Rain

Awards - Forward Prize for Best First Collection, T. S. Eliot Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, among others.

Robin Robertson

Robin Robertson has had a varied career working as a poet, editor and trustee. 

His poetry regularly features in the likes of the London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books. 

Born - 1955, Scone

Notable works - Grimoire, The Long Take, The Wrecking Light, A Painted Field

Awards - Best First Collection and the Scottish First Book of the Year Award, E. M. Forster Award, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, T.S. Eliot Prize among others.

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