TWO Scottish literature academics are the new co-directors for the Centre of Robert Burns studies at the University of Glasgow – the largest group of Burns experts in the world.
Dr Rhona Brown and Dr Pauline Mackay will lead the centre alongside the associate director Dr Ronnie Young.
Its work is focused on the research and teaching of Robert Burns as well as his cultural period and supporting literature.
The role was formerly filled by Professor Gerard Carruthers and Professor Kirsteen McCue, who will both continue their research at the centre..
Dr Brown, a senior lecturer in Scottish literature, is a specialist in 18th-century Scottish poetry, and her work includes editing a two-volume edition of poems by Allan Ramsay who was Burns's literary predecessor.
Dr Mackay is a senior lecturer in Robert Burns studies as well as the chair of Burns Scotland: the Mational Burns Collection.
She was part of the team that created the first Robert Burns virtual reality experience, Burns Beyond reality, that launched in 2021 to a worldwide audience.
The senior lecturer is also the author of projects such as "Burns for every day of the year" and is in in process of writing a monograph about the Bard.
Both lecturers co-edited "Editing Robert Burns For The 21st Century: Poetry And Correspondence" which involved editing more than 800 of Burns's letters and 400 letters from friends and admirers.
The new appointment came ahead of the centre's annual conference held on Saturday. The event is in partnership with the National Trust for Scotland’s Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway.
