The Scottish Poetry Library is a unique resource and advocate for the enriching art of poetry, in particular Scottish poetry.

Founded in 1984 by a poet, Tessa Ransford, the SPL began with two members of staff and 300 books in a single room. Almost 25 years on, it's grown to occupy a purpose-built, award-winning building in the heart of Edinburgh's literary quarter, and boasts an unrivalled collection of 30,000 items of Scottish and international poetry.

The SPL aims:

• to bring the pleasures of poetry to as wide an audience as possible
• to nurture creative language skills in the context of life-long learning
• to promote knowledge of Scottish poetry and poets nationally and internationally
• to support the work of contemporary Scottish poets

As part of its work, the SPL is an occasional small-scale publisher of poetry anthologies. ¹

The SPL collections

The core of the SPL's work is its unique collection. All of the poetry published in Scotland finds its way onto the shelves, but you'll also find poetry from all over the world; though a national library, the SPL is international in scope and sensibility. The online catalogue gives an idea of the tremendous depth and range of this remarkable collection.

As well as the core collection housed in its Edinburgh building, the SPL maintains 13 outreach collections all over Scotland, from Shetland to Dumfries & Galloway. These outreach collections are located in libraries and arts centres and, like the core collection, are freely available to browse and borrow. And for those who aren't able to visit any of the collections, many of the treasures on the SPL shelves available to borrow by post.

Engaging readers

The SPL is committed to developing new audiences for poetry. A lively programme of events, features established names and new talents, with recent visitors including John Hegley, Michael Longley, Ruth Padel and Don Paterson. The library also hosts a number of poetry reading groups, whose members meet regularly to discuss single poems, new collections and whatever else captures their imagination.

Online, the recently-launched Reading Room website is developing an online community of poetry readers, where visitors can search the library's catalogue, discover new poets, review poetry books and events and join an online reading group.

Beyond the library a wide range of SPL projects are concerned with presenting poems in everyday environments: as posters on Glasgow Undergound platforms and local buses, or postcard sets in shops, stations and airports, on poetry bookshelves in cafes and as Valentine's day text messages, poems are slipped into unexpected formats and locations.

Supporting poets

The SPL supports contemporary Scottish poets in a number of ways: by providing an elegant venue for readings and book launches at heavily subsidised rates; offering a meeting space for the School of Poets, an association of poets who gather monthly to discuss each other's work; holding lunchtime Courtyard Readings in August each year, in which anyone can participate. And in its capacity as small-scale publisher, the SPL also provides publication opportunities and on occasion commissions new work.

SPL in schools

The SPL education programme aims to inspire young people of all ages and encourage them to see poetry and creative writing as a source of personal pleasure. A year-round workshop programme and a growing archive of online teaching resources supports schools to include poetry in their curriculum: as an art in itself, as a field of study, and as a medium for exploring and expressing a range of subjects within the National Curriculum.

"The Scottish Poetry Library is heaven on earth… I found treasures on every shelf during each visit"

As so many people have already discovered, there's a poem for everyone, for every occasion; and there are poems that reach and move you in ways you didn't know were possible. The Scottish Poetry Library is where poetry comes to life. Whether you're a regular reader, a serious student or a curious browser, it may have just the words you've been looking for.

Scottish Poetry Library Co-Publications

Handfast

Co-published with Birlinn
Editor: Lizzie MacGregor

Those seeking memorable words for their ceremonies of marriage or commitment, or who simply want to take delight in an anthology of love poems, will find in this collection old favourites and brand new poems, in English, Scots and Gaelic, all with a Scottish flavour. They range from grand to gently humorous; they are suitable for reading aloud in church, registry, field or front room.
This anthology features an introduction by Liz Lochhead, and has been edited by Lizzie MacGregor, who, as Assistant Librarian at the Scottish Poetry Library, has had many years experience of providing the right poems for all sorts of occasions.

Lament

Co-published with Birlinn
Editor: Lizzie MacGregor

It is hard to put grief into words, and many people turn to poems to speak for them at this troubled time. This restorative collection of Scottish poems will help readers and listeners to accept a loss and celebrate a life, whether at formal religious or secular ceremonies, or at quiet personal commemorations. All the poems are suitable for reading aloud; they also provide an enduring source for private reflection. Poems in Scots and Gaelic are accompanied by glossaries of unfamiliar words, or parallel translations in English, as appropriate.
This anthology features an introduction by Richard Holloway, and has been edited by Lizzie MacGregor, who, as Assistant Librarian at the Scottish Poetry Library, has had many years experience of providing the right poems for all sorts of occasions.

Handsel

Co-published with Birlinn
Editor: Lizzie MacGregor

When children are born or given a name, we want to welcome them to the world, and find a special way to express our love, hope and blessings. This is a selection of contemporary and classic Scottish poems, in Scots, English and Gaelic with appropriate translations and glossaries. Share these words with friends and families - touching and eloquent as a message sent with a baby gift, inspiring if you choose to read them aloud at a christening or any kind of naming ceremony.
This anthology features an introduction by Candia McWilliam, and has been edited by Lizzie MacGregor, who, as Assistant Librarian at the Scottish Poetry Library, has had many years experience of providing the right poems for all sorts of occasions.

"A gorgeous little book, this; one as sweet as the life it celebrates." – The Herald

Scotlands: Poets and the Nation

Co-published with Carcanet
Editors: Douglas Gifford and Alan Riach

Scotlands: Poets and the Nation brings alive the unfolding story of Scottish national identity through its poetry. It opens with the anonymous Celtic poet who wrote of 'Scotland with its wonders'; it concludes with Iain Crichton Smith's secular prayer for a country that is 'fresh and glittering and contemporary' as it moves into a new era.
From Robert Burns to Kokumo Rocks, from Lady Nairne to Jackie Kay, the collection celebrates the enduring strengths of Scottish identity and imagination. The book contains a comprehensive introduction by Douglas Gifford, Chair of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University and Honorary Librarian of Walter Scott's library, and Alan Riach, Head of the Department of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University and himself a poet.

100 Favourite Scottish Poems

Co-published with Luath Press
Editor: Stewart Conn

100 Favourite Scottish Poems brings together the best and best-loved of Scottish poetry. From anonymous medieval ballads to the renowned work of Sir Walter Scott and Edwin Morgan, the cream of the nation's poetry - from the Borders to Shetland - is represented in this carefully chosen anthology.
100 Favourite Scottish Poems includes the Top 20 of the nation's favourite poetic pieces, chosen by BBC Scotland listeners in a recent web poll. Scotland's most famous poets are represented - Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, Muriel Spark, Iain Crichton Smith, Liz Lochhead, plus many more.
Also available in a hardback, large print edition.

The Thing That Mattered Most

Co-published with Black & White
Editor: Julie Johnstone

The Thing that Mattered Most is an award-winning anthology full of poems with a distinctive Scottish flavour that will delight and inspire young readers. It is the only collection of poems for children available by contemporary Scottish poets.
Almost sixty Scottish poets are represented in the collection, with poems in English, Scots, Gaelic, and Shetlandic. Each poem is accompanied by a bite-size biographical piece by the poet. An outstanding collection featuring new poems by Scotland finest and best-loved poets, it brings together Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, Edwin Morgan, Liz Lochhead, John Burnside, Matthew Fitt, James Robertson, Kevin MacNeil, Richard Edwards, Julia Donaldson and many more.

Dreuchd An Fhigheadair/The Weaver's Task: a Gaelic Sampler

Editor: Crisdean MhicGhilleBhàin/Christopher Whyte

The fabric of Scotand's poetry is woven from the threads of the country's different languages. Since it became common practice for Gaelic poets to translate their own work into English, a crucial strand in that interaction has been lacking.
Seven Scottish poets with no knowledge of Gaelic were offered literal versions of contemporary Gaelic poems. In Dreuchd An Fhigheadair/The Weaver's Task their responses are set alongside the Gaelic originals, revitalising a dialogue in which both sides have much to gain.

Intimate Expanses

Co-published with Carcanet
Editor: Ken Cockburn

This anthology of 25 Scottish poems, one from each year from 1978 to 2002, presents an alternative view of how the past quarter century has unfolded in Scotland. These poems document history in small things as well as in grand gestures, and range from sonnets and haiku to gargantuan list-poems. The poets include Iain Bamforth, John Burnside, Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead, Norman MacCaig, Edwin Morgan, Don Paterson, Richard Price, Iain Crichton Smith and Gael Turnbull.

The Jewel Box: Contemporary Scottish Poems

Editors: Ken Cockburn and Alec Finlay

A very special opportunity to hear some of Scotland's most distinguished and innovative poets reading their own work, The Jewel Box is a new collection of contemporary Scottish poems recorded on audio CD. Poets featured include Edwin Morgan, Don Paterson, Meg Bateman, Aonghas MacNeacail, Kathleen Jamie, and many more, writing in English, Scots and Gaelic. The CD is accompanied by a 36 page booklet, presenting the text of the poems as well as biographical information about the poets.

Ten Seasons: Explorations in Botanics

Co-published with Luath Press
Editor: Gerry Loose; Photographs: Morven Gregor

Ten Seasons grew out of Gerry Loose's three years as Poet in Residence at Glasgow's Botanic Gardens. This gathering of texts, along with stunning photographs, shows that poetry, although presented here on the page, in its most portable form exists off the page, on scraps of material, in stone, even in water. The book both celebrates a particular residency and offers a rich resource for the interaction of botanic gardens and creative language. Plant-lovers and poetry-lovers will find much to enjoy in its pages.