Scottish Poetry Library Podcast

Scottish Poetry Library
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Scottish Poetry Library Podcast

Interviews, event recordings and poets galore from Scotland and around the world.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    From the Archive: Kae (Kate)Tempest. September 2013

    In this 2013 podcast, Jennifer Williams talks to poet, playwright and recording artist Kate Tempest* about hip hop, poetry, their play Brand New Ancients, mythology, world peace and much more. Kate has written plays for Paines Plough and the Battersea Arts Centre, written poetry for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Channel 4 and the BBC, worked in schools and won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 2012, for Brand New Ancients.  *In 2020 the musician and poet formerly named Kate Tempest changed their name to Kae Tempest, and announced they are non-binary. In the announcement on Instagram, Tempest said they were changing the pronouns they use, from she and her to they and them. Image © Melanie Flash

    49 min

  2. 2 MAR

    From the Archive: Jenny Lindsay. August 2014

    Jenny Lindsay was co-creator of the popular ‘poetry cabaret’ Rally and Broad (which ran from 2012-2016), a hit originally in Edinburgh that spread its wings to Glasgow. In this 2014 podcast, we talked to Jenny about her poetry and the lively spoken word scene in Scotland. Photo by Alex Aitchison.

    43 min

  3. 26 FEB

    Nothing But The Poem - RS Thomas

    The famous Welsh poet RS Thomas is the subject of this month's Nothing But The Poem podcast. Anne Stevenson of the Listener describes Thomas as a religious poet who 'sees tragedy, not pathos, in the human condition' ... 'He is one of the rare poets writing today who never asks for pity.' 'Like the Welsh countryside he writes about, Thomas's poetry is often harsh and austere, written in plain, somber language, with a meditative quality.' - The Poetry Foundation  Our resident podcast host Sam Tongue took an immersive dive into two RS Thomas poems: From The Farm  and Reservoirs. Find out what Sam - and the Friends Of The SPL group - took from these poems in this Nothing But The Poem podcast.

    17 min

  4. 23 FEB

    From the Archive: Chrys Salt.April 2015

    Poet Chrys Salt talks about who has the right to write about certain subjects, about writing war poetry when you have a son who is a soldier, and how poetry can benefit from a good performance. Thanks to James Iremonger for the music in this podcast.

    38 min

  5. 16 FEB

    From the Archive: Brian Johnstone. August 2010

    Brian Johnstone (1950 - 2021) was a poet and former director of the StAnza poetry festival. In this archive podcast he discusses the highlights of his StAnza career, what he thinks makes a good poetry festival, his own work and his creative improvisations as part of jazz-poetry combo Trio Verso. Featuring the tracks ‘Storm Chaser’ and ‘The Sound of Breaking Glass’. Presented by Ryan Van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser. Incidental music by Ewen Maclean.

    45 min

  6. 9 FEB

    From the Archive: Alexander Hutchison. March 2014

    Alexander Hutchison (1942-2015) was a poet and translator in Scots and English. 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 former SPL Programme Manager Jennifer Williams talks to Alexander about his then most recent collection, Bones & Breath (Salt), tardigrades, ancient spears, the poet’s voice and much more!

    36 min

  7. 6 FEB

    Nothing But The Poem - Niall Campbell

    Niall Campbell is the subject of this month's Nothing But The Poem podcast. The South Uist poet has had three collections of poetry published, has won many major poetry prizes, and is currently poetry editor of Poetry London. ​‘Noctuary is a homage to night-time, to "that midnight thrill of being alive", to the small, stray moments that make up a life. It is also a passionately tender examination of what it means to have and care for a small child.’ – Suzannah V. Evans, Times Literary Supplement 'The poems in the book place his Hebridean homeland in an ever-shifting mosaic of tidal gifts, memories, folklore, conversations and people. Always there is an awareness of the sea that surrounds, that change is constant, and that there is no going back.’ – The Scotsman, Poem of the Week, on The Island in the Sound Our resident podcast host Sam Tongue took an immersive dive into two Niallcampbel poems. The Night Watch from his second collection 'Noctuary' (2019, Bloodaxe) and Apprenticeship from his third collection 'The Island in the Sound' (2024, Bloodaxe). Find out what Sam - and the Friends Of The SPL group - took from these poems in this Nothing But The Poem podcast.

    13 min

  8. 2 FEB

    From the Archive: Walking With Poets. November 2013

    Walking With Poets was an SPL project that looked at an old subject, nature, using new media. We put four poets – Sue Butler, Mandy Haggith, Jean Atkin and Gerry Loose – into Scotland’s botanic gardens. For this special podcast, we interviewed each of the poets in their garden.

    33 min
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About

Interviews, event recordings and poets galore from Scotland and around the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Scottish Poetry Library
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Scottish Poetry Library Podcast

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