The Association for Scottish
Literary Studies



A NATIONAL POET FOR SCOTLAND

The appointment of Edwin Morgan as the Scots Makar by the First Minister, Jack McConnell, at a small reception on Monday 16 February 2004 is a matter of particular satisfaction to the ASLS. In the months preceding the award of this honour, the Association was engaged in correspondence and negotiation with the Scottish Executive, primarily Frank McAveety, the Minister for Culture, pressing the case for both an award to Edwin Morgan in recognition for his immense contribution to Scottish poetry and a regular appointment of a Poet for Scotland, an equivalent of a Scottish Laureate, to acknowledge the variety and quality of poetry within the Scottish cultural scene.

The efforts of the ASLS in this direction began a number of years ago when approaches were made to the Executive for the appointment of a Scottish Poet Laureate (under that title). These approaches turned out to be fruitless despite correspondence with the Prime Minister’s Office in London and the Queen herself. The excuse given then was that the post of Poet Laureate was not a matter devolved to the Scottish Executive or Parliament.

However, in the early summer of 2003, the President of the ASLS took the opportunity of a brief conversation with the Culture Minister, Frank McAveety, to raise the matter of both the recognition of Edwin Morgan and the question of a Poet for Scotland. The Minister proved to be very positive and encouraging in his response and more detailed correspondence followed, fleshing out the proposal more particularly. The Minister gave assurances that officials would consult on the matters with a view to possible action. With the strong support of the Scottish Arts Council, especially the Director of Literature, a detailed submission was made to the Executive, linking the honorary appointment of Edwin Morgan as Poet for Scotland as an initial step with a subsequent series of poetic appointments. The purpose of such appointments for a short fixed term would be to give recognition to the different strands of poetic writing in Scotland, notably the languages of Gaelic, Scots and English, and the various claims of localities, gender and ethnic backgrounds. In this way Scottish poetry could be more fully acknowledged than any Poet Laureateship on the UK (i.e., English) model could achieve.

After some months of consultation, the Scottish Executive made up its collective mind and the decision was made to implement much of what the ASLS was seeking. This action by the Ministers, in particular Jack McConnell and Frank McAveety, reflects great credit on the Executive and their commitment to an inclusive Scottish culture and a creative Scotland. The Ministers have throughout expressed their personal attachment to Scottish literature and to the poetry of Edwin Morgan. What the ASLS has done has probably been to give a clearer focus to thinking on the subject, allowing the Ministers to proceed in a direction that they already wished to take.

What is being proposed should help to achieve what the ASLS and the Scottish literature community would wish to see. There is a prestigious appointment, that of Edwin Morgan, a poet and scholar of both national and international repute, to inaugurate the post, and the promise of a future series of poetic appointments to be made by an independent committee. The Executive has gone for the title of ‘The Scots Makar’, rather than ‘Poet for Scotland’ (the ASLS recommendation) or ‘Scottish Laureate’. Edwin Morgan himself has questioned that use of the term ‘Makar’ as having associations with the past whereas he would like a more forward-looking title. The word ‘Makar’ can, however, carry other associations, particularly that of dedicated poetic professionalism, which should surely be part of such an appointment; and other associations can be acquired, for example, by the connection with Edwin Morgan himself, the most forward-looking and progressive of poets. So the title may not really be a stumbling-block. It may, of course, be the case that in popular terminology the post will be referred to as that of National Poet or Scottish Laureate.

The ASLS welcomes this new development and hopes that it may help to fuel new thinking within Scotland about its literature, including poetry. These have been noted Scottish artistic success stories, and it is time that in terms of education, of media attention and of public subsidy, they attracted more knowledgeable and generous treatment.

Alan MacGillivray
ASLS President

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Last updated 14 February 2005.