Poetry Association of Scotland

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The Poetry Association of Scotland (or PAS), formerly known as the Scottish Association for the Speaking of Verse, is a public, membership-based literary society founded in 1924 principally by John Masefield (along with other figures such as Marion Angus and Hugh MacDiarmid).[ citation needed ]

John Masefield 19th/20th-century English poet and writer

John Edward Masefield was an English poet and writer and the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and the poems "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever".

Marion Emily Angus (1865–1946) was a Scottish poet who wrote in the Scots vernacular or Braid Scots, defined variously as a dialect of English or a language closely related to it. Her prose writings were mainly in standard English. She is seen as a forerunner of a Scottish renaissance in inter-war poetry, as her verse marked a departure from the Lallans tradition of Robert Burns in a direction similar to that of Hugh MacDiarmid, Violet Jacob and others.

Hugh MacDiarmid Scottish poet, pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve

Christopher Murray Grieve, known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid, was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. Grieve wrote his earliest work, including Annals of the Five Senses, in English. However, he is best known for the work he published in "synthetic Scots", a literary version of the Scots language that he himself developed. From the early 1930s onwards MacDiarmid made greater use of English, sometimes a "synthetic English" that was supplemented by scientific and technical vocabularies.

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In its present form, the Association, which is a registered charity, runs an annual series of monthly poetry readings featuring invited poets from both Scottish and international circuits, as well as regular talks on poetry-related topics by distinguished speakers, including its biennial Hugh MacDiarmid Lecture. The Association's events in recent years have generally, though not exclusively, been held in the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh.

Poetry reading

A poetry reading is a public oral recitation or performance of poetry.

Scottish Poetry Library library

The Scottish Poetry Library was founded in 1984 by poet Tessa Ransford. It originally had two staff members, including Scottish poet, Tom Hubbard, and 300 books, but has since expanded to some 30,000 items of Scottish and international poetry. The library contains material in Scotland's three indigenous languages: Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots, and English.

Edinburgh Capital city in Scotland

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.

Although a single-tier organisation today, in past decades the Association had multiple area branches throughout Scotland.[ citation needed ]

Scotland Country in Europe, part of the United Kingdom

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Post-holders past and present

The following comprises only a partial and non-consecutive list of most recent names:

Honorary presidents

Douglas Dunn Scottish poet

Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He lives in Scotland.

Edwin Morgan (poet) Scottish poet and translator

Edwin George Morgan was a Scottish poet and translator who was associated with the Scottish Renaissance. He is widely recognised as one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century. In 1999, Morgan was made the first Glasgow Poet Laureate. In 2004, he was named as the first Scottish national poet: The Scots Makar.

Norman MacCaig poet

Norman Alexander MacCaig FRSE FRSL ARSA DLitt OBE was a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry, in modern English, is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity.

Chair

Norman Kreitman was a psychiatric researcher and academic, based in Edinburgh, primarily known for coining the term parasuicide. He was also a published poet of some distinction, and wrote perceptively on the philosophy of art - in particular, on the psychology of metaphor.

Secretaries


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The Golden Treasury of Scottish Poetry was edited by Hugh MacDiarmid, and published in 1940. From the introduction:

William Soutar British poet

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Margaret Caroline Tait was a Scottish film maker and poet.

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Alan Norman Bold (1943–1998) was a Scottish poet, biographer, and journalist. He was born in Edinburgh.

Professor Duncan Munro Glen was a Scottish poet, literary editor and Emeritus Professor of Visual Communication at Nottingham Trent University. He became known to the literary world through his first full-length book, "Hugh MacDiarmid and the Scottish Renaissance". He published many collections of poetry, from "Kythings and other poems" (1969), "In Appearances" (1971) and "Realities Poems" (1980) to "Selected Poems 1965–1990" (1991), "Selected New Poems 1987–1996" (1998) and "Collected Poems 1965–2005" (2006). His "Autobiography of a Poet" was published by Ramsay Head Press in 1986. He edited Akros magazine through 51 numbers from August 1965 and did much to promote Scottish poets and artists. He was a friend and early champion of Hugh MacDiarmid and Ian Hamilton Finlay among others, and produced several volumes of poetry, some of which was translated into Italian.

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R. Crombie Saunders

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