2020 is a year of literary anniversaries. As well as the 250th anniversary of James Hogg, which we featured a few episodes ago, it also marks the 100th anniversary of Scotland’s first Makar, or National Poet, Edwin Morgan. We talked to Robyn Marsack, the chair of StAnza, Scotland’s Poetry Festival and a trustee of the Edwin Morgan Trust about the work they do and she reflects on Edwin Morgan’ legacy as a poet and as a translator.
The spectre of Scotland’s other national bard, Robert Burns, burns brightly in a new Young Adult series set around a time travelling History teacher who teaches in a school in the heart of Dumfries and Galloway. We talked to author Yvonne Ridley about the first in the series, The Caledonians: Mr Petrie’s Apprentice.