100 Favourite Scottish Poems

About the Book: 

Scotland has a long history of producing outstanding poetry. From the humblest but-and-ben to the grandest castle, the nation has a great tradition of celebration and commemoration through poetry. 100 Favourite Scottish Poems – incorporating the nation’s best-loved poems as selected in a BBC Radio Scotland listeners’ poll – ranges from ballads to Burns, from ‘Proud Maisie’ to ‘The Queen of Sheba’, and from ‘Cuddle Doon’ to ‘The Jeelie Piece Song’.

Edited by Stewart Conn, poet and first recipient of the Institute of Contemporary Scotland’s Iain Crichton Smith Award for services to literature (2006).

Published in association with the Scottish Poetry Library, a unique national resource and advocate for the enriching art of poetry. Through its collections, publications, education and outreach work, the spl aims to make the pleasures of poetry available as widely as possible. Visit the library online at www.spl.org.uk.

Reviews: 

Both wit and wisdom and that fusion of the two which can touch the heart as well as the mind, distinguishes the work selected by Stewart Conn for his anthology 100 Favourite Scottish Poems (Luath Press and Scottish Poetry Library, £7.99). This lovely little book ranges from Dunbar to Douglas Dunn, taking in just about all the major and most of the minor Scottish poets of the centuries by means of their most memorable writing. THE SCOTSMAN

It is... a highly varied collection and one that should fulfill Conn's hopes of whetting the reader's appetite... this is both a taster and a volume of substance.  THE HERALD GUIDE

a richly diverse collection of poems in English, Scots, Gaelic and Shetlandic (…) They reflect not only the many traditions on which Scottish poetry has drawn, but also the range and variety of contemporary Scottish poetry, which forms the bulk of the collection. NORTHWORDS NOW

This book might be better called 50 Favourites and 50 Surprises, and that’s no bad thing! SCOTTISH ARTS COUNCIL

About the Author:

STEWART CONN was born in Glasgow, grew up in Ayrshire and for many years has lived in Edinburgh shere, until 1992 he was based as the head of BBC Scotland's radio drama department. In 2002 he was appointed the capital's first makar, or poet laureate. His poetry has been widely anthologised and translated. He has received awards from, amonc others, the Scottish Arts Council, the Society of Authors and the Poetry Book Society. Besides regularly appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival he has participated in poetry festivals from Aberdeen to Zagreb. His latest poetry collections are 'Ghosts at Cockcrow', Bloodaxe Books (ISBN 1852246863) and 'The Loving-Cup', Mariscat Press (ISBN 0946588430).