Scottish Poetry Library Podcast

This podcast was recorded at-and in partnership with-the 2014 StAnza International Poetry Festival. Jennifer Williams talked to Jacob Polley about meaning and lack thereof, about resisting the idea of ‘home’ and about remaining open to possibility when you’re writing and much more. Jacob Polley is the author of three acclaimed poetry collections, The Brink, Little Gods and, most recently, The Havocs, as well as a Somerset Maugham Award-winning novel, Talk of the Town. Born in Cumbria, he lives in Scotland where he teaches at the University of St Andrews. Many thanks to James Iremonger  for the music in the podcast. Image: Mai Lin Li.

Performance poet Jem Rolls tells all about the page/stage debate, what it takes to make a living from performing poetry and how rhyme helps you remember.   

Thomas A Clark's latest poetry collection - thrums - is an experimental book-length sequence of minimalist verse. The poems reward repeated reading, out loud, or quietly, very slowly, connecting with the words and sounds as they're encountered, experiencing the work as visceral entities in themselves.  Clark's short verses are meditations on rurality, landscapes, all living things, and the sensory experience of walking in the natural world. Our resident podcast host, Sam Tongue, reads and discusses sections of thrums with the Nothing But The Poem group (which is free to anyone who becomes a Friend of the Scottish Poetry Library). In this podcast Sam examines his own thoughts and experiences when connecting with thrums, as well as the opinions and feelings of the group. thrums by Thomas A Clarke was published by Carcanet (2025).

In this podcast Jennifer Williams talks to Madeleine Campbell, A C Clarke, Christine De Luca and Haris Psarras about poetry translation in Scotland and about the innovative new book Quaich: An Anthology of Translation in Scotland Today. About the book: This collection of essays and translations has been compiled to sample and reflect on contemporary Scotland's rich tradition of literary translation. The title is symbolic of how the anthology is to be read: as an offering, an act of kindness, an opportunity to gain insight into other cultures. "Quaich" is a term derived from the Scottish Gaelic word "cuach", and it refers to a traditional two-handled drinking cup, usually made of wood or metal. The quaich has a special place in Scottish history; it was used to offer guests a cup of welcome, and the craft of quaich-making was held in high regard. Translation can sometimes be seen as an unfriendly, invasive, even treacherous, act, but this volume aims to celebrate what is good about literary translation, its power to bring together, rather than to separate. All the texts contained here have a vital connection to Scotland through their authors or translators, languages or themes. They are as diverse as Scotland is today, itself a plurality of languages and peoples. Image: Quaich by Stephen Downes, under a Creative Commons licence  

In this podcast from 2015, Jennifer Williams speaks to Salma*, an Indian poet and crusader for women’s rights.  They talk about Salma’s strength and bravery in the face of oppression, her commitment to writing and publishing under extremely challenging circumstances and even *gasp* the use of the ‘v’ word in contemporary poetry!  Salma was born in a small village in Southern India, and overcame many obstacles to publish her poetry and fiction, now recognised as an important contribution to Tamil writing.  Salma came to Scotland as part of the Scottish Poetry Library’s Commonwealth Poets United project. As part of the cultural programme surrounding the XX Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Poets United was an international exchange project between six Scottish poets and poets from six Commonwealth nations:  Canada, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Nigeria and South Africa.  It established relationships between artists, organisations and communities through a culturally enriching poetry exchange. The project was supported by Creative Scotland and the British Council, and partnered by BBC Radio Scotland. *Rakkiaiah is an Indian Tamil writer, activist, and politician known by the pen name Salma and the nickname Rajathi, and often referred to as Rajathi Salma. Music by James Iremonger.