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Edwin Morgan’s Book of Lives wins Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award [more] Edwin Morgan wins 2008 Sundial prize • TimesOnline [more] Edwin Morgan wins £25,000 arts council award • The Herald [more] A Book of Lives • Edwin Morgan [more] Edwin Morgan and YouTube [more] Edwin Morgan 24 Hours - THE BIG READ [more] The Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition 2007/8 [more] Morgan shortlisted for poetry prize [more] The search for your favourite Edwin Morgan poems - Aye Write! 2008 [more] The Bottle Imp • Issue 2 — Fall 2007 [more] From Glasgow to Saturn to Edinburgh • Translation: Munchausen - I Racconti Del Barone [more] Beyond The Sun • Edwin Morgan [more] Scotland’s best writers and musicians • 'Ballads Of The Book' [more] "Ruhrgebiet" • European Capital of Culture 2010 • [more]
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Edwin Morgan’s Book of Lives wins Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award The winner was announced at the annual Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book Awards ceremony which this year was held at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, and hosted by writer and comedian Rory Bremner in the major highlight of the Festival weekend. A Book of Lives is a triumphant achievement in one of the most illustrious and influential literary careers in the history of Scottish literature. Professor Morgan was appointed Scotland’s first ‘Makar’ or National Poet in 2004, and his prodigious oeuvre, which includes literary criticism, translation, essays, and drama as well as poetry, now spans over fifty years of work. A Book of Lives marks a powerful distillation of the remarkably diverse range of themes, styles, and forms that characterise Morgan’s endlessly inventive poetic world. Confronting global issues such as the ‘war on terror’ and major historical events closer to home, such as Bannockburn or the opening of the Scottish Parliament, this is also a collection of remarkable personal candour and intimacy; at its heart is a major sequence, ‘Love and a Life’, exploring the eternal dynamic between life and art. Describing the book Edwin Morgan stated: 'I believe there are no barriers in subject matter or style in poetry. And you can only persuade people of that if you're actually writing it....If it's any good, the collection must be more than just a book of lives. The title is meant to set you off thinking, off on a course of ideas.' The difficult job of selecting the winner from the shortlist of four books was down to a distinguished judging panel comprising writer and broadcaster Janice Galloway; Professor of Literature, literary critic and poet Rory Watson; Lilias Fraser, Reader Development Officer at the Scottish Poetry Library; and Dr Gavin Wallace, Scottish Arts Council Head of Literature, who chaired the panel in a non-voting capacity. Commenting on the winning book, the judges said: ‘A Book of Lives is a prodigious creative achievement by any standards from a poet who is, arguably, not just Scotland’s greatest living poet, but one of the greatest in English-language poetry world-wide. Morgan’s indomitable fascinations with energy, with transformation, with that which is beyond imagination itself, are superabundant here in a breathtaking variegation of form, style and subject: equally powerfully, this is a book of deeply moving – and often startling – personal candour and directness. To put it simply - A Book of Lives is a book for living.’ On presenting the award William Gray Muir, Director of Sundial Properties, the sponsor of the awards said - ‘It’s terrific to see that such an important and long standing figure in Scottish poetry is still at the top of his game, and it’s fantastic to be able to recognise him at this stage in such a successful career.’ The Award ceremony included readings and interviews with the four category winners -Ali Smith (Fiction), Robert MacFarlane (Non–Fiction), Jane McKee (First Book) and Edwin Morgan (Poetry) – who each received prizes of £5000, along with announcing Morgan as the overall winner – receiving an additional £20,000 – making these awards Scotland’s richest book awards and the fourth largest in the UK. Borders Book Festival Director Alistair Moffat also commented ‘It's a wonderful fillip for the Borders Book Festival to host the awards, and we plan to help everyone celebrate in style. For that's what this is, a celebration of superb Scottish writing. Congratulations to all the short list and Edwin Morgan.’ Culture Minister Linda Fabiani who attended the awards ceremony said: “Edwin Morgan yet again shows what a joy and privilege it is to have him as our National Poet. I am thrilled that his latest work has been honoured as the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year. I congratulate all the winners across the various categories, showing the excellence and diversity that is synonymous with contemporary Scottish literature. |
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Edwin Morgan wins 2008 Sundial prize Mike Wade Edwin Morgan has beaten illness and writer's block to win the £25,000 Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year last night with a new collection of poems. When A Book of Lives was published last year, it followed a long period of illness for the 88-year-old poet. It proved well worth the wait: the writer Kathleen Jamie described it as “Olympian a in democratic way”, adding: “Thank God we have Edwin Morgan to show us how to live, and keep on living.” Critics said that the collection was a distillation of the many themes and styles that have staked out Morgan's poetic world. Confronting global issues such as the war on terror and historical events closer to home, including the Battle of Bannockburn, it is also a book filled with intimacy. The book opens with a poem to the inauguration of the Scottish Parliament. “What do the people want of the place? /They want it to be filled with thinking persons as open and adventurous as its architecture./ A nest of fearties is what they do not want.” Morgan said of his book: “I believe there are no barriers in subject matter or style in poetry. And you can only persuade people of that if you're actually writing it. If it's any good, the collection must be more than just a book of lives. The title is meant to set you off thinking, off on a course of ideas.” Morgan's book was chosen from among four categories winners. Ali Smith's Girl Meets Boy won best work of fiction, Robert MacFarlane's exploration of wild Britain, The Wild Places, won best work of non-fiction and Jane McKie's poetry collection, Morocco Rococo, was selected as the outstanding first book. They each won £5,000. The awards were announced last night at the Border Book Festival in Melrose, at an event hosted by the comic impressionist Rory Bremner. Gavin Wallace, chairman of the judging panel, said that the judges had faced a difficult task. “A Book of Lives is a prodigious creative achievement by any standards from a poet who is, arguably, not just Scotland's greatest living poet, but one of the greatest in English-language poetry world-wide.” Previous winners of the award include the poet Norman MacCaig and the novelists A.L.Kennedy and James Robertson. |
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Edwin Morgan wins £25,000 arts council award Scotland's greatest living poet, Edwin Morgan, yesterday won one of the most prestigious prizes in Scottish literature. The nation's Makar, or national poet, won the £25,000 Scottish Arts Council (SAC) book of the year award for his latest collection of poetry, A Book of Lives. The poet, 88, was awarded the prize at the SAC award ceremony which this year was held for the first time at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose. The SAC described the book as being a "powerful distillation of the remarkably diverse range of themes, styles, and forms that characterise Morgan's endlessly inventive poetic world. "Confronting global issues such as the war on terror' and major historical events closer to home, such as Bannockburn or the opening of the Scottish Parliament, this is also a collection of remarkable personal candour and intimacy; at its heart is a major sequence, Love and a Life, exploring the eternal dynamic between life and art." Morgan described the process of writing the book as a process of breaking down barriers. "I believe there are no barriers in subject matter or style in poetry," he said. "And you can only persuade people of that if you're actually writing it if it's any good, the collection must be more than just a book of lives. The title is meant to set you off thinking, off on a course of ideas." The judging panel for the prize included the writer Janice Galloway, the academic, literary critic and poet Rory Watson, Lilias Fraser, the reader development officer at the Scottish Poetry Library and Dr Gavin Wallace, head of literature at the SAC. Morgan won the prize after being shortlisted with Ali Smith, Robert MacFarlane and Jane McKee, who each received prizes of £5000. The total prize-winning cheque of £25,000 - £20,000 for winning, £5000 for being shortlisted - makes it the fourth-most-lucrative prize in the UK. Linda Fabiani, the Culture Minister, said: "Edwin Morgan yet again shows what a joy and privilege it is to have him as our National Poet." The awards were sponsored by Sundial Properties. |
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Edwin Morgan and YouTube Edwin Morgan poems on BBC's The Culture Show [click here] Edwin Morgan 'Windows on the west' - The Herald videos [click here] Aye Write Big City Read - The Herald videos [click here] idlewild - scottish fiction [click here] Glasgow in 20th C. [click here] em uma varanda da cidade, poema de edwin morgan [click here] |
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Edwin Morgan - 24 Hours To celebrate Scotland's greatest living poet Edwin Morgan, the citizens of Glasgow are coming together to coordinate a non stop 24 hour read of his poetry starting on Friday 25th Jan. The event will involve encouraging as many people in schools, libraries and workplaces to take some time read out loud at least one of his poems. The central focus of the day will be the Gallery of Modern Art in Royal Exchange Square where a 24 hour read of Edwin Morgan poetry is taking place from 12 noon till 12 noon. Everyone can come down and take part reading their favourite Edwin Morgan poem and it will also be an opportunity to receive a free specially produced Edwin Morgan limited edition collection for those participating. A host of celebrities and writers have agreed to drop in during the day and read their own favourite by him during the day and it promises to be a great event. To enquire further: >>> See also BBC News [click here] |
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The Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition 2007/8
1. First Prize: £5000 »Vital Synz is delighted to be able to host and organise one of Europe's richest poetry prizes. These prizes will be awarded to the poems that most impress this year's judges: Colette Bryce, Donny O'Rourke and Richard Price. The competition is named in honour of Edwin Morgan, Scotland's first national poet: The Scots Makar. Widely recognised as one of the most significant poets of the twentieth century, Morgan's Collected Poems were published by Carcanet in 1990 and his Collected Translations in 1996, also by Carcanet. Since then, however, he has been as prolific as ever, publishing some thirteen books of further poems, translations and plays, most recently Tales from Baron Munchausen (Mariscat Press, 2004) and The Play of Gilgamesh (Carcanet, 2005). Among the many honours and awards Edwin Morgan has received are an OBE in 1982, the Soros Translation Award (1985), The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry (2000), the Weidenfeld Translation Prize (2001) and the Jackie Forster Memorial Award for Culture (2003). Vital Synz wishes you all good luck!« Find here further information and here the Competition Rules Now open for Entries - Click Here »Welcome to a new Poetry Society for Glasgow Our aims are straightforward: to give Glasgow readers and audiences the opportunity to hear some of the best poets in the UK and from abroad and to put on a series of events that are entertaining and informative. We will bring to Glasgow some of the best poets in the world and when they come they will read and answer questions about their work. Some will offer a workshop and tutorial session. Poets who have already said yes (and wished the venture well) include, Simon Armitage, Ciaran Carson, Jo Shapcott, WN Herbert, Andrew Greig, Ron Butlin, Colette Bryce, Vicki Feaver and Richard Price. Members will also have the opportunity to workshop their own poems with three resident Glasgow poets. We are fortunate, in this respect, to be able to call on the skills of three of the city's best poets: Gerry Cambridge (Aves, Essence Press, 2007), Gerry McGrath (A to B, Carcanet, 2008) and Gerrie Fellows (Window for a Small Blue Child, Carcanet, 2008). The reading will also feature short recitals by invited local poets in membership of the Society. Our core objective is: "To promote the poetry and poets of Glasgow in an international context and nurture the development of poets and poetry across the community."« |
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T S ELIOT PRIZE FOR POETRY The T S Eliot Prize 2007 Shortlist has been announced. This year's shortlisted poets are: Ian Duhig for The Speed of Dark (Picador) Congratulations to all the poets and publishers shortlisted. The winner of the T S Eliot Prize 2007 will be announced at the awards ceremony at the Wallace Collection on Monday 14th January 2008. The T S Eliot Prize is now the biggest cash award in UK poetry, increased from £10,000 to £15,000. In a move which will be widely welcomed, each of the 10 shortlisted poets will also receive £1000. The £15,000 prize money is kindly donated by Eliot's widow, Mrs Valerie Eliot.
Morgan shortlisted for poetry prize Scotland's Poet Laureate, Edwin Morgan, has been shortlisted for the UK's most prestigious poetry prize for a collection exploring what it means to grow old. At 87, Morgan is the oldest poet to be nominated for the £15,000 T S Eliot Prize, which rewards collections published in Britain over the past year. A Book of Lives includes poems on cancer and homosexual love, verse written to mark specific events including the opening of the Scottish Parliament, a history of the world from 20 billion BC to AD2300 and a set of songs for the rock group Idlewild. Morgan, who suffers from prostate cancer, now lives in a nursing home in Broomhill, in his native Glasgow. Peter Porter, who chairs the judging panel, said: "Morgan is one of the most adventurous of poets. A lot of people talk about poetry as though it's all a matter of feeling. It's a matter of skill and technical facility and he has enormous technical facility." At the other end of the age spectrum, the youngest poet shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize is 25-year-old Frances Leviston, who is nominated for her first collection of poetry, Public Dream. The prize will be presented by Valerie Eliot, the poet's widow, at the Wallace Collection in London on 14 January 2008.
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The search for your favourite Edwin Morgan poems Glaswegians are being asked to nominate their favourite poems by Scotland's national poet, Edwin Morgan - and the most popular choices will be included in a new collection of Morgan's poems, which will be read throughout Glasgow during February 2008. The book will be the first poetry collection to be chosen for a ‘city read'. Free copies will be distributed throughout the city as the whole of Glasgow will be encouraged to read the same book at the same time, creating a city-wide ‘book club'. If you'd like to see a particular poem included in the new collection – even if you don't live in Glasgow - you can vote by emailing poems@theherald.co.uk until Monday 4 November, or pick up a voting card at Glasgow libraries. Ian Rankin, Stuart Murdoch, Liz Lochhead and Janice Galloway are among those who have already nominated their favourites. The ‘Glasgow's Favourite Edwin Morgan Poem' campaign is being run by Aye Write in association with The Herald, and the resulting book will be published by Carcanet and the Scottish Poetry Library. Related links Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Book Festival 2008
The third annual Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Book Festival takes place between Friday 7 and Saturday 15 March 2008. Aye Write! celebrates the rich variety of Glaswegian writing and also brings the best of Scottish and international writers to the city. All events take place in Glasgow's magnificent Mitchell Library. The programme includes a fascinating mix of fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, talks, debates and workshops. The full programme, ticket hotline and The Glasgow City Read will be launched on 19th January 2008. Go to www.ayewrite.com for full details and to sign up for E-news. |
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The Bottle Imp Book reviews:
on Edwin Morgan
»The Bottle Imp exists to promote and support the teaching and study of Scottish literature and language. Inside we have articles, opinions, and arguments waiting to happen, along with information on new developments in Scottish literature and literary criticism. We’re sure you’ll find something to intrigue, inspire or annoy you! Our contributors include both writers and academics, from within Scotland and without. The Bottle Imp comes out twice a year, spring and fall; feedback is welcome and contributions are invited. If you want to raise an issue, make a point or pose a question, please get in touch.«
»New Currency or Old? [...] 'The Coin' is the forty-fourth in the sequence of fifty-one sonnets which make up Edwin Morgan's Sonnets from Scotland, first published in its entirety in 1984. Sonnets from Scotland can, and should, be regarded as much as a long poem as a sequence, and it is one of the most important and significant contributions to that genre Scotland has ever produced, to be considered in the company of Burns' Tam O' Shanter, MacDiarmid's A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, or W.S. Graham's The Night-Fishing. ... [more]« |
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From Glasgow to Saturn to Edinburgh
SCOTTISH POETRY LIBRARY ACQUIRES EDWIN MORGAN ARCHIVE The Heritage Lottery Fund has given the Scottish Poetry Library (SPL) an award of £50,000 to acquire and develop an archive relating to Edwin Morgan, Scotland’s National Poet. The announcement comes just in time for National Poetry Day on October 4 2007. Glaswegian Edwin Morgan is best known for his involvement with the Concrete Poetry Movement and has a strong international presence due to his wide range of poetry translations. The archive will include an array of his works in print and other media, and significantly shows the large span of his work and the diversity in content and context. Although based in Edinburgh, the SPL will allow a lot of the items from the archive to be accessible to everyone online. Additionally, many items will be touring the country. Colin McLean, Manager for the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scotland said: “Edwin Morgan’s poetry will be brought to life for people who may never come across him.” Hamish Whyte - friend, publisher and bibliographer to Morgan - has been compiling the archive together for over 30 years. He said: “The SPL is the ideal home for the Edwin Morgan archive. It will be able to provide the right context.” Edwin Morgan is an Honorary President of the SPL and supported it in various ways including donating a collection of Ian Hamilton Finlay’s works. Morgan’s support and complimentary poetry in comparison to Finlay’s gives the donation of his archive an even more apt place amongst the library’s exhibitions. Find further information [here] Find out more about National Poetry Day at www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk. |
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Tales From Baron Munchausen Tales from Baron Munchausen is Edwin Morgan's 'poetic reconstructions' of some of the stories ascribed to the infamous soldier whose name has come to be synonymous with tall tales. Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron von Munchausen (1720 - 1797), was born in Bodenwerder and served in Russian campaigns against the Turks. He was said to have been in the habit of exaggerating his exploits, and a collection of stories allegedly narrated by him was published in English in 1785 by a fellow Hanoverian (and opportunist) Rudolph Erich Raspe as Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. • Tales From Baron Munchausen, Glasgow: Mariscat Press, 2004 [more] Edwin Morgan MUNCHAUSEN cura e traduzione di Maria Ficara Edizioni del Bradipo •
Via Lumagni, 23
• 48022 Lugo (RA) - € 15,00 "Questa raccolta di poesie è stata creata da Edwin Morgan per un attore, Bernhard Plassmann, che ha incarnato i panni del Barone di Munchausen in alcuni spettacoli in Scozia tra il 2004 e il 2005. Quando gli si è presentata la necessità... ha messo in atto l'idea di rappresentare lo stesso spettacolo in Italia. 1 racconti dei Barone, dunque, dovevano parlare la nostra lingua, rispettando lo spirito della creazione letteraria, e adeguarsi ad un diverso contesto; ma, soprattutto, dovevano essere recitati, agiti in scena... i racconti sono scritti in forma poetica, grande tentazione per chi traduce, e devono sfidare la scena, luogo in cui le parole, il testo, si inseriscono nella "danza" di tutti gli elementi di uno spettacolo, tra cui gesto, musica e immagine. Il testo, in scena, sostiene, contraddice, entra in relazione dinamica con gli altri elementi dello spettacolo: le parole trasformano e si trasformano." Maria Ficara "Tu, mio caro Barone, sembri aver avuto quell'arte schietta, fiduciosa, non ironica nel tuo sangue, sin dall'inizio. Quando raccontavi, tenevi la compagnia in uno stato d'incanto. Chi avrebbe osato interrompere o contraddire il tuo modo di parlare calmo, realistico, legato ai ricordi? Pensava forse qualcuno che non eri un narratore affidabile, in altre parole, che eri un bugiardo? Sono sicuro che molti lo credevano, ma come avrebbero potuto esserne certi?... Tu possiedi quel potere particolare di affascinare che sta alla radice dell'intrattenimento e dell'arte." Edwin Morgan
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Beyond The Sun "For years Scotland has nurtured the relationship between literature and art. Indeed, many of Scotland's finest writers began their careers at art school - Alasdair Gray, John Byrne and Liz Lochhead, amongst others. It is a connection to cherish. Beyond the Sun adds a further dimension to this flowering relationship between poetry and painting. In September 2005, readers of The Herald newspaper voted for their ten favourite paintings in Scotland. Topping the list was the stunning Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross, but also included were poignant classics such as Avril Paton's Windows in the West and Sir Henry Raeburn's Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch. Edwin Morgan, Scotland's most popular poet, was so fascinated and inspired by these paintings that he immediately penned a poem to honour each one, and sent the handwritten originals to Lesley Duncan, poetry editor at The Herald. These poems perfectly complement the paintings and the result is a moving collection which comes at a time when Scotland is yet again defining its cultural status in the world with the re-opening of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The book begins with introductory essays by Lesley Duncan and Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University, and ends with a touching afterword by Glasgow's Poet Laureate, Liz Lochhead." (Luath Press Limited) |
Video Introduction by Lesley Duncan
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Edwin Morgan reads his work exclusively for the 'The Herald' Edwin Morgan, Scotland's national poet, or makar, was among the many readers who followed The Herald's quest to find the country's favourite painting. Himself an art lover and collector, Dr Morgan responded to the shortlist of canvases (Salvador Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross was the clear winner) with a dazzling sequence of 10 poems, one to each painting. Their freshness, immediacy and wit show the poet in top form. "I seem to be in prolific mood, " he remarks with typical modesty. If forced to declare a personal favourite among the 10 paintings he would opt for the Joan Eardley, he says. Presented here, the author himself reading some of the ten poems he scribed... The poems with their attendant images are being published in book form under the title Beyond the Sun (Luath Press, £9.99). The volume also contains an introductory essay by Lesley Duncan, The Herald’s poetry editor, a post-script by Liz Lochhead, who succeeded Dr Morgan as Glasgow’s poet laureate, and an essay on the wider connections of art and poetry by Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University. |
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Edwin Morgan's 'A Book of Lives' Amongst other, it includes Love and a Life, a long sequence of fifty poems, the complete Planet Wave, a sequence reaching from the time of the Big Bang (20 Billion BC) right through into the future of 2300 AD, as well as a number of other poems such as the famous 'Open the Doors!' that was commissioned by the Scottish Parliament and read at the opening ceremony on 9 October 2004. The book is available in all bookshops since 15 February. You can also order it directly from Carcanet Press. Edwin Morgan. A Book of Lives. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 2007. 105 pages, ISBN 987 1 8575 918 8. £ 9.95. Links: ••• The Guardian A Book of Lives Edwin Morgan Is the universe rippling with life? What sign is "No wonder Edwin Morgan is Scotland's best-loved poet. His poems teem with lives and loves and are marked by an unusual love of the present and the future. He finds forms for themes and ideas just out of reach. In his latest collection poems both profound and witty are to be found: occasional verse that transcends its occasion, explorations of the human condition conducted with a virtuosic lightness of touch. A Book of Lives draws together the themes that inform his poetic world. The largest vistas of human history, from twenty billion years BC to 9/11 and the 'war on terror'; Scotland from Bannockburn to the opening of the Scottish parliament; portraits - of Rimbaud, the emperor Hirohito, Raeburn's skating Reverend Walker... Poems for birthdays and elegies celebrate friends; a dramatic dialogue about cancer sets personal experience in a wry evolutionary context. At the heart of the collection, a major sequence, 'Love and a Life', affirms the inextinguishable energies of love and art." - Title Information: Imprint: Carcanet Poetry |
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The album cover is an original, specially commissioned artwork by Alasdair Gray.
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Ballads of the Book The brainchild of Idlewild’s Roddy Woomble, Ballads Of The Book began as a simple idea to bring together the literary talents of Scotland’s writing community with a diverse range of new and established recording artists. Following Idlewild’s work with Edwin Morgan on their Remote Part album, Roddy wanted to explore the possibilities of more artistic collaborations with various writers providing original lyrics for recording artists to interpret in whichever way they saw fit. Having enlisted the enthusiastic support of the Scottish Arts Council and with Chemikal Underground onboard, it wasn’t long before the nascent idea and fledgling list of interested parties flourished into a brilliantly realised collection of songs: as musically eclectic as they were elegantly poetic. From the literary world, the list of those involved reads like a who’s who of the great and the good in Scottish literature. The giants of Edwin Morgan and Alasdair Gray rub shoulders with cutting edge, contemporary writers like Ali Smith, A L Kennedy, Louise Welsh and Ian Rankin. Esteemed poets like Robin Robertson, Bill Duncan and Rody Gorman feature alongside successful writers and novelists like Michel Faber, Alan Bissett, Laura Hird, Rodge Glass, Hal Duncan and John Burnside. ... [more]" Please visit this Website: 'Ballads Of The Book' 5th March 2007 - Release Date TRACKLISTING Mike Heron & John Burnside - Song For Irena |
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The Ruhr is European Capital of Culture 2010!!!!
For further information see: http://en.kulturhauptstadt-europas.de |
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