We have all heard the arguments in favour of Scotland’s best poet or favourite poem, but what about its greatest collection? In this recording from 2012, the SPL invited two guests – James Robertson, poet, publisher and author of the novels And the Land Lay Still and The Testament of Gideon Mack, and Dorothy McMillan, editor of Modern Scottish Wome…

Peregrine falcons have been in residence at the University of Glasgow’s Gilbert Scott Tower for a number of years now, with a new clutch of chicks being born again this year. Rachel met with Clarke Elsby from the university and John Simpson, from the Scottish Ornithologists Club, to get a glimpse of these magnificent birds of prey. Solsgirth Home F…

Rachel Stewart speaks to Dr Kenny Taylor at the Montrose Basin about 60 years of the SWTBy BBC Radio Scotland

Tennants of Elgin is a family quarrying business that has been operating out of the North East of Scotland for fifty years. They have had numerous impressive contracts across Europe, but have recently begun some work that’s a little closer to home – providing the granite for Aberdeen’s Union Street works. Mark went along to meet with Director Gavin…

Mark Stephen visits the poetry path at Corbenic with its founder Jon PlunkettBy BBC Radio Scotland

Anita Govan has been involved in performance poetry for many years, long before it became as widespread as it is today, both as a performer and an organiser of events. Sceptical of the competitive aspects of slams, she still takes part in them and organises them for young people as she recognises their part in giving people a forum in which to shar…

The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway, linking the River Dee to the Mearns, and is one of the routes featured in the new Scotsways guide on hill tracks. Mark and Rachel both met up with Colin Young, a Scotsways volunteer, who guided them along part of the route to point out some of the important historical and archaeological sites that can be se…

Lorraine McCall from the Highlands has overcome cancer three times in recent years. She has previously climbed all of Scotland's 221 Corbetts and 282 Munros.By BBC Radio Scotland

The Written World was the Scottish Poetry Library’s London 2012 project. To mark the Olympics, we launched a scheme to find a poem for each of the 204 countries taking part, which were then broadcast on BBC Radio. In October 2012, with the project over, we took the chance to look back on The Written World with its project manager Sarah Stewart. We …

The Scottish Crannog Centre on the banks of Loch Tay is a bustling model Iron Age village, filled with various craftspeople to demonstrate ancient crafts and technologies. Mark went along to find out how the site has grown over the past few years, and how the construction of the crannog over the water is coming along. Jenny Graham follows the Posti…

Helen Needham meets with bird recorder Ian Broadbent to capture the April dawn chorusBy BBC Radio Scotland

Aonghas MacNeacail (1942-2022) was a leading voice in Gaelic poetry for decades, as poet, and as a regular literary commentator in print and on Gaelic radio. To celebrate his seventieth birthday in 2012 he published a new selected poems, Laughing at the Clock / Déanamh Gáire Ris A’ Chloc. MacNeacail came into the SPL in 2013 to talk about his life …

Potato Enthusiast Bob Donald talks to Rachel about a community growing project in Aberdeen which has led to libraries in the north east handing out seeds and seed tatties. Mark speaks with volunteers from a walking group in Govan, who share their personal experiences with homelessness and social hardship. They’re now involved in an innovative proje…

Kerri Andrews is the author of Pathfinding - On Walking, Motherhood and Freedom. She describes her own traumatic experience with pregnancy, birth and motherhood and draws on examples of other female writers and their experiences over the centuries. She also discusses the history of women and walking and her desire for a more communal child rearing …

'How we feel' was the theme for the 2025 StAnza international poetry festival, and the Lantern Live team were on stage, bringing all the feels! Kathleen Jamie and Ally Heather were joined by award-winning performance poet Charlotte Van den Broeck, and Nuala Watt, whose first collection - The Department of Work and Pensions Assesses a Jade Fish - is…

Bob Dylan has played many roles in his life: voice of a generation, rock ‘n’ roll Judas, Christian convert, even Victoria’s Secret salesman. The one that concerned the SPL podcast in 2013 was ‘poet’. Across two biographies – Once Upon A Time and Time Out of Mind (both Mainstream) – Ian Bell (1956-2015) considered Dylan in a more literary context th…

Lambhill, in the North of Glasgow, is home to a thriving community hub, built out of an old stable block on the edge of the Forth and Clyde canal. Mark went along to visit their community garden, and find out more about what goes on there. Rachel is on the banks of Loch Lomond to find out about the issues of litter along the busy stretch of the A82…

A shortage of volunteers means some clubs have struggled to restart following the Covid pandemic in 2020. Campaigners say more needs to be done to raise awareness of the issue.By BBC Radio Scotland

Lorna French and Anna Gray lead small groups of (mostly) women to let loose their wild side, to dive in to their unconscious and find their buried treasure. Wild Writers are creatives, public sector workers, teenagers, or any other type of human who is boldly, and often messily, transforming on their hero’s or heroine’s journey. Ahead of their work…

The Cairngorm Funicular Railway is back up and running after some extensive structural works. Mark took a trip up to the snow-covered peak with the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Limited, Tim Hurst, to find out what impact the funicular has for the mountain resort. Farmers and land managers are working together in Mo…

Best Scottish Poems is the Scottish Poetry Library’s annual online anthology of the 20 Best Scottish Poems, edited each year by a different editor. Bookshops and libraries – with honourable exceptions – often provide a very narrow range of poetry, and Scottish poetry in particular. Best Scottish Poems offers readers in Scotland and abroad a way of …

Mark Stephen visits Duke Christie at his studio in MorayBy BBC Radio Scotland

In this podcast the poet and artist MacGillivray reads from and discusses her book, The Last Wolf of Scotland (Pighog). The collection is an exploration of connections between Scotland and the American Frontier whose form brilliantly reflects the subject matter of the poems. MacGillivray joins Jennifer Williams in a conversation that maps the rich …

Many landowners across Scotland are engaging with large scale restoration projects. One such project, spanning 80 thousand acres, is Wildland, in the Scottish Highlands. They have a 200 year vision to help the land heal, grow and thrive, and Rachel is there to find out more about the project, and perhaps even spot some of birds of prey who are thri…

The actors have become regular wild swimmers in recent years. In their latest BBC Scotland TV series, they visit some of Scotland's islands and try out a whole host of different dipping spots in remote and rugged locations.By BBC Radio Scotland

In this 2013 podcast, Jennifer Williams talks to poet, playwright and recording artist Kate Tempest* about hip hop, poetry, their play Brand New Ancients, mythology, world peace and much more. Kate has written plays for Paines Plough and the Battersea Arts Centre, written poetry for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Channel 4 and the BBC, worked in sc…

Golf courses are often criticised for their lack of biodiversity, but at The Plock, near Kyle of Lochalsh, a community project is reclaiming the local golf course and giving it back to the wild. Mark met up with the local ranger, Heather Beaton, to find out more about this rewilding initiative. A new award-winning footbridge has been built at Brack…

Mark Stephen hears from Graham Gillie about his extraordinary working life in AntarcticaBy BBC Radio Scotland

Jenny Lindsay was co-creator of the popular ‘poetry cabaret’ Rally and Broad (which ran from 2012-2016), a hit originally in Edinburgh that spread its wings to Glasgow. In this 2014 podcast, we talked to Jenny about her poetry and the lively spoken word scene in Scotland. Photo by Alex Aitchison.By Scottish Poetry Library

Mark visits the Montrose Air Station Museum to hear about a new addition to their collection, part of a Halifax Bomber, which crashed in the Angus glens in 1944. Shan Brewis tells us the story behind the plane crash, and how the piece of wreckage came to be discovered exactly 80 years after the tragedy. Red Squirrels in Scotland are often under thr…

The famous Welsh poet RS Thomas is the subject of this month's Nothing But The Poem podcast. Anne Stevenson of the Listener describes Thomas as a religious poet who 'sees tragedy, not pathos, in the human condition' ... 'He is one of the rare poets writing today who never asks for pity.' 'Like the Welsh countryside he writes about, Thomas's poetry …

During the Covid lockdown, Tom Kelly decided to stroll along the Water of Leith Walkway every single day and take photographs of the wildlife in the area. The photographer from Edinburgh has always had a keen interest in nature and he wanted to explore what was living in his own neighbourhood. The result is a huge collection of photographs showcasi…

Poet Chrys Salt talks about who has the right to write about certain subjects, about writing war poetry when you have a son who is a soldier, and how poetry can benefit from a good performance. Thanks to James Iremonger for the music in this podcast.By Scottish Poetry Library

Winchburgh in West Lothian is expanding rapidly, with several new housing developments underway. At the heart of these new developments is the 85 acre Authcaldie Park, where Mark visits a group of volunteers who are building a new centre piece for the area – a model cathedral made entirely out of willow. RSPB Loch Leven has recently hosted the Conv…

Helen Needham meets seed librarian Rowan LearBy BBC Radio Scotland

Brian Johnstone (1950 - 2021) was a poet and former director of the StAnza poetry festival. In this archive podcast he discusses the highlights of his StAnza career, what he thinks makes a good poetry festival, his own work and his creative improvisations as part of jazz-poetry combo Trio Verso. Featuring the tracks ‘Storm Chaser’ and ‘The Sound of…

Auchnerran Farm is run by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust as a demonstration farm to test and trial conservation and land management strategies. Mark visits the farm to hear about their projects and how they manage these alongside a profitable enterprise of sheep farming. It is the 20th anniversary of the opening of Five Sister’s Zoo this …

The 7th February 2025 marks 90 years since the death of Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, author of Sunset Song. In 2016, it was voted Scotland's favourite novel. In this archive programme, Mark Stephen explores the area it was set in, the Mearns.By BBC Radio Scotland

Alexander Hutchison (1942-2015) was a poet and translator in Scots and English. His first book Deep-Tap Tree (University of Massachusetts Press, 1978) is still in print. Other collections include The Moon Calf (Galliard, 1990) and Carbon Atom (Link-Light, 2006). Melodic Cells, an interview with Hutchison conducted by Andrew Duncan appears in Don’t …

The National Farmers Union of Scotland Conference has been underway this week, and Kevin Keane is there, joined by Professor Colin Campbell from the James Hutton Institute, to hear his advice on how farms can become more resilient in the face of climate change. Muiravonside, Falkirk’s only country park, features several attractions, from a sculptur…

Niall Campbell is the subject of this month's Nothing But The Poem podcast. The South Uist poet has had three collections of poetry published, has won many major poetry prizes, and is currently poetry editor of Poetry London. ​‘Noctuary is a homage to night-time, to "that midnight thrill of being alive", to the small, stray moments that make up a l…

The 7th February 2025 marks 90 years since the death of Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, author of Sunset Song. In 2016, it was voted Scotland's favourite novel. In this archive programme, Mark and Euan explore the area it was set in, the Mearns.By BBC Radio Scotland

Walking With Poets was an SPL project that looked at an old subject, nature, using new media. We put four poets – Sue Butler, Mandy Haggith, Jean Atkin and Gerry Loose – into Scotland’s botanic gardens. For this special podcast, we interviewed each of the poets in their garden.By Scottish Poetry Library

Parts of the country are still recovering after last week’s Storm Eowyn including Jupiter Artland. The 100-acre sculpture garden on the outskirts of Edinburgh suffered quite a bit of storm damage as Mark saw when he visited earlier this week. Rachel meets a group of volunteers from a whole variety of backgrounds who have come together to help resto…

Possessing a friendship that spanned the Atlantic, Scotland’s John Burnside (1955-2024) and America’s Allison Funk were captured in conversation, speaking about what they enjoy about each other’s countries, from poetry and music to the mutability of the landscape and people. Allison Funk is the author of four volumes of verse, including The Tumblin…

We celebrate Burns Day on Out of Doors on the 265th anniversary of his birth. Mark chats to Professor Fiona Stafford from University of Oxford who writes about Burns ‘the bard of nature’. They chat about his understanding of ecology and how that comes through in his poetry. Rachel hears the good news story about Goldeneye Ducks in the Cairngorms. G…

Helen Needham walks up Morven in Aberdeenshire with Morven StewartBy BBC Radio Scotland

Victoria Chang is the subject of this month's Nothing But The Poem podcast. The Taiwanese-American poet has had seven collections of poetry published, her most recent - With My Back To The World (2024) - winning the Forward Prize for Best Poetry Collection. ​'Chang has liberated the Ekphrastic form to new lyric heights and depths. Inventive, medita…

Rachel is in Lochaber where one of the biggest nature restoration projects in the country is underway. The Nevis Nature Network Project covers 22 thousand acres which includes fragments of Scottish rainforest and rare montane scrub. She met project manager Ellie Corsie for a walk to hear about their restoration vision. Mark is on Calton Hill in Edi…

Mark Stephen chooses some Burns favourites including his rendition of Tam O' ShanterBy BBC Radio Scotland