The Glasgow University McCash endowment established an annual Scots poetry competition in 1973, and this anthology showcases some of the best entries from the last decade.
The Glasgow University McCash endowment established an annual Scots poetry competition in 1973, and this anthology showcases some of the best entries from the last decade.
Custom byline text:
The Smeddum Test – 21st-Century Poems In Scots: The McCash Anthology 2003-2012 Lesley Duncan and Alan Riach (eds), Kennedy & Boyd, £12.95 Review by Harry McGrath
In some years a theme was set. In 2012 it was Thomas Campbell's The Pleasures Of Hope. Campbell, with his heroic couplets and patriotic war songs, is not an obvious inspiration for contemporary poets working in Scots. However, The Pleasure Of Hope has a radical heart – against slavery and for Polish independence. Perhaps that is why entrants were directed to it "with the prospect of a referendum on independence for Scotland on the horizon" and a smeddum test in the offing.
We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.
Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.
