TRIBUTES have been paid to the woman who founded the Scottish Poetry Library after her death from cancer at the age of 77.
Tessa Ransford was a poet, editor, translator and activist who set up the poetry library in 1984. She was born in India but her family moved back to Scotland when she was 10 and she studied at St Leonard’s School in St Andrews then Edinburgh University.
She spearheaded work to launch a national library of poetry, with a purpose-built building in Edinburgh designed by Malcolm Fraser Architects and opened in 1999. It now stocks more than 40,000 items and is used as a resource by and for anyone with an interest in poetry.
Ransford, who also published 16 books of poems, remained an honorary president of the Scottish Poetry Library.
Her fellow honorary president, Makar Liz Lochhead, said: "Poets and lovers of poetry in Scotland will be very saddened to hear of the death of Tessa Ransford.
"A fine poet of great sensitivity herself, she was the prime mover behind the establishing of the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh."
Lochhead said the library "supports all kinds of poetry, serving poets, spoken-word artists, scholars of poetry, students, readers, and enthusiasts all over the world". "Tessa was right," she said. "We need this and it will remain her lasting legacy, for which we are very grateful."
Robyn Marsack, current director of the Scottish Poetry Library, said: "Tessa’s influence on Scottish poetry was not confined to the huge achievement of the establishment of the library – she also created the climate in which poetry pamphlet publishing flourishes today, and through her international outlook and connections stimulated the exchange of poetry and poets between Scotland and several continents.
"Her energies never flagged, nor her love of poetry."
Donald Smith, director of Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland, added: "Tessa Ransford was a visionary poet determined to turn creative vision into practical reality.
"She realised this not only in her founding leadership of the Scottish Poetry Library but in her impact on the role of women in the Scottish arts, and in her championing of a revived, outward looking Scottish identity.
"Tessa was a dear friend, fellow worker and provocateur of mine for 40 years, and I know that her spirit and influence will continue in many lives, including my own."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel