The search for a new national poet for Scotland is getting under way as makar Liz Lochhead ends her term.
Lochhead has written poems on a number of subjects throughout her five years in the role, including whisky and theatre, the opening of the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament, the 200th anniversary of works by Wordsworth and Coleridge and Commonwealth Day in 2012.
She has carried out more than 300 engagements, conducting workshops in schools and prisons as well as representing Scotland in the UK and beyond.
Thanking her for her work, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "Liz Lochhead has brought poetry to every level of society in Scotland without fear or favour. She has brought vitality, warmth, wit and tremendous talent to the role of makar.
"In her time as Scotland's National Poet, Liz has worked astoundingly hard. She has a real conviction that poetry enriches and transforms lives which she bring to everyone she meets.
"Liz's work over the past five years has made a lasting and positive impact on many people, in particular the young students she has worked with, and she has played an ambassadorial role for Scotland.
"It's fitting that last year she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, chosen by her fellow poets.
"Work is continuing to find Liz's replacement. We have much to thank her for."
A new makar is expected to be announced in the spring.
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