| A Heritage Lottery Fund award of £50,000 is set to bring a poetry archive of major significance to Scotland's capital.
The Scottish Poetry Library has secured a Heritage Lottery Fund grant towards the acquisition and development of a unique archive of material relating to Scotland's national poet, Edwin Morgan.
The Edwin Morgan Archive has been amassed by Hamish Whyte – Morgan's friend, publisher and bibliographer – over 30 years. It represents the most significant gathering of his work in print and other media, and gives an incomparable sense of the breadth of his work, its variety and especially its context.
Edwin Morgan was appointed Scots Makar by the Scottish Parliament in 2004. He is undoubtedly the major Scottish poet of the later twentieth century, and has been immensely influential in the poetic community. Born in Glasgow and living there all his life, Morgan has had a strong international presence through his connections with the Concrete poetry movement and his brilliant and wide-ranging translations.
As well as books by Morgan, including many rare items, the Archive includes: periodicals, magazines and newspapers with contributions by Morgan, often annotated and corrected in his own hand; some audio-visual material; poster poems; books from Morgan's own library, and a large collection of ephemera. Also included are Morgan's desk and chair.
Neil Simpson Architects have been commissioned to produce plans for the conversion of an area of the Scottish Poetry Library into a dedicated space to house the Archive in proper archival conditions, and to enable visitors to view the items and work alongside them. The Scottish Poetry Library vision for the Edwin Morgan Archive is that it should be accessible to everyone who wants to view it.
SPL Librarian Julie Johnstone said: “This is a new departure for the Scottish Poetry Library, but magnificently complements our holdings of books, pamphlets, audiotapes and CDs, and cuttings, the strength of the SPL's collection being its twentieth-century Scottish focus, and beyond that, its European bias.
“Edwin Morgan donated to the SPL an extremely valuable collection of works by Ian Hamilton Finlay. The archive of Morgan's work also intersects with and complements that.
“As Edwin Morgan is an Honorary President of the SPL, and has supported it in various ways – not least through the handsome Finlay donation – it seems especially appropriate that the SPL should house this archive, where it will be cherished.”
Acquiring the Archive means an expansion in SPL activities and services, particularly in terms of education and online resources. The SPL will develop learning resources through consultation with a wide range of groups including teachers, writers, readers, over 60s, local teenagers and tertiary students. The SPL will also run primary school workshops, and will train a group of volunteers to work on the Archive from cataloguing to conservation.
In order to make this unique resource available beyond Edinburgh there will be a touring exhibition of items from the Archive. Selected items will be digitised and made avaible to view online, and audio materials will be created using voices from community groups.
Commenting from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Colin McLean, Manager for Scotland, said:
“This fantastic archive of over 2,000 books and magazines, along with CD's and tapes, has never been seen by the public before. Through this project Edwin Morgan's poetry will be brought to life for people who may never have come across him, from those recording poems for the listening posts, the groups of school children exploring the cleverness of his language to the volunteers involved in the cataloguing of the archive. We are delighted to be able to help this happen allowing people to explore, learn from and enjoy the acclaimed and wide-ranging works of Edwin Morgan.”
Hamish Whyte said: “The SPL is the ideal home for the Edwin Morgan Archive. As Scotland's national poet, Edwin's work should be represented beyond Glasgow. The SPL will be able to provide the right context for the Archive through its strong twentieth century Scottish and European resources, and I can be sure there will always be an interested and knowledgeable professional in charge of it.”
The purchase of the Edwin Morgan Archive has been generously supported by The Binks Trust, the Friends of the National Libraries and the National Acquisitions Fund as well as the HLF.
Supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
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