Winner of the Edinburgh Poetry Slam 2003 and a regular on the Scottish performance poetry circuit Richard is also Secretary of the School of Poets at the Scottish Poetry Library. For the last three years he has been shortlisted for the Callum Macdonald Award for poetry pamphlets. A puppeteer since 1984, he has performed at venues all over Britain including the National Theatre and 12 Edinburgh Fringes. In 2003 he was shortlisted for the Creative Scotland Awards. He is married to the Edinburgh poet Elspeth Murray.

Publications include Wild Star Flight, What it's About, Bumping into God, An Absird Book of Burds and The Word of Dog. His essay on Edward Thomas’s poem 'Adlestrop' is included in Common Ground: Around Britain With Thirty Writers published in 2006 by Cyan Books. One of his poems is featured in the new children’s poetry anthology The Thing That Mattered Most.

Related links

› Richard Medrington's poetry and Puppet State Theatre Company

› School of Poets

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Books I love

An old favourite
'I scour second hand bookshops and the internet for copies of The Weekend Book – A Sociable Anthology. It was published in numerous editions by the Nonesuch Press between 1923 and 1956 and has a wonderful selection of poems (Great Poems, State Poems & Hate Poems etc.), songs, games and whimsical notes on everything from first aid in divers crises to birdsong at morning. We give copies to just about everyone who comes to our house. (Duckworth recently published a new version but it’s nowhere near as good.)'

A new favourite
'A couple of years ago I discovered Jean Giono’s The Man Who Planted Trees - a brief, poetic and profound parable of life, the universe and everything.'

A current interest
'Dramatising The Man Who Planted Trees and performing it (to full houses!) at the Edinburgh Fringe. Now the touring begins…'

Richard Medrington, September 2006

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Featured poem

The Flamingo

Flamingos dress in fetching pink
But can be rather glum,

Their legs being made of plastic tubes
And bits of chewing gum.

Richard Medrington
from An Absird Book of Burds (Puppet State Press, 2003)
illustration by John Fardell