Born Glasgow in April 1920, Morgan has lived in Glasgow all his life, except for service with the RAMC in the Middle East during the Second World War, and his poetry is grounded in the city. He retired from Glasgow University as titular Professor of English in 1980, serving as Glasgow's first Poet Laureate 1999-2002.

The title of his 1973 collection, From Glasgow to Saturn, suggests the range of Morgan's subject matter.

Endlessly curious, open-minded and humane, Morgan has experimented with the language of machines as well as translating brilliantly from a variety of European languages. He has translated plays into Scots, and written a trilogy on the life of Jesus, AD.

His Sonnets from Scotland rank as one of the most important works of post-war literature, exploring the life, landscapes and potential of the country.

On 16 February 2004 it was announced that the Scottish Executive had appointed Edwin Morgan as 'Scots Makar', in effect Scotland's poet laureate. He was the first to hold this post, created to recognise the achievement of Scottish poets throughout the centuries. The SPL in association with Akros Publications and Mariscat Press published his translation The Battle of Bannockburn to celebrate this appointment.

Morgan's poetry is marked by inventiveness, acceptance of change and an exhilarating energy. His latest collections include Tales from Baron Munchausen (Mariscat Press, 2005), and The Book of Lives (Carcanet Press, 2007).

In 2009, the SPL acquired the Edwin Morgan Archive with thanks to support from The National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Binks Trust, National Fund for Acquisitions, Friends of the National Libraries.

TOP 

Related links

› The Edwin Morgan Archive at the Scottish Poetry Library

› SPL Education interviews Edwin Morgan

› Featured translation by Edwin Morgan

› Edwin Morgan and Poets' Pub

› www.edwinmorgan.com/menu.html

› www.carcanet.co.uk (click on 'Authors', then 'M')

› www.poetryarchive.org

TOP 

Featured poem

Making a Poem

Coming in with it
from frost and buses
gently burning
you must prepare it
with luck
to go critical.
Give the hook your scarf,
the chrome hook, maybe,
your green scarf. Say
Smoky Smoky
to the cat, set him
on his cushion, perhaps
a patch cushion
from old Perth.
Put the kettle on,
go to the window,
mist the glass
dreaming a minute lightly,
boys on the ice,
rows of orange lamps.
And go cut
white new bread.
Make tea like skaters' leaves.
You're never free.
It's blue dark night again.
Below the panes
in quietness.
Take a pencil
like the milkman's horse
round and round.
But you must agree
with it, and love it,
even when it grows
too fierce for favour.
It comes, and the cat shines.
And make the poem now.

©Edwin Morgan (1968)

from Collected Poems (Carcanet, 1990)

Reprinted by permission of Carcanet Press