Morgan’s poems and the corresponding artworks were later published by Luath Press in Beyond the Sun: Scotland’s Favourite Paintings, which was launched at the newly refurbished Kelvingrove Art Gallery on 27 April 2007, Morgan’s 87th birthday.
Flood Tide Joan Eardley Lonely people are drawn to the sea. Not for this artist the surge and glitter of salons, Clutch of a sherry or making polite conversation. See her when she is free: - Striding into the salty bluster of a cliff-top In her paint-splashed corduroys, Humming as she recalls the wild shy boys She sketched in the city, allowing nature's nations Of grasses and wild shy flowers to stick To the canvas they were blown against By the mighty Catterline wind - All becomes art, and as if it was incensed By the painter's brush the sea growls up In a white flood The artist's cup is overflowing with what she dares To think is joy, caught unawares As if on the wing. A solitary clover, Unable to read WET PAINT, rolls over Once, twice, and then it's fixed, Part of a field more human than the one That took the gale and is now As she is, beyond the sun.
Happy #WorldArtDay! 🎨
In 2005, #EdwinMorgan wrote 10 poems responding to the 10 artworks named as Scotland’s favourite paintings held in Scottish public collections.
EM’s personal favourite among the works was ‘Flood Tide’ (1962) by #JoanEardley, painted the year before she died.
🖋️ NEW SPL BLOG POST!
Taylor Strickland writes on the Corbenic Poetry Path which "meanders through uplands, woodlands, and riverside, featuring some of the country’s most notable poets, among them Kathleen Jamie, Peter Mackay and John Glenday."
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/2026/04/corb...
Charles Lang Good Friday After Edwin Morgan Three o’clock. Yer hot cross buns ur in the oven fur another nine minutes. The soup will be tested at some point the mora, or maybe oan Sunday. The world is oor oyster! There’ll be nae eggs this year fur a few reasons. I press play oan the telly: a recordin ae Tuesday night’s Eastenders preceded by the last minute n a hof ae Tuesday night’s news. That feels like such a long time ago. The days aw feel the same but everythin is movin quickly. I fast forward through the theme tune. lan is feelin guilty fur the part he played in Dennis’s death. Blackmail is a wonderful thing. Dotty is usin it tae take control ae the Arches. Will Sharon ever find oot? Will Mick sell the Queen Vic? Did Carole Baskin kill her disappeared husband n feed him tae her lucrative tigers? These ur things ye need tae think aboot. The questions that need tae be answered. Is it possible tae eat mer than three cream crackers withoot a drink a watter? How many days will it take me tae complete this 1000-piece New Yorker jigsaw? TBC. Maybe I’ll dae it the mora, maybe I’ll dae it next week. Tell ye wit I’ll get most ae it oot the wiy the mora, efter ma soup, takin a break at aboot three o’clock fur a wee coffee. The hot cross buns, by the way: outstandin.
Three o’clock. Yer hot cross buns ur in the oven
fur another nine minutes. The soup will be tested at some point
the mora, or maybe oan Sunday…
—Charles Lang, “Good Friday (After Edwin Morgan)”
from NEW WRITING SCOTLAND 40 (ASL, 2022)
#Easter #poem #poetry #GoodFriday
asls.org.uk/publications...
Good Friday Edwin Morgan Three o’clock. The bus lurches round into the sun. “D’s this go –” he flops beside me – “right along Bath Street? – Oh tha’s, tha’s all right, see I’ve got to get some Easter eggs for the kiddies. I’ve had a wee drink, ye understand – ye’ll maybe think it’s a – funny day to be celebrating – well, no, but ye see I wasny working, and I like to celebrate when I’m no working – I don’t say it’s right I’m no saying it’s right, ye understand – ye understand? But anyway tha’s the way I look at it – I’m no boring you, eh? – ye see today, take today, I don’t know what today’s in aid of, whether Christ was – crucified or was he – rose fae the dead like, see what I mean? You’re an educatit man, you can tell me – – Aye, well. There ye are. It’s been seen time and again, the working man has nae education, he jist canny – jist hasny got it, know what I mean, he’s jist bliddy ignorant – Christ aye, bliddy ignorant. Well –” The bus brakes violently, he lunges for the stair, swings down – off, into the sun for his Easter eggs, on very nearly steady legs.
…ye’ll maybe think it’s a – funny day
to be celebrating – well, no, but ye see
I wasny working, and I like to celebrate
when I’m no working…
—Edwin Morgan, “Good Friday”
from CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2020
#Easter #poem #poetry #GoodFriday
www.carcanet.co.uk/978178410996...
A Home in Space Edwin Morgan Laid-back in orbit, they found their minds. They found their minds were very clean and clear. Clear crystals in swarms outside were their fireflies and larks. Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring. Soaring metal is flight and nest together. Together they must hatch. Hatches let the welders out. Out went the whitesuit riggers with frames as light as air. Air was millions under lock and key. Key-ins had computers wild on Saturday nights. Nights, days, months, years they lived in space. Space shone black in their eyes. Eyes, hands, food-tubes, screens, lenses, keys were one. One night – or day – or month – or year – they all – all gathered at the panel and agreed – agreed to cut communication with – with the earth base – and it must be said they were – were cool and clear as they dismantled the station and – and gave their capsule such power that – that they launched themselves outwards – outwards in an impeccable trajectory, that band – that band of tranquil defiers, not to plant any – any home with roots but to keep a – a voyaging generation voyaging, and as far – as far as there would ever be a home in space – space that needs time and time that needs life.
Larks they were in lift-off, swallows in soaring.
Soaring metal is flight and nest together…
—Edwin Morgan, “A Home in Space”
published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2020
#poem #poetry #Artemis
www.carcanet.co.uk/978178410996...
Calling all Gaelic publishers and writers! 📣
There's less than a month to the deadline for applications to The Gaelic Literature Awards 2026!
Send in your published books and unpublished manuscripts before Friday 1st of May: www.gaelicbooks.org/support-for-...
We are delighted to announce that the Ubiquitous Chip murals by Alasdair Gray have been Category B listed by Historic Environment Scotland as a result of our support of the designation application!
“the word Metropolis – even as I type it here I feel it – stirs my blood”
@gregchthomas.bsky.social looks at how Glasgow’s post-war high-rise construction gave ‘concrete poetry’ its most site-specific connotation for Edwin Morgan
#poetry #concretepoetry
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2023/11/i-am...
Concrete Poetry Workshop Inspired by Edwin Morgan
Discover the strange & wonderful world of Edwin Morgan’s concrete poetry & create your own visual poems in this workshop led by Greg Thomas!
🗓️ Fri 15 May
🕑 2–4 p.m.
📍 Paisley Town Hall
🎟️ £12 (£10 conc.)
paisleybookfestival.com/programme/co...
‘It will take a good strong rat
to snap, but there are good strong rats.’
— ‘Trap’ by #EdwinMorgan, first published in Grafts (1983) and published here in Dreams and Other Nightmares (Mariscat Press, 2010)
🐀
PLEASE SHARE! 🌿
Alasdair Gray & David Stephen: Eden in North Lanarkshire
Sat 14 March 2026, Palacerigg Country Park Visitor Centre. An illustrated afternoon celebrating art, nature & Scotland’s industrial heartland.
Book via link below 👇🏽
For the #YearOfTheHorse🐎 – Edwin Morgan’s ‘Centaur’, first published in The Horseman’s Word (1970)
🚀 A Home in Space: exploring Edwin Morgan’s concrete poetry
Sun 15 March | 11am–12pm | online | £5
An interactive workshop at this year’s StAnza festival led by Greg Thomas & Julie Johnstone, who will guide participants through Morgan’s speculative work.
edwinmorgantrust.com/2026/02/04/a...
Poems on the Underground Celebrating 40 Years
Poem of the Week January 31st
The Loch Ness Monster's Song by Edwin Morgan
poemsontheunderground.org/the-loch-nes...
🌈 Queer History Month 🌈
Join our month-long digital screening of Of Us & Others by Maya Rose Edwards—intimate, anonymous queer conversations across Glasgow, exploring kinship, care & imagined futures. 🎥 1–28 February- link in bio to watch on our YouTube
“So what was Glasgow like to a young gay writer in that period … You don’t go silent. You circumvent, you encode, you enfabulate … You work by methods not unlike those used by dissidents in authoritarian regimes.”
—Edwin Morgan, “Transgression in Glasgow”
#LGBTplusHM 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
asls.org.uk/publications...
The 2026 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award is officially open for submissions 🎉🎉 If you’re a poet under 30 born, raised or currently living in Scotland and you have not yet published a full-length collection, we want to read your work!
Deadline: Monday 30 March
edwinmorgantrust.com/2021/11/15/a...
Open to poets under 30 who were born, raised or currently live in Scotland and have not yet published a full-length collection, the #EMPA rewards outstanding promise with a prize of £20,000, which may be split between up to four poets.
edwinmorgantrust.com/2021/11/15/a...
This Friday the 2026 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award opens for submissions! We’re thrilled to announce the fabulous panel judging this year’s award:
✨ Christine De Luca
✨ Roshni Gallagher
✨ Ryan Van Winkle
✨ Beth Frieden
✨ Janette Ayachi
✨ Stewart Sanderson
edwinmorgantrust.com/2026/01/26/e...
Congratulations to Karen Solie on winning the TS Eliot Prize for her most recent collection Wellwater, published by @picadorbooks.bsky.social
Karen Solie teaches for half the year at St Andrews University and lives the rest of her time in Canada. Karen is part of @northseapoets.bsky.social group.
Colloquy in Glaschu by Edwin Morgan God but le son du cor, Columba sighed to Kentigern, est triste au fond silvarum! Frater, said Kentigern, I see no harm. J'aime le son du cor, when day has died, deep in the bois, and oystercatchers rise before the fowler as he trudges home and sermo lupi loosens the grey loam. À I’horizon lointain is paradise, abest silentium, le cor éclate – – et meurt, Columba mused, but Kentigern replied, renaît et se prolonge. The cell is filled with song. Outside, puer cantat. Veni venator sings the gallus kern. The saints dip startled cups in Mungo’s well.
Today, 13 January, is the Feast Day of St Mungo (AKA St Kentigern), patron saint of Glasgow. Edwin Morgan’s “Colloquy in Glaschu” imagines a conversation between St Mungo & St Columba.
From CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2020
#poem #poetry
1/6
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
(written in bright green text, in a monospaced font on a black background, to emulate an old CRT computer monitor; the text is divided up into blocks of five letters each) The Computer's Second Christmas Card by Edwin Morgan goodk kkkkk unjam ingwe nches lass? start again goodk lassw enche sking start again kings tart! again sorry goodk ingwe ncesl ooked outas thef? unmix asloo kedou tonth effff rewri tenow goodk ingwe ncesl asloo kedou tonth effff fffff unjam feast ofsai ntste venst efanc utsai ntrew ritef easto fstep toeso rryan dsons orry! start again good? yesgo odkin gwenc eslas looke dout? doubt wrong track start again goodk ingwe ncesl asloo kedou tonth efeas tofst ephph phphp hphph unjam phphp repea tunja mhphp scrub carol hphph repea tscru bcaro lstop subst itute track merry chris tmasa ndgoo dnewy earin 1699? check digit banks orryi n1966 endme ssage
goodk kkkkk unjam ingwe nches lass? start again goodk
lassw enche sking start again kings tart! again sorry…
—Edwin Morgan, “The Computer’s Second Christmas Card”
published in COLLECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 1990
#poem #poetry #concretepoetry
www.carcanet.co.uk/978185754188...
Treat yersel with a listen to this!
This is THE Christmas poem for me, in its pure joy and wish for better things in the new year. 'Trio' sums up Edwin Morgan's wild optimism, which many of us need now...
Monsters of the year
go blank, are scattered back,
can't bear this march of three...
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/trio/
Orphean sprig! Melting baby! Warm chihuahua!
#EdwinMorgan reading “Trio”, published in The Second Life (1968) and recorded by Ewan McVicar in 1990 at Tower Studio, Glasgow 🎄❄️
(written in bright green text, in a monospaced font on a black background, to emulate an old CRT computer monitor) The Computer's First Christmas Card by Edwin Morgan jollymerry hollyberry jollyberry merryholly happyjolly jollyjelly jellybelly bellymerry hollyheppy jollyMolly marryJerry merryHarry hoppyBarry heppyJarry bobbyheppy berryjorry jorryjolly moppyjelly Mollymerry Jerryjolly bellyboppy jorryhoppy hollymoppy Barrymerry Jarryhappy happyboppy boppyjolly jollymerry merrymerry merrymerry merryChris ammerryasa Chrismerry asMERRYCHR YSANTHEMUM
jollymerry
hollyberry
jollyberry
merryholly
happyjolly
jollyjelly
jellybelly
bellymerry
hollyheppy
jollyMolly
marryJerry
merryHarry
hoppyBarry…
—Edwin Morgan, “The Computer’s First Christmas Card”
first published in THE SECOND LIFE, @edinburghup.bsky.social 1968
#poem #poetry #concretepoetry
A poem by Edwin Morgan inscribed into a flagstone on Candleriggs in Glasgow, just outside the City Halls. Born in 1920, Morgan became the city's first poet laureate in 1999.
Cont./
#glasgow #streetart #poetry #edwinmorgan #glasgowcoatofarms #streetpoetry
But Glasgow days and grey weathers, when the rain beat on the bus shelter and you leaned slightly against me, and the back of your hand touched my hand in the shadows, and nothing was said, when your hair grazed mine accidentally as we talked in a cafe, yet not quite accidentally, when I stole a glance at your face as we stood in a doorway and found I was afraid of what might happen if I should never see it again, when we met, and met, in spite of such differences in our lives, and did the common things that in our feeling became extraordinary, so that our first kiss was like the winter morning moon, and as you shifted in my arms it was the sea changing the shingle that changes it as if for ever (but we are bound by nothing, but like smoke to mist or light in water we move, and mix) — O then it was a story as old as war or man, and although we have not said it we know it, and although we have not claimed it we do it, and although we have not vowed it we keep it, without a name to the end.
... so that our first kiss
was like the winter morning moon, and as you shifted in my arms
it was the sea changing the shingle that changes it
as if for ever ...
— from ‘The Unspoken’ by #EdwinMorgan, published in The Second Life (EUP, 1968) 🌒
Computer’s First Christmas Card: a Poetry/Coding workshop
Thur 4 Dec
Mitchell Library, Glasgow.
Free
An introduction to coding and poetry with Michael Mullen and Claire Quigley.
There will also be a chance to see some items from the Edwin Morgan collection.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/computers-...
