The Scotsman Reviews Makar/Unmakar: Twelve Contemporary Poets in Scotland

News from The Scotsman: Laura Waddell reviews Makar/Unmakar (Tapsalteerie, 2019), edited by Calum Rodger, and in which "12 contemporary poets each provide readers with a literary divining rod." It's the pamphlet-press's first full-length publication, notes Waddell. "Much of what happens in collaborative, close-knit small-press scenes is, by nature and by economics, driven more by linguistic passion than by servicing commercial markets as first priority." More:

...Funding problems to one side, it’s where some really interesting and innovative writing is nurtured.

Scottish art, wherever it is categorised, defined, or boundaried in any way, has always faced a see-saw of self-identity, balanced between thematic and physical claims to ‘Scottishness’.

In some instances, definition takes the ‘by formation’ route, akin to the electoral roll; if you live here, you’re in. Sometimes, Scottishness is defined more vaguely, fuzzy around the edges but usually with the aim of welcoming, encompassing being born, living, or having studied here, or writing explicitly with reference to Scottish terrain. (Only occasionally must literary editors deal with rhyming Texans who claim lairdship status and brandish a square foot of land receipt as proof.)

‘Makar’, the old Scots word for poet, which has seen a resurgence in recent years with appointments of Edwin Morgan, Liz Lochhead, and Jackie Kay, is playfully balanced with ‘unmakar’. The book is respectful of these poets, but sceptical of the confines of formal roles...

Find the full review at The Scotsman.