Ron Butlin

RON BUTLIN AS EDINBURGH’S POET-LAUREATE (MAKAR)

Imagine my surprise when, one cold winter’s morning last year, I was phoned up out of the blue and asked if I would accept the post of Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate). Would I!! I was gobsmacked – and delighted! A real honour. The work is varied – everything from giving the occasional speech at public events, writing occasional poems, attending receptions, giving talks and readings . . . to being auctioned for charity (incredibly, I went for £500!). Unlike Andrew Motion I feel Laureateship is A Good Thing. Whether the commissioned poem is about The Gathering of the Clans or the opening of a poetry garden (see below), I try to re-interpret the subject and make it my own. Then, as best I can, I write from the heart.

APRIL 2008 (as Makar-designate)
April 30 - Burning Issue piece (re McGonogal) for Scotsman

MAY 2008 (as Makar-designate)
May 10 - READING at WORD Festival
May 11 - My Cultural life – for Scotland on Sunday
May 19 - Wordfringe in Aberdeen
May 20 - INTERVIEW in Herald
May 21 - POEM for Scotsman
May 30 - Five Questions for . . . RB in METRO

JUNE 2008
June 1 - Introduction for The Mind Reader anthology (Trinity Academy)
June 2 – Meadows Writers
June 4 – Meeting with City Poet of The Hague
June 7 – Hatwalk Charity Event (auctioned for £500!)
June 11 - INTERVIEW for Evening News
June 19 – ‘Last Word’ for the List
June 20 – MAKAR INSTALLATION at the Edinburgh City Chambers
June 23 – Attending Stone of Destiny ceremony at Edinburgh Castle
June 24 – City of Literature salon
June 25 – READING / TALK at Writers Museum: Meet the Makar
June 27 – meeting Lyell Cresswell to discuss opera proposal for Scottish Opera
June 29 – meeting Ed Harper to discuss text for SCO: ‘Burns and Scott in Edinburgh’

JULY 2008
July 2 – meeting with Swiss Consul to discuss Edinburgh Arts dinner with Swiss writers.
July 3 – Hatwalk ‘Tea with the Makar’ at the Balmoral.
July 10 – POET OF THE MONTH piece for SPL website.
July 21– Photo session for Council
July 28– BBC Radio Café, Makars’ Interview (with Liz Lochhead) INTERVIEW in textualities magazine INTERVIEW in One Magazine

AUGUST 2008
Aug 4– READING - Opening Word Book Fringe, with Regi Claire
Aug 5– READING: National library of Scotland, with Regi Claire
Aug 9– READING: Opening Short Story Shop series at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Aug 14– Provost’s reception
Aug 14– SAC reception
Aug 15– POEM for Ed Harper’s SCO commission (completed)
Aug 16– SPEECH at British Council Showcase reception
Aug 17– READING at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
Aug 20– Formal Edinburgh Artists’ dinner at Swiss Consulate
Aug 21– READING: Amnesty at EIBF
Aug 25– READING: Closing ‘Ten at Ten’ series at EIBF
Aug 25– SPEECH / READING: Opening the Poetry Garden at St Andrews Square
Aug 25– POEM for St Andrews Square Gardens (with Alex Salmond)

SEPTEMBER 2008
Sept 16– BBC Radio Café (interview)
Sept 22– TALK: Blacket Book Group
Sept 23– PHOTO-SHOOT for Edinburgh Libraries Festival
Sept 26– Discussion with Susan Nickalls re Makar commission BBC Radio programme
Sept 26– Publicity material for Edinburgh Libraries Festival

OCTOBER 2008
1 Oct – BBC Radio programme on Scottish Love Poetry
2 Oct – Official SAC Dinner for David Malouf
8 Oct – READING: Opening the Scottish Poetry Association’s new programme

NOVEMBER 2008
5 Nov – Sitting for Joyce Gunn Cairns (portrait for Brussels exhibition)
9 Nov – TALK: ‘Writing Librettos’ for Friends of Scottish Opera
11 Nov – READING: Festival of Edinburgh Libraries
27 Nov – READING: Vital Synz (Glasgow)

DECEMBER 2008
2 Dec – READING: launch Stolen Stories
15 Dec – POEM commissioned for Provost’s Banquet (first sketch)

JANUARY 2009
9 Jan – POEM: ‘The Magicians of Edinburgh’ for Provost’s Banquet (completed)
13 Jan – meeting with Denise Brace at Writer’s Museum
27 Jan – UNESCO City of Literature Salon
30 Jan –POEM for ‘The Gathering 2009’

FEBRUARY 2009
3 Feb – POEM commissioned for The Gathering 2009 in the Scotsman
9 Feb – POEM commissioned for ‘The Homecoming’ (first sketch)
11 Feb – READING at Edinburgh University
23 Feb – RECEPTION for European Literature at SPL
28 Feb – READING for GAZA fundraiser

MARCH 2009
6March – Meeting with Scottish Opera re new opera
18 March – RECEPTION for WORD Festival
23 March – Meeting with ECAT re possible Makar’s music group
24 March – RECEPTION / READING, at Playfair Library, made Hon Writing Fellow by Edinburgh University (first-ever, with Ian Rankin)

APRIL 2009
2 April – REVIEWING Edwin Morgan Archive
15 April – RECEPTION / READING Provost’s Banquet
19 April – RECEPTION at Italian Film Festival
24 April – READING commissioned poem at funeral of composer Edward Harper
27 April – TOAST at Edwin Morgan’s Birthday celebration
29 April – CONCERT, setting of one of my poems for voice and orchestra by composer Ken Dempster
30 April – RECORDING poems for PEN

MAY 2009
1 May – READING / SEMINAR Honorary Fellow at Edinburgh University
2 May – READINGS for Poets in Motion
10 May – INTERVIEW - BBC RADIO - Sally Magnusson
20 MAY – INTERVIEW – BBC RADIO CAFÉ
29 May – JUDGE (with Alexander McCall Smith and others) of The Gathering 2009 Poetry Competition

JUNE 2009
8 June – TALK / READING representing Scottish PEN at Foyles’ Gallery in London (I’m being put up at the Groucho Club no less!) NB – this event has now been postponed until later this year.
19 June – ATTENDED Hon Fellow Reception at University of Edinburgh
22 June – TALK / READING as part of Penicuik Academy’s Book Week

JULY 2009
Article for Scottish Poetry Library’s POETRY READER (Issue 5 – Summer 2009) which included my poem ‘Absinthe with Eddie’.
2 July – JUDGE Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize
8 July – Exhibition opening of portraits by Joyce Gunn Cairns OBE (including a portrait of myself!)
16 July – MEETING with ECAT directors to discuss my running their ‘Book Group’ for contemporary music
20 July – Reception for Discovery of Spain exhibition at the NGS
26 July – READING at Big Tent Event at Falkland Palace, representing Scottish PEN

AUGUST 2009
6-30 August – PLAY based on my novel The Sound of My Voice opens at the Assembly Rooms, to run throughout the Edinburgh Festival
10 Aug – MEETING at UNESCO City of Literature office to plan The Bard in Edinburgh for EIBF
August – FIVE APPEARANCES at Edinburgh International Book Festival
15 Aug – READING to open the Story Shop sessions
16 Aug – READING at the Amnesty session
24 Aug – READING with Ruth Thomas
25 Aug - JUDGE at the Edwin Morgan Memorial Poetry Competition
29 Aug – READING / TALK in ‘The Bard in Edinburgh’
10 Aug – Reception for National Trust for Scotland / Bonham’s The Scottish Sale
17 Aug – Bonham’s Literary Lunch
13 Aug – Interviewed by critic Brian Hoyle for an extended essay on my work for the prestigious ‘British Writers Series’ published in USA.
13 Aug – Reception for Creative Scotland Revealed
20 Aug – Reception to launch HEADSHOOK anthology of Scottish Writing
20 Aug – Reception for Scottish Agents
21 Aug – Reception for London Review of Books
21 Aug – James Tait Black Prize ceremony and reception
26 Aug – WORKSHOP at the Scottish Parliament
26 Aug – Reception at Norwegian Consulate
27 Aug – Reception for ALCS
30 Aug – Awards Ceremony where Billy Mack received the ‘Best Male Actor on the Fringe’ award from The Stage for playing the lead in the play adaptation of my novel ‘The Sound of My Voice’!!

SEPTEMBER 2009
1- 22 Sept - READING TOUR of Switzerland with Regi Claire, which included an event in a seventeenth-century wine cellar at the Trauben in Weinfelden. (combined with a much needed holiday!)
11 Sept – POEM for ‘Edinburgh Inspiring Capital Clipper Round the world yacht race’
27 Sept - READING at the Edinburgh Shore Poets
28 Sept – Reception for Scottish PEN
29 Sept – UNESCO City of Literature Salon (special poetry event)
30 Sept – MEETING with Council re publicity for Makar

OCTOBER 2009
9 Oct – MEETING of SAC’s New Writers’ Bursary panel
9 Oct – Reception at NGS for Spanish Consulate
14 Oct – Reception for Scottish Poetry Library’s 25th birthday to meet Seamus Heaney
16 Oct – Reception for High Commissioner of Canada on destroyer in the Forth!
17 Oct – SPEECH and READING for homeless DVD
26-31 Oct - READINGS / PANEL DISCUSSIONS as part of ‘Writing Scotland’ at the Harbourfront Festival (Toronto)

NOVEMBER 2009
2 Nov – CHAIRING first ever ECAT Contemporary Music Group
4 Nov – Concert for Spanish consul
11 Nov – ECAT concert
12 Nov – Reception for opening of the French Film Festival
13 Nov – Annual Consular Corps Dinner (by invitation of the Spanish Consul General)
14 Nov – SPEECH: giving the ‘Toast to the City’ at the Robert Louis Stevenson Society’s Annual Lunch
17 Nov – Unveiling of plaque to Edinburgh Makars, coinciding with my 60th birthday!
18 Nov – READING at the Golden Hour in the Forrest Road Café
23 Nov – READING and JUDGING at the Edinburgh Writers Club
25 Nov – TALK / READING at the National Museum of Scotland
27 Nov – Dinner for French Film Festival (by invitation of the Swiuss Cunsul General)
28 Nov – SCO concert featuring Edward Harper’s 2nd Symphony (includes a setting of commissioned text by myself)

DECEMBER 2009
2 Dec – Carols for Christmas and dinner in aid in Sick Kids hospital where my creativity was auctioned. (i.e. I’d write a poem – the highest bidder would give me theme). I went for £500.00. Poem to be delivered before Xmas.
9 Dec – Speech at Poetry Pamphlet Fair at the NLS
11 Dec – Consultation re St Andrews Square Poetry Garden
12 Dec – Reception for Scottish Opera 18 Dec – EIBF reception
23 Dec – The Importance of Poetry for the Scotsman
29 Nov – Reception for launch of Hogmanay!

JANUARY 2010
1 Jan - READING in St Giles (from John Knox’s pulpit no less!) for Gate of the Year
13 Jan – DISCUSSION - Genomics Panel in the Scottish Poetry Library
21 Jan – Official Dinner at Swiss Consulate
22 Jan – JUDGING the SPL ‘Poppypoetry’ competition SPEECH – ‘Toast to the Lassies’ at the Lord Provost’s Burns’ Supper
28 Jan – ECAT concert

FEBRUARY 2010
1 Feb – SPEECH at ‘Carry a Poem’ launch (see podcast on UNESCO City of Literature website Chairing ECAT Contemporary Music Discussion Group
2 Feb – PODCAST for Scottish Poetry Library. See SPL website
19 Feb – Gala Concert for Edinburgh Quartet’s 50th Birthday
22 Feb – ECAT concert
28 Feb – READING at Aid for Haiti event at Queens Hall (standing room only!)

MARCH 2010
1 Mar – INTERVIEW for BBC re Haiti event. BROADCAST my poem ‘The Magicians of Edinburgh’ Chairing ECAT Contemporary Music Discussion Group
12 Mar – READING / TALK for EIBF and Visit Scotland
18 Mar – READING at West Dumbarton Library
20 Mar – WORKSHOP / JUDGING at Perth Writers
22- 9 April – READING TOUR of Switzerland with Regi Claire, including Zurich, Romanshorn, Frauenfeld and elsewhere)

APRIL 2010
10 April – TALK to Friends of Scottish Opera at Festival Theatre in Edinburgh
12 April – First Rehearsal with Scottish Opera of ‘The Money Man’ (opera with Lyell Cresswell)
15 April – RECEPTION for the Edinburgh Consular Corps.
16 April – COMMISSIONED POEM for the Scottish Parliament.
21 April – MEETING with Denise Brace for Makar update. 22 April – CONCERT / READING at Scottish Poetry Library (with composers Iain Matheson and Lyell Cresswell)
27 April – BIRTHDAY TOAST to Edwin Morgan on his 90th! (with Liz Lochhead) at Mitchell Library, Glasgow
28 April – RECEPTION at Scottish Parliament for Scottish Opera

MAY 2010
8 May – READING at Ullapool Book Festival with Regi Claire
15 May – Premiere of new opera The Money Man (music – Lyell Cresswell, commissioned by Scottish Opera)
16 May – READING at WORD Book Festival in Aberdeen
20-22 May – The Money Man in Edinburgh (Traverse)
24-27 May – The Money Man in Glasgow (Oran Mhor)
26 May – TALK - Seminar for Danish teachers at Scottish Poetry Library

JUNE 2010
13 June – READING for Scottish PEN in Leith Festival
19 June – READING at Borders Book Festival
16 June – Made a FELLOW by Royal Literary Fund (London)
19 June – READING Borders Book Festival
24 June – TALK. Saying opening ‘prayers’ for Edinburgh City Council

AUGUST 2010
Various Makaring readings, events and receptions at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and elsewhere in Edinburgh, including:
11 Aug – INTERVIEW on chat show - Edinburgh Tonight with Joe Simmons
12 Aug – READING at Book Fringe in Word Power Bookshop, Edinburgh
13 Aug – READING FOR Amnesty / PEN at EIBF
15 Aug - READING (fiction) at EIBF with Regi Claire
16 Aug – INTERVEW for Deutsche Welle TV
21 Aug – READING (poetry) at EIBF with Brian Johnstone and others.
22 Aug – READING – to welcome British Council delegates to Edinburgh Festival , at City Chambers, hosted by the Lord Provost.
22 Aug – FILM, based on my poem ‘A Lifetime’, being premiered at the Banshee Labyrinth Cinema
22 Aug – FORMAL DINNER at Swiss Consulate
27 Aug – READING (prose) ten-to-ten at EIBF
30 Aug – READING in memory of Edwin Morgan at EIBF

SEPTEMBER 2010
10 Sept – KEYNOTE SPEECH at Advanced Higher Conference
15 Sept – TALK at Central Library (Edinburgh)
22 Sep – READING and introductory talk as new Fellow attached to Edinburgh University’s Office of Lifelong Learning

OCTOBER 2010
4 Oct – ECAT Discussion group
11 Oct – RECEPTION for new Spanish Consul
15-17 Oct – Poetry Hothouse at Cove Park, with Polly Clark
23 Oct – READING at Hidden Doors
28 Oct – RECEPTION and concert (Swiss Consul)

NOVEMBER 2010
2 Nov – READING and talk at George Heriot’s School
8 Nov – ECAT discussion group
11 Nov – RECEPTION – opening of French Film Festival
12 Nov – POEM and INTERVIEW about Trams in Edinburgh Evening News
12 Nov – READING at Edinburgh University
27 Nov – DINNER (Swiss Consul)
30 Nov – INTERVEW (chaired) at Blackwell’s

DECEMBER 2010
4 Dec – SPEECH at the Saltire Society Lunch
6 Dec – DINNER and READING for Swiss Club’s 50 Year Celebration
8 Dec – BROADCAST essay on BBC Radio 4’s Today.
12 Dec – Essay featured on BBC Radio 4’s PICK OF THE WEEK

The Sound Of My Voice
'One of the greatest pieces of fiction to come out of Britain in the 80s'
Irvine Welsh