Robert Fergusson: the simmer o’ his life

This tribute event presents poetry read by James Robertson, who will be in conversation with Professor Rhona Brown. Rhona leads on a University of Glasgow project exploring Fergusson’s work and legacy. Musician Tommy Mackay (@Tommy Reckless) will also perform two new songs celebrating the writer whom Robert Burns called, “my elder brother in the Muse”.

Robert Fergusson died 250 years ago at the tender age of 24. His poetry in Scots was beloved by Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson, who contributed to the poet’s grave and its headstone’s repair. Visitors to the poetry library will often pass by the cemetery gates of Canongate Churchyard on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, where there is a much loved and photographed statue honouring Fergusson by sculptor David Annand.

Please note that the venue for this event has been changed to the Canongate Kirk due to very high demand.

By Scottish Poetry Library