Scottish Poetry Library
The Scottish Poetry Library have given us two datasets, and they’re crackers. Have a browse through all the Scottish poets on their database (a lot), plus associated meta-data. And then when you’re done with that, read through the Edwin Morgan poetry collection. Again, it comes with some nice detailed meta-data.
Download a slice of the poets dataset here (csv) and the Morgan archive here (csv).
If you’re thinking about using the Edwin Morgan dataset, you’ll probably want to check out the data provided by University of Glasgow Library. They hold the personal papers of poet Edwin Morgan (1920 to 2010) including biographical material, correspondence, scrapbooks and handwritten drafts of poems. You’ll find a section of that archive here.
What is the Scottish Poetry Library?
We believe that poetry is a vital element of the life of the imagination: ‘by leaves we live’, as it says on the library threshold.
Our aims are to:
/Provide a unique national resource centre of recognised excellence for poetry
/Bring the pleasures and benefits of poetry to as wide an audience as possible
/Nurture creative language and reading skills
/Provide access to poetry resources in a changing technological landscape
/Engage with the international community
/Work collaboratively with other organisations to these ends
The Scottish Poetry Library is one of three poetry libraries in the UK, but the only one to be independently constituted and housed. It is the only poetry house in the world to have an extensive lending library at its core. Through the SPL, the work of Scottish poets has been presented in locations as diverse as Brussels and Kolkata, and the Library is building connections worldwide, from Melbourne to New York to Berlin.
The Library opened the Edwin Morgan Archive of the poet’s published works in 2009. Edwin Morgan was born in 1920, and produced an extensive body of work. He was a poet who was willing to give a voice to everything around him, whether it was an apple, the Loch Ness Monster, a cancer cell or the source of the Big Bang. His poetry is marked by an acceptance of change and an exhilarating energy. In the 1960s he became involved with the international Concrete Poetry movement, publishing his first major collection The Second Life (1968). The title of his 1973 collection, From Glasgow to Saturn, indicates both the scope of his subject matter, and his interest in science fiction.
What is the Scottish Poetry Library interested in?
We’re interested in finding new audiences, in taking poetry to people who don’t necessarily know that it’s something they’ll enjoy or be nourished by.
At the moment we have a large online catalogue, accessible through the SPL website. Our website also offers extensive resources such as a poet and poem database and learning materials. However, we aren’t particularly mobile and we haven’t explored the world of apps and games.
We believe the Edwin Morgan Archive offers myriad opportunities for experimentation, in keeping with the poet’s playful approach to writing. Morgan was an innovator, and we feel sure he would have been attracted to the idea of working with digital tools. So we’re intrigued to see what you can do with his work. We’re also interested in any experimentation with our Scottish poets online database.
Licensing Notes
All material offered in this project is by permission of the Scottish Poetry Library and the Estate of Edwin Morgan. Please attribute accordingly. All commercial usage must first be discussed with the Scottish Poetry Library and – if appropriate – the Estate of Edwin Morgan.
http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/
