Six Scottish Poets We’re Reading for Burns Night

Written by: Lexi Covalsen

Put down your whisky. This isn’t your average Burns Night.

As skirts are hiked mid-ceilidh and forks are raised above plates of haggis, we’re looking beyond Scotland’s national bard and towards the future of Scottish poetry.

Robert Burns may be best known for his beloved poems “A Red, Red Rose” and “Auld Lang Syne,” but what impact has he had, really, on Scottish poets working today?

Born in 1759, Burns’ poetry flits between the Scots dialect and English, and is deeply rooted in love for nature and rural life. His beloved Scotland wasn’t spared criticism either though, as Burns’ work often explores the social inequalities of his day with a sharp wit.

To honour the legacy of Scotland’s favourite son, let’s pick up a stanza or two from these six contemporary poets, who also have a thing or two to say about the Scottish landscape – the beautiful, the ugly, the rural, the urban, and everything in between:

Janette Ayachi with curly hair drinks from a bottle while standing in a parking lot. She wears a sleeveless shirt and bracelets. In the background, a person carrying a guitar case walks past parked cars and trees. The image is in black and white.

Janette Ayachi is a Scottish-Algerian poet based in Edinburgh, Janette was featured in 2024’s Pink Witch, a dynamic collection of poems inspired by the 2023 movie Barbie and the history of witch trials in Scotland. Often performing spoken word, her poems reclaim patriarchal fantasies.

Len Pennie with long red hair smiles broadly while holding up an open green book outdoors. She wears a plaid scarf and a black choker necklace against a cloudy sky background.

Len Pennie is a poet who specialises in the Scots language. Her “Scots word of the day” series went viral during the pandemic but her work is more than a linguistic party trick. Growing up, she competed in Robert Burns poetry recital competitions. Today, she advocates for minority languages, survivors of domestic abuse, and the destigmatisation of mental illness.

Jeda Pearl looks downward with a gentle expression, set against a dark background with part of a plant visible on the right.

Jeda Pearl is Co-director of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, Jeda is a Scottish-Jamaican poet whose work explores the intersections of belonging, disability, secrecy and survival. For a seasonal read, check out her contributions to Sleekit: Contemporary poems in the Burns stanza, or her debut collectionTime Cleaves Itself

Harry Josephine Giles sings into a microphone on stage while another operates a keyboard and electronic equipment. Green wave-like graphics are projected onto a screen behind them.

Harry Josephine Giles is a writer and performer from Orkney, now living in Leith. Her work often focuses on queer identity and island life. Pick up her debut collection Tonguit, written in a “magpie” Scots tongue, or her verse science fiction novel Deep Wheel Orcadia.

Michael Pedersen: The current Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate), Michael weaves between English and Scots, crafting irreverent sketches of the modern Scottish cultural scene. Revisit his debut collection,Play With Me, or his most recent: The Cat Prince & Other Poems.

Shane Strachan stands on stage with a microphone, performing under blue lighting. Behind him, a screen displays the words LOUD POETS Slam West and Shane Strachan in bold yellow-green text.

Shane Strachan: Rooted in the North East of Scotland, Shane is a writer and performer based in Aberdeen. His debut collection, DWAMS (Tapsalteerie), utilises Doric, Scots, and English to explore the climate emergency in his native landscape, as well as LGBTQ+ rights and rising xenophobia across Scotland.