Scotland Trending Words

Curated by Perthshire poet and 2024 Scots Writer of the Year, Jim Mackintosh, this unique event and first of its kind at Perth Festival of the Arts, presents new writings by five exciting rising stars in poetry in Scotland.

Be inspired by this immersive, multi-arts experience that connects music, written word and visual art in the striking surroundings of Perth Art Gallery, one of the UK's oldest collections. 

Featuring new poetry by poets Morag Anderson, Robbie MacLeòid, Mae Diansangu, Karen Macfarlane and Nazaret Ranea.

Join us for a promenade around the Gallery, exploring new poems inspired by the surroundings and presented by the writers, with live music performed by Scotland's top musicians Ali Hutton, Patsy Reid, Owen Sinclair and Laura-Beth Salter, who respond to the poetry through music in real time. 

The event will last approximately one hour. Entry is free but requires a ticket. Please book a free ticket via our website (available to book from 25 March or 18 March for Festival Friends).

Scotland Trending Words is funded by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

About the Poets

JIM MACKINTOSH

A local Perthshire lad, Jim Mackintosh is a poet, editor, playwright and producer, the 2024 Scots Writer of the Year, who has published seven poetry collections, edited / co-edited four anthologies and one collection The Banes o the Turas (Tippermuir Books) in translation from Italian into Scots which was shortlisted for Scots Book of the Year in 2023. Amongst many other residencies and engagements, he was the Poet in Residence at St Johnstone FC, and co-produced the sold-out Concert for Ukraine in Perth in 2022. A regular at Book Festivals and Music Festivals across Scotland on his own or in collaboration with musicians or dancers Jim is, as he describes himself - aye, contentedly ower the heid. 

NAZARET RANEA

Nazaret Ranea is a poet based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the author of the forthcoming collection Nettle (Drunk Muse Press). She is the author of the zines My Men & My Women and the editor of For Those Who Tend the Soil, an anthology created in collaboration with the Scottish Poetry Library. Her work, which explores themes of nostalgia, memory, and home, has been published in more than 50 publications internationally and featured on BBC Radio Scotland, as well as at the Edinburgh Fringe and the International Book Festival. You can find out more about Nazaret’s work at www.nazaretranea.com.

KAREN MACFARLANE

Karen Macfarlane’s poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies including Poetry Scotland, Green Ink, The Alchemy Spoon and Pushing Out the Boat. Her first short collection, All About the Surface, was published by Seahorse Publications in 2024. Karen lives in the Carse of Gowrie and is in the final stage of a degree in Creative Writing and Art History. She combines her love of visual art with poetry at www.poemsonpublicart.wordpress.com

ROBBIE MACLEOID

Robbie MacLeòid is a queer Gaelic writer, musician, and community organiser. His writing has been published in Gutter, New Writing Scotland, and STEALL, as well as elsewhere and internationally. He holds a PhD in love and gender. In 2023 he received a Scottish Book Trust's New Writer's Award for Poetry.

MAE DIANSANGU

Mae Diansangu is a queer poet from Aberdeen. Her first collection Bloodsongs (Tapsalteerie) shifts between Northeast Scots and English. She has performed at literary festivals across Scotland and appeared on BBC Scotland’s Big Scottish Book Club and BBC Radio 4’s Tongue and Talk.  

MORAG ANDERSON

Morag Anderson is a Scottish poet living near Loch Tay. Hersecond chapbook, And I Will Make of You a Vowel Sound (Fly on the Wall Press, 2024), won the Aryamati Poetry Prize and was described by TS Eliot Prize-winning poet Joelle Taylor as Delicate and furious…a haunting act of worship, of rebellion, and story. She was poet-in-residence for the 2024 Birnam Book Festival and for Creative Brain Week 2024, Trinity College, Dublin. Recent commissions include The Scottish Poetry Library, The Canmore Suicide Prevention Trust, and The National Trust for Scotland. Morag is currently a delegate on Arvon’s two-year Advanced Writing Programme.