A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle

The National Library of Scotland is hosting a talk on Hugh MacDiarmid's A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle on Thursday 19 November, marking the centenary of the poem's publication in 1926. It's a massive piece of work—2,685 lines written in a Scots that's colloquial, lyrical and highly literary all at once—and it blends tradition with modernism, pulling in themes that range from the national to the international. It hardly made a ripple when it first appeared, but it's since earned its place as a masterpiece of Scottish literature.

The session is built around the poem's creation, and it's not just a talking head on a stage: there will be images and audio clips to follow along with, short readings, and a Q&A at the end where you can ask your own questions. The three speakers are Alan Riach, Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow; James Robertson, the writer and novelist; and Jim Mackintosh, the poet. They'll be drawing on Ayont the Thistle, a new response volume that brings together more than 70 essays and poems.

If you've never come across the poem, it's a good place to start. It's a long, sprawling work that manages to be both deeply rooted in Scotland and wide-ranging in its scope, and the centenary gives it a natural moment to be looked at again. The combination of readings, audio, and the Q&A means you'll get to hear it as well as talk about it, and the three speakers bring together academic, novelist and poetic perspectives on the same text.

It runs from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM at the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge, and entry is free.