From the Caribbean to Caledonia: Two National Bards in Conversation At Burns's Ellisland Farm

On a sun-kissed Autumn's afternoon on the banks of the River Nith two National Poets sat down to chat about Rabbie Burns, Bob Marley, Dante's Inferno, the Gaelic and Jamaican tongues, and much more besides. In this special edition of the SPL podcast, Scotland's current Makar, Peter Mackay, and the former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Lorna Goodison, exchanged poems, stories, thoughts and much laughter at Ellisland Farm, once home to Robert Burns and his family, where he famously composed such works as Auld Lang Syne and Tam o' Shanter. The conversation took place during the poets' four day residency at the Ellisland Farm Burns Museum: who the Scottish Poetry Library partnered with to help bring the two national poets together for this unique collaboration. What unfolds in this fascinating and generous conversation is an exploration of seemingly disparate cultures and languages, that may be closer than we at first think. We can also report that Peter Mackay and Lorna Goodison got on like the proverbial house on fire!