Lessons from Stanza: Robert Crawford

Suzannah V. Evans met with Robert Crawford after his Centre Stage reading for StAnza poetry festival. They talked about the nature of place in poetry, the importance of writing economically, and the challenges of combining a day job with creative writing. Robert also read his poems St Andrews (at 15m38s) and Chorus (at 16m47s). Robert Crawford’s seventh full-length collection of poems is Testament (Cape, 2014), and his most recent biography is Young Eliot (Vintage, 2016). Co-editor of The Penguin Book of Scottish Verse, he has worked on several collaborative projects with the Edinburgh-based photographer Norman McBeath, including Chinese Makars (Easel Press, 2016). He has also collaborated with the Hamburg-based artist Caroline Saltzwedel, with whom he is due to launch Fire (Hirundo Press) in 2017. His awards include the Saltire Society’s Scottish Book of the Year Award. He is Professor of Modern Scottish Literature and Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Poetry at the University of St Andrews. Suzannah V. Evans was born in London and studied at the universities of St Andrews and York. She has worked in publishing and recently as a sound technician, translator, and interpreter for StAnza poetry festival in St Andrews. Her poetry and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Eborakon, The North, New Welsh Review, Tears in the Fence, and RAUM. Photo Credit: Eliana Berger