A YEAR-long programme celebrating poet Edwin Morgan will go ahead despite coronavirus fears, organisers have confirmed.
Book and music events marking a centenary since the birth of the much-loved Makar will begin on April 27, the date on which the prolific poet would have turned 100.
However, the Edwin Morgan Trust says it is "following the Covid-19 situation closely" and its programme "will be adapted to meet any recommended health advice to ensure the safety of participants and wider communities".
An academic conference at Glasgow University that had been scheduled for April 28 has already been postponed, with a new date yet to be announced.
The Trust stated: "We will continue to update in response to any changes."
Morgan, who died in 2010 at the age of 90, published 25 collections of poetry, translated hundreds of poems and wrote plays concerning politics, language and more.
He collaborated with rockers Idlewild on their 2002 album The Remote Part and his work has been studied in schools since the 1970s.
He translated the writing of Russian Bolshevik Vladimir Mayakovsky into Scots and his intergalactic tale The First Men on Mercury was adapted into comic form for distribution to secondary pupils by Scots cartoon duo Metaphrog.
Made Glasgow's Poet Laureate and later Scotland's Makar, Morgan's love poetry captures the reality of life as a gay man under anti-homosexuality laws that were only decriminalised when he reached later life.
The Edwin Morgan Trust hopes this body of work will "inspire a lively, multifaceted celebration".
Its spokesperson Robyn Marsack said: “We have selected themes and partners that not only pay tribute to the many facets of Morgan’s life, but also to his motto, 'change rules!'
"Unsurprisingly, Edwin Morgan’s poems are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them. We have an exciting opportunity to ensure that a new generation is encountering this dynamic work within both traditional and unexpected settings.”
Readers and "celebrity ambassadors" will share Morgan's poems on social media on April 27, while the National Poetry Library in London will launch a major exhibition and programme of events examining different aspects of Morgan’s work to run throughout the year.
A new theatrical promenade work inspired by Morgan’s writing will be shown at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO) will tour Planet Wave, Morgan’s epic 1997 collaboration with SNJO Director Tommy Smith. Other large-scale events by partners including Edinburgh International Book Festival, Glasgow lit fest Aye Write, and the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh will be announced throughout the year.
Publisher Birlinn is also set to issue a five book series titled The Edwin Morgan 20s, each of which will carry an introduction by a well-known Morgan fan including Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Ken MacLeod, Michael Rosen and Ali Smith, with special events also marked for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Its director Nick Barley commented: “Edwin Morgan and his work represent a foundation for much of today’s Scottish literary culture so it’s no surprise that his work has remained an integral part of the Book Festival programme despite his death a decade ago.
"We mourned his death and celebrated his life, we’ve discovered some truly stellar new poets through the biennial Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. This year we will be building on those foundations.”
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