Ron Butlin

"Poetry tends to be argued through image, prose tends to be argued through narrative ..."

Ryan sits down with Edinburgh's Makar (poet laureate) Ron Butlin during a recent visit to a slightly noisier than usual Library (apologies for the melody of the office stapler) and discusses where his poems come from, the differences between writing poetry and prose, and what it's like to write for musicians - of the popular and operatic variety. We also get the chance to hear a few poems from Ron and listen to an excerpt from the short opera 'The Voice Inside' by composer Lyell Cresswell for which Ron wrote the libretto.

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First published 13 February, 2010

Ron Butlin

Before taking up writing full-time he was, at various times, a lyricist with a pop band, a barnacle scraper on Thames barges, a footman attending embassies and country houses and a male model. 
He has published over a dozen books, several of which have won Scottish Arts Council Book Awards, and his work has been translated into over ten languages. His volumes of poetry include the award-winning Ragtime in Unfamiliar Bars (Secker & Warburg, 1985) and Histories of Desire (Bloodaxe, 1995). His New and Selected Poems was published by Barzan in 2005.

• Read more about Ron
  

Lyell Cresswell

Lyell Cresswell was born in New Zealand and studied at the Universities of Wellington, Toronto, Aberdeen and Utrecht. Following a spell as a music administrator in Wales he returned to Scotland to hold composition fellowships at the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. He is now a freelance composer based in Edinburgh. 

• Read about Lyell on the Scottish Music Centre website

We recommend...

	Without a Backward Glance: New and Selected Poems by Ron Butlin Barzan, 2005 Ron Butlin's selected poems, all in one lovely place. SPL shelfmark 3.But
	The Voice Inside by Lyell Cresswell In The Voice Inside, Cresswell explores the ever-changing relationship between the soprano and violin soloists and the orchestra, while Cassandra's Songs, which also set words by Scottish poet Ron Butlin, is concerned with exile, identity and belonging.

Find out more...

• Search SPL catalogue and borrow these items

Related links...

• Read more about the word Makar
• Hear Ron on last week's podcast
• With further apologies for our stapler. If you'd like more noise from behind the scenes at the SPL, visit our blog, Our Sweet Old Etc.
  

Image: Foggy day © Chris Scott