Place and Poetry in Premodern Scotland

This project will produce the first comprehensive study of the cultural representation of place in premodern Scottish poetry, c. 1400-1700. By examination of a wide range of poetry, I foreground place as critical for understanding how premodern Scots experienced their lived and imagined environments. Informed by the methodological innovations of the ‘spatial turn’, the project explores what is distinctive about Scottish writing about place, and argues that place fundamentally structured the representation of nation, culture, and identity.

Academic outputs include a book chapter (in press) and monograph (in preparation). In 2023/24, it also features an academic symposium, and engagement activities in collaboration with the National Library of Scotland (historical maps workshop, poetry workshop/competition). A supporting website features mini-editions of poems alongside historical maps.