Earlier today, Royal Mile Primary School P7s took part in an activity morning at the Writers’ Museum to mark World Poetry Day - becoming the latest poets to recite their works at Makars' Court.
This year marks 25 years since Makars’ Court was officially inaugurated by the late lain Crichton Smith in August 1998 and pupils learned all about the famous names featured in the Capital’s evolving national literary monument.
Pupils got an exclusive tour of the Writers’ Museum, took part in an art project and recited poems they had written in class inspired by the works of those they had been learning about.
Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped and Treasure Island stories, an audience gathered for the pupils' recital of fantastic pirate-themed poems.
The Scots word makar stresses the role of the poet or author as a skilled and versatile worker in the craft of writing. This ongoing project to celebrate the lives and works of Scottish writers was conceived in 1997, growing out of a desire to broaden the remit of The Writers’ Museum and coinciding with the International Conference of PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) which was being held in Edinburgh that summer.
Selected by the Saltire Society, the first twelve writers and quotations were sponsored by Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd (LEEL) in association with the City of Edinburgh Council.
Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Val Walker, said:
This has been a wonderful event to mark both World Poetry Day and a big birthday for our Makars’ Court. It’s fantastic to see the creative works immortalised in the Court still inspire today and we now have new poems from pupils to add to our collections.
You can find Makars' Court next to our Writers’ Museum and both provide an opportunity for visitors and residents alike to explore the very best of Scotland’s writers. I would encourage people to rediscover the wonderful works beneath their feet in Lady Stair’s Close as well as our Writers’ Museum which celebrates the lives of three giants of Scottish Literature – Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Alanna Harrison, P7 teacher, Royal Mile Primary School, said:
Primary 7 joined millions of children before them in their discovery of the timeless adventure of Treasure Island. The tale gripped the imagination of the class, inspiring them to write their poems and discuss themes of betrayal, greed, bravery and mystery. I hope that the experience today will encourage them to seek out more adventures in reading.