Scottish Writers' Centre Trying to Make the Poem ‘Work’ with Christine De Luca

Christine De Luca discusses her poetry and her creative process as she applies it to the craft of writing. As Edinburgh's Makar, De Luca is often asked to write poems to order, and in this talk she explores what this means for the creative process, additionally touching on issues of language, and bringing the concepts of Innovation, Architecture and Design into her writing.

A native Shetlander living in Edinburgh, Christine De Luca, writes in both English and Shetlandic. She was appointed Edinburgh’s Makar in 2014, and has had over a dozen books published. Her latest collection, Dat Trickster Sun (Mariscat, 2014) was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Poetry Pamphlet Prize and an Italian bi-lingual edition, Questo sole furfante, has recently been published (Nuova Trauben, 2015). Her poems have been selected four times for the Best Scottish Poems of the Year (2006, 2010, 2013 and 2015) and her poetry has won awards in her native Shetland and internationally. De Luca has also been an organising member of Shore Poets in Edinburgh for over 20 years.