Stewart Conn

Stewart Conn was born in Glasgow, 1936. His early poetry evokes, in an Ayrshire farm setting, familial figures inhabiting a now largely vanished world, while much of his later work is set against the changing cityscapes of Glasgow and Edinburgh. A recurring theme is the interplay of works of art and the affections, in the face of the fragility and transience of our lives.

Stolen Light was shortlisted for the Saltire Prize (2000), and The Breakfast Room was 2011 Scottish Poetry Book of the Year. A new and selected volume The Touch of Time (Bloodaxe) appeared in 2014. The city's inaugural makar from 2002-2005, a selection of his poems, alongside drawings by John Knight, share Aspects of Edinburgh (2019 Scotland Street Press).

Formerly head of BBC Scotland's radio drama department, his own plays have been widely staged and performed. He has appeared regularly at festivals here and abroad, and has received awards from, among others, the EC Gregory Trust, SAC, Poetry Book Society and Society of Authors. He is a fellow of the RSAMD and an honorary fellow of the ASLS; and has been a judge for the SAC, of the Edwin Morgan Award and the Pushkin Prize.