Robert Burns website aims to help fans of Bard connect with new generation

By JAMES MULHOLLAND
Published on 25/07/2012 01:13

Fans of Robert Burns can connect with each other on a new website.

It is hoped the project will allow enthusiasts to share their thoughts about the poet’s work and bring fresh perspectives to scholarship on Scotland’s bard.

The site, run by Glasgow University, will have social media feeds containing information about the Burns project and blog posts. It will also host video from the project’s YouTube channel.

The site is part of a much wider project to produce a multi-volume edition of Burns’ work and aims to build awareness for future generations.

It is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of a £1.1 million project called Editing Burns for the 21st Century.

Contemporary folk artists are to produce versions of Burns’ songs, released over the course of the project and available for free on the website.

The project is expected to take 15 years to complete.

Professor Gerard Carruthers, co-director of Glasgow University’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies, said: “With ever-increasing information and digital media at our fingertips, the new website is a place where 
the wider Burnsian interest group and the public can harness the global interest in Robert Burns.

“We hope this will lead to 
further discussion of the bard and his works. The conversation can now become very exciting.”