Poets' quotations on Capital fitted to ex-insurance HQ

Published on Friday 21 August 2009 10:02

TWO eyesore city centre buildings have been given a literary makeover.

Huge colourful displays featuring quotations about the Capital from a selection of famous poets have been fitted in the windows of two empty five-storey buildings on St Andrew Square and South St David Street, as part of a 20,000 project to promote the city centre.

The quotes were printed on to pieces of vinyl and displayed both horizontally and vertically in 47 windows across the two buildings, which were formerly used as the headquarters of Scottish Provident.

Essential Edinburgh, the company set up to run the city centre Business Improvement District, came up with the idea and said it wanted to "put the city's relationship with literature in the shop window".

Essential Edinburgh spokeswoman Lisa Dransfield said: "We wanted to brighten up a corner of the city that was somewhat tired, and give that wow factor. It's about having pride in the city."

The windows feature eulogistic quotes, in white writing with a dark blue background, from the likes of Oscar Wilde, GK Chesterton, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexander McCall Smith and Iain Crichton Smith.

Alexander McCall Smith's quotation states: "This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful, it breaks the heart again and again."

Poet Hugh MacDiarmid refers to the Capital as "a mad god's dream" in his quotation.

Chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, Tom Campbell, said: "We are committed to improving the environment of the city centre and we felt the windows of these buildings represented an opportunity to do something that helps promote the city, but does so in a way in keeping with St Andrew Square's status as a poetry garden.

"We are grateful to the Scottish Poetry Library for their help in sourcing the quotations, and I hope that all of the people who use the city centre will enjoy this project, whether they work here, live here, shop here or are visitors. It is there for everyone."

Funding for the project was provided by Essential Edinburgh, the city council, Destination Edinburgh Marketing Alliance (DEMA), and the owners of the two properties, Stockland.

Among the other quotations on display is one from literary great Oscar Wilde which states: "It (Edinburgh) is quite lovely – bits of it". There is also a quote from author Irvine Welsh's book Trainspotting – "But when ye come back oot ay Waverley Station eftir being away fir a bit, ye think: Hi, this isnae bad".

City council leader, Jenny Dawe, said: "I am delighted to support such a creative use of public space in the city. Edinburgh has strong literary connections and I'm sure residents and visitors will enjoy the quotations on display."

The poetry will be displayed in the windows until at least early next year.