Rhyme with a reason as poets line up to raise money for Haiti quake victims

Published on Monday 1 March 2010 00:51

THE cream of the country's poets took to the stage last night in a unique literary line-up to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

Britain's Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy led the one-off gathering of 19 award-winning Scottish and UK poets in Edinburgh's Queens Hall.

More than 800 poetry-lovers flocked to the sell-out event to hear the likes of Alasdair Gray, Douglas Dunn, Liz Lochhead, Ron Butlin, Gillian Clarke and Duffy read their work.

The evening was a finale to the Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature "Carry A Poem" campaign, which highlights the power of poetry in people's lives.

All money raised will go to Mercy Corps, for the Haiti Earthquake Emergency Appeal.

The event, which was the brainchild of Duffy and Don Paterson, started on a musical note, with the traditional Scottish song The Dark Island.

The evening was compered by Catherine Lockerbie, the former director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, who said it had been "probably the biggest ever poetry reading in Scotland".

Setting the fundraising tone, she added: "Words make a difference; money makes a difference."

Culture minister Fiona Hyslop praised Scotland for its donations to the Haiti disaster fund so far.

Pulling together the threads of poetry and natural disasters, Duffy said: "For me, poetry is the music of being human.

"Tonight, the poets of Scotland and a Celtic cousin or two from Wales and Newcastle, will individually and collectively utter the music of being human."

The first reading was given by Butlin, the Scottish capital's Makar, of his poem The Magicians of Edinburgh.

A special welcome was then given to National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke, who made the evening with minutes to spare after being stuck on a delayed train for ten hours.

Scottish writer Gray

treated the audience to a brief history of Britain, followed by a more sombre work, and sat down to rapturous applause.

Poet and playwright Lochhead raised a storm after delivering a poem based on her experiences of working in theatres, while Aonghas MacNeacail read a Gaelic poem about the children's character Rupert the Bear.

Robert Crawford, a poet and professor of modern Scottish literature at St Andrews University, explored the relationship between Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden, concluding they were "twinned by inescapable rhyme".

Other highlights included Jackie Kay, who provoked howls of laughter after treating guests to The Ma Broon Monologues.

The evening concluded with Dunn, whose romantic poetry was projected on to the rock beneath Edinburgh Castle for Valentine's Day last month. The words "Look to the living, love them, and hold on" – from his poem Disenchantments – appeared on the north face of Castle Rock.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave his full support in a letter to the event, describing Duffy as a "visionary humanitarian" who "has summoned together an amazing array of talent on one day in the service of one hope, a better future for the people of Haiti".

John Cunningham, director of fundraising for Mercy Corps, said: "It's been a terrifically generous response from the people of Edinburgh and the Poets for Haiti event has proved particularly successful in raising significant amounts of money for survivors of this disaster."