Lyrical twist on Capital's literacy drive

THEY'VE already handed out thousands of free books and emblazoned buildings with lines of poetry.

Now the city's cultural leaders are getting lyrical for their latest campaign, focusing on words combined with music.

The Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature Trust has joined up with Glasgow City of Music for next year's campaign to get people reading. They will be exploring the richness of song lyrics throughout the ages.

It follows the success of this year's Carry a Poem campaign.

Best-selling author Ian Rankin, a City of Literature trustee, said: "The first things I remember writing were song lyrics, back when I was 11 or 12. Song lyrics helped get me interested in stories."

This year's campaign has seen more than 1,500 people attend 32 events. On Sunday, 28 February, they raised 12,000 at Poets for Haiti, Scotland's largest ever poetry event, at the Queens Hall.

Culture minister Fiona Hyslop said: "The Poets for Haiti was a remarkable event, but our task is to make poetry and literature a normal part of everyone's lives."