Letter: Makar welcomed

Scotland should rejoice in its new Makar (your report, 20 January). I have known Liz Lochhead for more years than either of us might wish to count - since the days when Philip Hobsbaum brought a bunch of (then) obscure writers, including Liz, Alasdair Gray, James Kelman and Tom Leonard, among others, together in his Glasgow Group.

The young art school graduate was already producing poems marked by their creative energy, clarity and maturity.

Over the years, I have admired the warmth, poise and humour with which Liz has shared these poems with a wide range of audiences.

I have also witnessed her skill in workshopping creative writing with both adults and schoolchildren in a manner that demystified the process without obfuscation or condescension.

It is beyond doubt that her abilities, as poet and dramatist, educator and above all as a brilliant communicator make Liz the ideal choice for her new role.

Congratulations and all best wishes to Liz, and a hearty commendation to the Scottish Government for making this appointment. Let us now be assured that she is guaranteed the resources that will enable her to realise her ambitions for the post, and for living literature in Scotland.

Aonghas MacNeacail

Carlops

Peeblesshire

I was interested to read that the Scottish Parliament had created an award, "The First Scots Makar", an accolade which had been bestowed on the late Edwin Morgan and now Liz Lochhead (Perspective, 20 January).

As a former editor of the Lallans magazine, I had assumed that the word "Makar" applied to William Dunbar (1460-1520) and the other medieval makars who wrote exclusively in Scots, before the language had been undermined for political purposes.

More recently, this word has also been applied to the Scottish Renaissance poets inspired by the work of Hugh MacDiarmid in the 1920s.

By definition in the Scottish National Dictionary, the word "makar" is certainly not appropriate for contemporary writers unfamiliar with Scots who have written exclusively in English.

(Dr) David Purves

Strathalmond Road

Edinburgh