edwin morgan
a home in space: selected concrete, visual and sound poetry
edwin morgan
edited by greg thomas and julie johnstone
New in 2026 from Reaktion Books.
This exciting new selection reveals Edwin Morgan’s groundbreaking multimedia poetics beyond his celebrated lyric voice.
Edwin Morgan is best remembered as Scotland’s foremost national poet, a bold, lyric voice who shaped conversations around queerness, politics and post-war life. But Morgan was also a restless experimenter working far beyond traditional verse. This book brings together, for the first time, the full range of his visual and sound poetry – from vibrant poster poems and surrealist collages to concrete poetry, cut-ups and sonic permutations. It reveals Morgan as a major figure in twentieth-century multimedia art, linking language, image and sound in surprising and timely ways. Attuned to questions of identity, ecology and empire, Morgan’s work remains as urgent and inventive as ever – a celebration of poetic form at its most expansive and alive.
The book can be purchased from all the normal places, and also via the publisher Reaktion Books.
ISBN 781836391968, 336 pages, 187 illustrations, hardback £25
launch events summer/autumn 2026
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Tuesday 18 August 18.45
This lively showcase, hosted by Ryan Van Winkle, features some of the best of Scotland’s contemporary poetry scene. Discover the talented young poets shortlisted for 2026’s Edwin Morgan Poetry Award as they perform their work right before the big reveal of this year’s prize-winner. Plus – celebrate the launch of the new, edited collection of Edwin Morgan’s groundbreaking multimedia poetry, A Home in Space, with editors Greg Thomas and Julie Johnstone.
Tickets at various prices on the EIBF website
Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
Thursday 17 September 2026 18.00-20.00
An evening to discover and celebrate the incredible body of visual and sound poetry by Edwin Morgan. With editors Greg Thomas and Julie Johnstone, poets Anjeli Caderamanpulle and Colin Herd, and Morgan’s biographer and friend, James McGonigal.
Free but ticketed – book and find out more on the Eventbrite page
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
Thursday 24 September 2026 18.30-20.00
Discover Edwin Morgan’s groundbreaking multimedia poetics beyond his celebrated lyric voice, with editors Greg Thomas and Julie Johnstone, poets Iona Lee and Dan Power, and Morgan’s publisher, bibliographer and friend, Hamish Whyte.
Free but ticketed – book and find out more on the Fruitmarket Gallery page
National Gallery of Scotland, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh
Tuesday 6 October 2026 12.45-13.30
Former Scottish Makar Edwin Morgan (1920–2010) is best remembered as a lyric poet of extraordinary breadth and verve, engaging with themes of Scottishness, urban life, and queer identity. Yet his experiments in dadaist visual and sonic poetics, his concrete ‘poem-objects’ and surrealist collages, were equally vital to his persona. Poet and critic Greg Thomas discusses Morgan’s second life as an avant-garde innovator. Part of the Festival of Art History.
Free but ticketed – book and find out more on the NGS page
There is also a live stream of this lecture – book a place on the same page.
sample pages
edwin morgan centenary publications
Essence Press is publishing two new publications as part of the Edwin Morgan centenary celebrations: a poster print of 101 words for Edwin Morgan, and a facsimile reprint of nine one word poems by Edwin Morgan.
nine one word poems by edwin morgan
Essence Press is delighted to publish this near facsimile of a booklet first published in 1982 by Hamish Whyte’s Mariscat Press. That version was an edition of 3, and was handmade, stapled, and typed on an Imperial 200 portable manual typewriter by Hamish Whyte. It published the nine one word poems that were originally published by Ian Hamilton Finlay in Poor. Old. Tired. Horse. no. 25 in 1967. This new facsimile version is slightly updated, it is handbound with red linen thread, and printed using an inkjet printer, typeset in Courier. The booklet contains nine delightful poems written according to Ian Hamilton Finlay’s ‘one word poem’ stipulation: the poem must be a single word, but the title can be any number of words.
small booklet | h120mmxw90mm; 12pp | printed inkjet; cover Bockingford watercolour 300gsm; inner pages 100gsm | handbound with red linen thread | contains 9 poems | typeset in Courier | edition of 101 | 2021
£5 (including p&p UK) purchase
£7 EUROPE purchase
£10 Worldwide purchase
(please note: if you would like to purchase this item together with the 101 words for Edwin Morgan poster, use the payment link below for a discount of £1)
the original publications
101 words for edwin morgan
a centenary poster of 101 one word poems
101 poets, artists, publishers, editors and researchers were invited to send a word or a one word poem for Edwin Morgan on the occasion of his centenary. This poster is published on what would have been his 101st birthday, 27 April 2021.
The contributors were given the following instructions: Each “word” must be a straight horizontal line, fifteen characters maximum in length (no minimum length), and must not include any spaces. Each letter and punctuation mark counts as a character (think of it as having fifteen presses of a typewriter’s keys to work with, except for the return key and space bar). The poster design is based on an initial arrangement of words by character count, with each group of words then arranged in alphabetical order.
edited & designed by Greg Thomas & Julie Johnstone | published by Essence Press 2021
with grateful thanks to the Edwin Morgan Trust for assistance with the distribution costs of sending a copy to each of the 101 contributors
CONTRIBUTORS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER: Juana Adcock | Dorothy Alexander | Luke Allan | Janette Ayachi | Stephen Bann | Derek Beaulieu | Henry Bell | Charles Bernstein | Lucy Burnett | Ron Butlin | Kimberly Campanello | Vahni Capildeo | Jim Carruth | Paula Claire | William Cobbing | Ken Cockburn | Stewart Conn | Anne-Laure Coxam | Robert Crawford | Christine De Luca| Shehzar Doja | Bronac Ferran | Natalie Ferris | Peter Finch | Alec Finlay | SJ Fowler | Callie Gardner | Harry Josephine Giles | Valerie Gillies | John Glenday | Jane Goldman | Ross Hair | WN Herbert | Colin Herd | Kate Lewis Hood | Julie Johnstone | Russell Jones | Jackie Kay | Lisa Kelly | Sean Wai Keung | David Kinloch | Rebecca Kosick | Daisy LaFarge | Liliane Lijn | Liz Lochhead | Gerry Loose | Marjorie Lotfi | Chris McCabe | Steve McCaffery | Peter McCarey | Saskia McCracken | James McGonigal | Peter Mackay | Jane McKie | Aonghas MacNeacail | Peter Manson | Robyn Marsack | Lila Matsumoto | Hansjörg Mayer | Nicky Melville | Drew Milne | Iain Morrison | Theresa Muñoz | Camilla Nelson | Donny O’Rourke | Maggie O’Sullivan | Astra Papachristodoulou | Alistair Peebles | Nancy Perloff | Alycia Pirmohamed | Tom Pow | Richard Price | Nat Raha | Pam Rehm | Alan Riach | James Robertson | Calum Rodger | Stewart Sanderson | Aram Saroyan | Michael Schmidt | Stewart Smith | Nicola Simpson | Richard Skelton | Maria Sledmere | Alan Spence | Susan Stewart | Courtney Stoddart | Alice Tarbuck | Greg Thomas | Amy Todman | Samuel Tongue | Kate Tough | Barrie Tullett | Katie Veitch | Cecilia Vicuña | Nathan Walker | Roseanne Watt | Matthew Welton | JL Williams | Christie Williamson | Hamish Whyte
A list of the words matched with their authors will be posted here in due course. A full list of contributors and their contributed words can be found on the back of the poster.
A3 poster | printed both sides; front in colour, back in B&W | with a full list and key of the contributors and their contributed poem words on back | printed litho | GalerieArt matt 170gsm | edition of 500 | 2021
Supplied rolled in a rectangular poster box.
All prices below include postage and packing.
UK
UK one poster £10 purchase
UK one poster plus one copy of the nine one word poems booklet (see above, £1 discount) £14 purchase
UK two posters £15 purchase
EUROPE
Europe poster £15 purchase
Europe one poster plus one copy of the nine one word poems booklet (see above, £1 discount) £19 purchase
Europe two posters £20 purchase
WORLDWIDE
Worldwide poster £25 purchase
Worldwide one poster plus one copy of the nine one word poems booklet (see above, £1 discount) £29 purchase
Worldwide two posters £30 purchase
If you would like to order more than two copies or in a different combination, please email essencepress@btinternet.com direct to arrange payment.
