This image is the cover for the book Handsel

Handsel

Liz Lochhead is one of the leading poets writing in Britain today. Her debut collection, Memo for Spring (1972), was a landmark publication. Writing at a time when the landscape of Scottish poetry was male dominated, hers was a fresh, new voice, tackling subjects that resonated with readers – as it still does. Her poetry paved the way, and inspired, countless new voices including Ali Smith, Kathleen Jamie, Jackie Kay and Carol Ann Duffy. Still writing and performing today, more than fifty years on from her first book of poetry, Liz Lochhead has been awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and was Scotland's second modern Makar, succeeding Edwin Morgan.

Liz Lochhead

Liz Lochhead is the Scottish Makar (Poet Laureate) and is regarded as one of Scotland's best andmost popular poets and dramatists. Her poetry is characterised by a self-conscious effort to mimic the idioms of speech, adopting a range of spoken styles that include the lyrical use of cliche, rap, colloquialism and even advertising language in an effort to raise the profile of the marginalised voices of both Scots and women. Her most famous poetry collections include "Dreaming Frankenstein and Collected Poems" (1984), "True Confessions and New Cliches" (1985) and"Bagpipe Muzak" (1991). She became Makar in 2011 after the death of Edwin Morgan."

Polygon