Edinburgh Poetry Tours

19/04/2025

Yellow roses-cum-fishing boats by Ian Hamilton Finlay at the

Haven't been in for a while – nice to see them again especially at this time of year.

03/04/2025

This summer's walks will be mainly in August, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

I've titled them Embro, a word for Edinburgh used by among others Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Garrioch.

Tuesdays, Friday and Sundays, 1-24 August, 11.00, leaving from outside the Scottish Poetry Library

Tickets on sale now via the Fringe website

First time I've done walks as part of the Fringe since 2019. Good to be back!

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/embro

Join Edinburgh poet Ken Cockburn on this walk through the literary sights of the Royal Mile. Ideal for those who like strolling the city to see its historic closes and green spaces, and hearing about its great writers. If you're new to Edinburgh you'll see some of the main sights and if you know the...

24/03/2025

"the unbound fasces / of the parliament"

20/03/2025

Pleased to be leading a poetry walk for the Geopoetics Scottish Centre on Saturday 5th April as part of Geopoetics Day: Celebrate 30 Years of Geopoetics in Scotland!

The walk in the morning (10.15-12/15) – starting from the Scottish Poetry Library – is followed by the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics Annual General Meeting (13.45) then an hour later the Tony McManus Lecture is given by Monika Kocot, University of Lodz, Poland, on Adventures in Mind and Landscape: Gary Snyder and Kenneth White.

Full details on Eventbrite.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/geopoetics-day-celebrate-30-years-of-geopoetics-in-scotland-tickets-1277798603019

Let's celebrate 30 years since the founding of the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics with a day of poetry walking, learning and discussion!

15/03/2025

Some views of the strange and singular Scotsman Steps, marbled by Martin Creed in 2011. Commissioned by

10/03/2025

Bronze fruitbaskets and accompanying 'definitions' by Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) at Hunter Square just of Edinburgh's High Street.

The page giving all four definitions is from Brilliant Cacaphony (1998) which I co-edited with

An exhibition of Finlay's work has just opened at Modern Two.

08/03/2025

Carvings in the courtyard at the Museum of Edinburgh on the Canongate

03/03/2025

The old Royal High School on the side of Calton Hill, lit by sunshine and shadowed by cloud.

"The auld High Schule, whaur monie a skelp
of triple-tonguit tawse
has gien a hyst-up and a help
towards Doctorates of Laws…"

Robert Garioch (1909-1981), from 'Embro to the Ploy'

23/10/2024

I’ve been posting regularly on instagram this year, with a different theme each month. The first three months are covered by this post; the themes since then have been Paris and Edinburgh… the Hebrides and Gael Turnbull… postcard portraits… then London and poem postcards. Still two months to come… kencockburnedinburgh

I’ve been posting regularly on instagram this year, with a different theme each month. The first three months are covered by this post; the themes since then have been Paris and Edinburgh… the Hebr…

08/10/2024

I’m leading two more Edinburgh poetry walks this weekend – Friday 11th at 2.30pm, Saturday 12th at 11.00am – last of the year! Details and booking via Eventbrite.

Let's take a stroll through the historic streets of Edinburgh's Old Town and soak in the beauty of poetry together this autumn!

10/09/2024

Next poetry walks coming up this weekend – Friday 13th at 2.30pm, Saturday 14th at 11..00. Starting outside St Giles, finishing down by the parliament (pictured). Details on Eventbrite.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/887662060117

13/08/2024

As the upper part of the Royal Mile is so busy during the Festival, this month's walks start outside the Canongate Kirk by the Robert Fergusson statue. He missed last year's Festival – a leg needed mending – but he's back in place this year and still striding purposefully, book in hand.

07/08/2024

Next poetry walks later this month on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August – Friday afternoon at 2.30pm, and Saturday morning at 11.00. This month we'll start by the Robert Fergusson statue outside the Canongate Kirk. Full details and bookings on Eventbrite. And the weather looks pretty good for both days at the moment!

Let's take a stroll through the historic streets of Edinburgh's Old Town and soak in the beauty of poetry together this summer!

19/07/2024

Walks today (Friday) at 2.30pm and tomorrow (Saturday) at 11.00am. You can book via Eventbrite, or come along and pay cash. Meet at Parliament Square, outside the main entrance of St Giles. Weather forecast is good!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/come-down-the-mile-poetry-walks-in-edinburghs-old-town-junejuly-2024-tickets-887648870667?aff=odcleoeventsincollection&keep_tld=1

Send a message to learn more

07/06/2024

I’m running more poetry walks in Edinburgh over the next few months, from 21 June to 12 October. The June, July, September and October walks start outside St Giles Cathedral; the August walks by the Robert Fergusson statue outside the Canongate Kirk. Full details here. Column 1: St Anthony's Chapel, Holyrood Park; The Scottish parliament building (staves and shadows); the old Royal High School, Calton Hill…...

I’m running more poetry walks in Edinburgh over the next few months, from 21 June to 12 October. The June, July, September and October walks start outside St Giles Cathedral; the August walks by th…

29/05/2024

Memorials to forgotten writers and their unread works.

Mary Balfour (1778-1818), author (or authoress, if you prefer) of Self Control, a novel, first published in 1811; the version available on Google Books dates from 1849, which gives some measure of its popularity. Her stone is in the Canongate Kirkyard.

Franz Hedrich (1823-1895), whose best known work claimed he was true author of a series of popular novels published by his friend and compatriot Alfred Meissner (1822-1885) in the 1850s and 1860s; they were reprinted in the early 1870s, but not again since. (I've just about finished writing a novel about Hedrich, which delves into why he made such an outrageous claim, and why he's buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.)

Thomas Reid (1746-1831) wrote a Treatise on Clock and Watch Making (1826) which ran to six editions. His stone is in the Old Calton Burial Ground.

William Knox (1889-1825), who I've posted about before, wrote the poem 'Mortality', a favourite of Abraham Lincoln. Walter Scott praised his work, and an edition of his Collected Poems appeared in London in 1847. His memorial is in the New Calton Burial Ground.