The Trust is delighted to launch an artist grant scheme for #EdwinMorgan100, The Second Life (the title taken from Morgan’s breakthrough 1968 collection), supported by Creative Scotland, The Edwin Morgan Trust and the Saltire Society, providing funding for creative practitioners from a variety of art forms to respond to Morgan’s work, giving it a ‘second life’.
At the heart of this grant scheme is a desire to reach people from a range of creative backgrounds and diverse working lives who may not otherwise be aware of Edwin Morgan’s work or see its relevance to themselves or their communities. To encourage this engagement, the Trust created a cultural advisory panel, who drew from their own communities, lived experiences and geographical locations to nominate 7 recipients who received a £1,500 grant each. This panel included Hannah Lavery (Scottish Poetry Library, poet and playwright), Iain Morrison (poet, Fruitmarket Gallery), Robert Softley Gale and Mairi Taylor (Birds of Paradise Theatre), Eoin Dara (DCA), and Seona McClintock (Producer, Gaelic and Traditional Arts Eden Court). An additional 12 grants of £750 were given out in response to an open call, reviewed by the cultural advisory panel and administered by the Trust.
The Second Life grants were awarded in June and August 2020, with recipients benefiting from months of intensive research and development, facilitated by the Edwin Morgan Trust, Carcanet Press, University of Glasgow Archives and Special Collections, The Mitchell Library and many friends, peers and poets. In November we released a video titled A View Of Things, featuring the stage one The Second Life recipients sharing their experience and process, edited by Glasgow artist Tako Taal.
In February – April 2021 the outcomes of The Second Life grants will be released virtually. You can see an overview of the proposed projects here and watch as the outcomes are released on our website here.