How Would You Spend A Million Pounds On Poetry?
Most people were astonished last week when the contents of Edwin Morgan’s will were released. Edwin Morgan was one of the great 20th Century poets, but few could have guessed he had amassed a fortune of over £2million! According to some reports, he was a master at dealing in the stock market.
His will has caused a political sensation in Scotland, as it granted nearly £1m to the Scottish National Party, a left of centre, pro-independence political force which has a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament. However, I’d rather not discuss that on this blog. There are other venues to talk about it elsewhere on the Internet for anyone interested.
Morgan has also granted around £1m to set up a system of awards to support young poets in Scotland, as well as giving money to a wide variety of charities and individuals. What I find astonishing, in this age of celebrity where Hollywood actors sink millions into 65-room mansions for themselves in exotic corners of the world, is that Morgan (who had terminal cancer) lived out his final years in a single room in a nursing home based in the west end of Glasgow. After his death (after he was no longer around to bask in any glory), his secret fortune is being shared out among causes that were the passion of his life.
It makes me think about priorities. It also makes me think about poetry. We all know that great poetry requires no more than a piece of paper and pen and someone to publish it for it to have its effect on the world. But all the same, a million pounds, spent well, should make a big difference to the development of young poets in Scotland.
I wonder – if you had a million pounds to spend on developing poetry in Britain (or in whichever country you live in), what would you do with it? This may be a fantasy, but this is your opportunity to dream dreams. Nothing good ever happened without an initial idea.
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Dear Mr Rob Macckenzie,
‘We all know that great poetry requires no more than a piece of paper and pen and someone to publish it for it to have its effect on the world.’
These are the most beautiful words I have ever heard about poetry.
A poet writes from a pure heart and a pure mind like that of a five-year old. Great poets are not in the limelight but retreating, great philosophers, clumsy in society, simple with a deep understanding of human nature, a respect for values, not a lover of money where to him/her ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever’. He communes with the Creator/God if he/she is a believer.
Three of my five favourite poets are Scottish (Burnside, Lumsden and Robertson) so I think it’s an exciting prospect that young poets from the same country are about to get this treatment.
I would set up a system where people could write poetry and, as long as the quality was there, earn money while they do it. No more waiting for royalties. Also a poetry library in Wales would be nice, we don’t have one yet.
Remember the days when rich noble patrons supported artists such as Mozart, Carravaggio, and that ilk? That’s what I would do if I had two million to spend on poetry, I’d sponsor young poets so that they could spend more time on poetry than on grafting for a living; I’d sponsor prizes for poetry competitions, the production of first collections, readings by young poets in schools – anything to demonstrate the importance of poetry as an art. I wish… I wish… I wish…
Not all poets are shy retiring socially naive pure philosophers – though I am sure there are some like that – Edwin Morgan apparently was worldly and practical / businesslike enough to use the ‘capitalist’ system to amass a fortune through stocks and shares and other ventures. Poetry (like other non-populist art) will always need to be sponsored, so my million would go to setting up a trust or foundation to allow poets-in-the-making of all ages to get high quality tuition and one-to-one mentoring free of charge. This will support established poets by enabling them as teachers, and the rest of us to access courses or assistance in maturing as poets.
Most of us, poets or not, make and spend (incrementally), over a million whatevers in our lifetimes. That makes us all millionaires, I guess.
I have huge respect for Edwin Morgan and it’s great to leave a large chunk of money to support poets (administered by whom, by the way?) but for F*k’s sake, why ‘young?’ Some of us come to poetry not young yet still with bills and financial obligations
Getting a decent set of listening and recitation rooms installed at the Poetry Library would be a good start. Though not being London-centric I’d like to see access to a complete digitised collection of recorded poetry online.
All of the recordings done for the Poetry Archive and sold for a ludicrous £12.99 in a woefully out of date format – through the poetry bookshop online – should be available to download. Heck! If you’ve a million squid behind you, you could do a Radiohead, people pay what they think it deserves; a true democracy of talent!
A million squid….. Wouldn’t go far really so I think the really deserving would be the Deaf Poets Society…..it doesnt even exist; I bet you didn’t even know there were any: they write in British Sign Language, there are no translations, and few recordings, the poetry libraries don’t know they exist, or maybe the Scottish library remembers I requested some work???
See Dorothy Miles’s work, if you can find it on the Web. I think Edwin Morgan would approve.
Batty B
Thanks for the comments so far. I’d like to spend some of that money, or perhaps all of it, in getting more poetry books into the public eye – good stuff published by the independent presses. This could be administered by a roatating committee made up of those from the independents with fair representation from a wide variety of presses. A million wouldn’t go too far for too long, but it might help a little for a while.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way? Come on: as i’ve pointed out already- we’re all millionaires!
How about a big poetry-party? Blow a million-big-ones on hiring a mansion for a weekend, inviting hoards of poets and then sitting back and admiring the result?
Hm. I think I’d set up a body that could do the following:
1. help fund exchange visits between poets in different countries, and even different bits of the UK – it’s such a localised enterprise, one of the few lines in which you can be famous in Hull and unknown in Halifax. Many writers and readers have no idea of the existence of poets beyond their own local scene (except the very famous ones, of course).
2. encourage the translation of poetry and its publishing in countries and languages it didn’t originate in
3. encourage and help fund school visits by poets, while at the same time keeping poetry off exam papers, which just turn it into a resented drag.
I would open up a chain of friendly poetry cafes with open mics all over the country, where you could drop in any time to read from the bookshelves, drink coffee and talk about and listen to poetry. Maybe even have ‘quiet’ sessions or writing afternoons? It would be a great way to encourage all members of society to explore poetry and not be frightened by it. One million squid probably not enough but how about using some of the many sad, closed-up business on the high streets as charity shops do? With poetry comps and paid events, monies could be raised to cover costs perhaps. A mere fantasy maybe but a satisfying one!
Sorry my name should read ‘Kathryn’!