Edinburgh Poetry Tours

Edinburgh Poetry Tours EPT offers walks on Edinburgh’s dramatic and historic Royal Mile, led by poet Ken Cockburn

Edinburgh is a UNESCO City of Literature, and has the only purpose-built poetry library in the world. Poetry has been its heartbeat for centuries – the ‘makars’ of the old Scottish kings, Robert Burns in the 18th century and Robert Louis Stevenson 100 years later, 20th century writers like Norman MacCaig and Muriel Spark, plus the many poets of the city today. Weaving through narrow closes into op

en squares and gardens, you’ll find out how Edinburgh has inspired writers over the centuries. Whether you love poetry, are interested in Scotland’s history and literature, or just want to discover some secrets of the Royal Mile, this tour is for you. Ken Cockburn is poet, translator and writing tutor based in Edinburgh. Formerly Fieldworker and Assistant Director at the Scottish Poetry Library (just off the Canongate, in Crichton’s Close), he has run poetry tours in Edinburgh’s Old Town since 2007, for organisations and projects including The Old Town Festival, Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh City of Literature, Artlink, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Scottish Storytelling Festival. He has also worked in many other sites across the city, presenting poetry in libraries, galleries, pubs and the Scottish Parliament. Tours are available for private bookings, and can be run for between 1 and 20 people.

tell us about last nightwell, we had a wee ferintosh and we lay on the quiraing. it was pure strontian!These words on th...
02/06/2026

tell us about last night
well, we had a wee ferintosh and we lay on the quiraing. it was pure strontian!

These words on the Canongate Wall are from Edwin Morgan's poem 'Canedolia: an off-concrete Scotch fantasia', from his collection The Second Life (1968). The poem is a series of questions (or prompts) and answers, with the answers using Scottish place-names in lieu of conventional nouns and adjectives, whose meaning relies on the reader's imagination.

(Ferintosh is an estate on the Black Isle; the Quiraing is a landform on Skye; Strontian, [pronounced Stron-TEE-an] is a village in Lochaber.)

Morgan's lines are carved on Clashach Sandstone from Elgin.

Fancy signage… fish, flower, fantasyOld Fishmarket Close, Panmure Close, Wardop's Court
30/05/2026

Fancy signage… fish, flower, fantasy

Old Fishmarket Close, Panmure Close, Wardop's Court

Uphill all the way… more Edinburgh closes, and their more or less worn steps, plus the showy and flat marble of the Scot...
25/05/2026

Uphill all the way… more Edinburgh closes, and their more or less worn steps, plus the showy and flat marble of the Scotsman Steps.

Carrubbers Close, Trunks Close, Barries Close, off Calton Road, Scotsman Steps.

More Edinburgh closemouths, this time looking inside out, as it were.Pirries Close, Carrubers Close, St John St, Fountai...
24/05/2026

More Edinburgh closemouths, this time looking inside out, as it were.

Pirries Close, Carrubers Close, St John St, Fountain Close, Old Tolbooth Wynd.

Leading to the light… a selection of Edinburgh closemouths & pends.Jacob's Ladder, Carubbers Close (top), Carrubers Clos...
21/05/2026

Leading to the light… a selection of Edinburgh closemouths & pends.
Jacob's Ladder, Carubbers Close (top), Carrubers Close (foot), Tweeddale Court, Fleshmarket Close, Fountain Close, Gladstone Court

Mayday signs & wonders at the Botanics – flowers1) Butcher's broom2) Green alkamet3) Bergenia4) Shooting star
06/05/2026

Mayday signs & wonders at the Botanics – flowers

1) Butcher's broom
2) Green alkamet
3) Bergenia
4) Shooting star

Mayday signs & wonders at the Botanics – trees1) Horned or devil maple2) Transcaucasian birch3) Hawthorn4) Bird cherry
04/05/2026

Mayday signs & wonders at the Botanics – trees

1) Horned or devil maple
2) Transcaucasian birch
3) Hawthorn
4) Bird cherry

Peak pink, and matching haiku.
29/04/2026

Peak pink, and matching haiku.

Poetry in unexpected places… last summer at Lyrik Kabinett München Das Gedicht ist ein Kosmos / Die Welt ein Wort(The po...
20/04/2026

Poetry in unexpected places… last summer at Lyrik Kabinett München

Das Gedicht ist ein Kosmos / Die Welt ein Wort
(The poem is a cosmos / the world a word)
Cees Nooteboom

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