Highlands and Islands list MSP Jean Urquhart is to chair one of the events taking place this August under the “Festival of Politics” banner.
Ms Urquhart, an SNP MSP who stays in Ullapool, will chair the “What Place for Poetry in Politics?” discussion on Saturday 25 August at the Scottish Parliament, which will examine political poetry and its relevance today. Poets Aonghas MacNeacail, Janet Paisley and George Gunn will help assess how political songs and poems have effected change worldwide, and whether its impact is as strong today as it has been in the past.
Ms Urquhart, a member of the Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee and a lifetime patron of the arts, commented:
“This year’s Festival of Politics, which will explore the links between politics, culture and creativity under its ‘Force for Positive Change’ banner, will hold great personal and professional interest for me.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to chair this discussion on how culture can inform our politics, which is just one of many thought-provoking debates taking place in August.
“From Hugh MacDiarmid to Edwin Morgan, Scottish poets have more than held their own at the crossroads between politics and culture, and have shaped our national debates over the generations.
“I hope that as many people as possible take the opportunity to attend one or more of these events over the two weekends in August, and that they will inform our current national debate over what path Scotland should take.”
Jean Urquhart 