Tag: Push The Boat Out

First Awards from Scottish Government’s Expanded Festivals Fund announced

The first recipients of the Scottish Government’s new Expanded Festivals Fund have been announced today, marking a major step in widening support for Scotland’s festivals, and strengthening opportunities for artists and audiences across the country. 

Creative Scotland has awarded £1,994,000 of funding to 28 festivals in the first tranche of support for the new Expanded Festivals Fund. 

Designed to enable innovation in programming and showcase Scottish and Scotland-based artists and practitioners, it supports festivals in expanding their international and domestic reach and profile and creating opportunities for skills or sector development. 

This initial round spans a wide range of artforms and locations, extending activity far beyond Edinburgh and Glasgow to communities from Orkney to the Borders, Argyll to Aberdeen, and Dumfries & Galloway to Highlands, reflecting the breadth and ambition of Scotland’s festival sector and the transformative potential of this new investment.  

Supported projects represent significant investment into opportunities for artists and creative professionals which will broaden cultural offerings for audiences, including new and innovative festival programming, international collaborations, touring opportunities and talent development programmes. 

Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “Scotland has a wealth of outstanding festivals across the country which lie at the heart of our culture sector and national life.

“Our festivals’ ambitions and creativity provide focal points for activity and an invaluable platform for artists and performers to showcase their work. They also provide hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy and support a pipeline of jobs and businesses.   

“The Expanded Festivals Fund forms part of the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to provide an additional £100 million more annually for culture funding by 2028-29. I am heartened to see this fund support incredible projects across Scotland which will increase participation in creative pursuits and ensure festivals can commission and collaborate on new and exciting works.” 

Paul Burns, Interim Director of Arts and Engagement at Creative Scotland said: “Scotland’s festivals are a vibrant celebration of our creativity and culture, recognised and enjoyed by local communities and people from around the world.  

“The Expanded Festivals Fund is a new opportunity to profile incredible creative work in every corner of the country and support other areas vital to our festivals’ ongoing success.

“The supported projects reflect the full range of our festivals’ work – including sector and talent development, international collaboration, and the development of new projects with specific groups and communities in their areas.” 

The list of awards up to £100,000, for programmes of activity taking place between 1 May 2026 and 30 April 2028, can be found on the Creative Scotland website (see below). 

In Edinburgh, there’s funding for the HIDDEN DOOR (£57,000) and PUSH THE BOAT OUT (£71,000) festivals.

Recipients of awards of up to £200,000 will be published in May 2026.

expanded-festivals-fund-march-2026Download

Push the Boat Out Poetry festival returns with a full programme

PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED ON NATIONAL POETRY DAY

Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival, Push the Boat Out (PTBO), returns to Edinburgh this November (20–23, 2025) holding court in a new venue at the Pleasance, Edinburgh with a packed cross-art form programme promising to provoke, entertain and inspire.

The full programme is announced today Thursday 2 October, to mark National Poetry Day.  

PTBO’s 2025 programme will bring together over 120 artists for a weekend of poetry, performance, music, and art. Setting sail on three thematic streams – Poetry is Punk reminds audiences that poetry can be raw, rebellious and DIY, the Anthropocene reflects on the human impact on our planet and species whilst The Unseen World dives deep into the mystical, esoteric, and spiritual—exploring belief and imagination beyond the everyday. 

For 2025, 63 events will showcase some of the most exciting voices from Scotland and around the world. Audiences can look forward to appearances by acclaimed poets and performers including Leena Norms, Luke Kennard, Anthony Anaxagorou, Marjorie Lotfi, Zinnie Harris, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Victoria Chang, Lorna Goodison, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Najwan Darwish, Noor Hindi, Roseanne Watt, Michael Mullen, and Scotland’s Makar, Peter MacKay, among many others.

This year’s festival launches in unforgettable style aboard Leith’s floating hotel, The Fingal, with a pre-festival event on 8 November featuring acclaimed poets Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen, who will read from their latest works: Virgin and Muckle Flugga. Celebrations continue as part of the main festival with highlights including:

  • New commissions of cross-disciplinary work from poets such as Iona Lee, Taylor Dyson, Craig Aitchison and Garry MacKenzie in association with the National Theatre of Scotland under the theme ‘Anthropocene: the Human-Altered World’.
  • Original 1980s ranting poet Tim Wells and punk slam champ Jay Mitra will get rebellious, raw and political in a night of anarchic energy with The Ranting Poets.
  • The four winners of the 2024 Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Poetry Award will premiere new collaborations co-conceived with musician Kathryn Williams, unearthing myths from the British Isles with themes of elegy, absence and joy.
  • What Now? – a new theatre collective will premiere bold new work responding to today’s geopolitical climate with new commissions from Hannah Lavery, Zinnie Harris, and William Letford. The event is supported by compelling spoken word from acclaimed poet Anthony Anaxagorou, and live music from Carla J. Easton.
  • Scots poet Len Pennie will discuss her fiercely honest new collection of poems that confront ideas of patriarchy, gender-based violence and societal injustice.
  • Two of Scotland’s standout spoken word poets, RJ Hunter and Gray Crosbie will share new work in a Scratch Night supported by an electrifying performance by Harry Josephine Giles and the Edinburgh Trans Choir.
  • Expect sublime soundscape from headliners Lord Of The Isles & Ellen Renton and Edinburgh-based poetic ensemble, Acolyte, with an alternative gig night of poetry, pedals and synths. 
  • Tinderbox Orchestra sees out the festival with a glorious finale of rappers, poets, heavy bass and drums – transforming preconceptions of what an orchestra and poetry can be.

Around town, it’s scents and sensibilities with bespoke fragrance events in partnerships with Lush Cosmetics that explore perfume, memory, and metaphor.

For the art lovers, one of Scotland’s most distinctive and internationally recognised poets, Ian Hamilton Finlay is celebrated with an exhibition that will run for the duration of the festival.

Emma Collins, Director of Push the Boat Out, said: ‘From high-energy poetry slams and late-night scratch performances, to thought-provoking panel discussions, immersive workshops, development days and genre-blurring collaborations, PTBO continues to push poetry far beyond the page. 

“We’re really looking forward to delivering this year’s programme at the Pleasance, one of Edinburgh’s most beloved festival venues and once again, the billing offers variety through its cross-art form experiences.

“The 2025 festival reaffirms its commitment to showcasing iconic poets, fresh voices, radical perspectives, and unexpected intersections between poetry and other art forms, including spoken word, music, and theatre.

“Whether you’re a lifelong poetry lover or a curious newcomer, there are multiple ways to engage with the poetic form via a true celebration of words on and off the page across the weekend.’

For 2025 PTBO continue their community engagement work with partners across the city, including SCOREScotland, Tinderbox Collective, Amnesty International UK, and Simon Community Scotland. For those unable to attend in person, the programme also sees a curated line-up of online workshops, discussions, five free live-streamed events and a full broadcast schedule in collaboration with EHFM radio. 

Alan Bett, Head of Literature & Publishing at Creative Scotland, said: “This is a creative programme that pushes the boundaries of poetry as an artform, working in the spaces where it meets music, visual art and performance.

“At its core is a diverse range of voices from across Scotland and beyond, showcasing poets at every stage of their creative journey including the likes of Gaelic language poet and National Makar, Peter MacKay, and the current Scots Language Scriever Taylor Dyson.

“Push the Boat Out brings this all into the heart of Edinburgh, inviting everyone – from curious newcomers to seasoned poetry lovers – to experience something unforgettable.”

Culture and Communities Convener Margaret Graham, said: “Edinburgh has long been recognised as a hub of culture and creativity, and festivals like this are testament to that legacy.

“With 63 events featuring fantastic voices from Scotland and beyond, Push The Boat Out adds to the city’s diverse and thriving festival scene that we are proud to host.

“I’m very much looking forward to a weekend that brings together poetry, performance, music, and art in such an exciting way.”

The full programme and line-up can be found at: www.pushtheboatout.org   For full programme and event listing PDF – please see here

Push the Boat Out 2025_Programme DIGITALDownload

Change of venue but Push The Boat Out programme announced

THE SHOW MUST GO ON FOR POETRY FESTIVAL

It’s here! After a slight pause, and some stormy seas, we are overjoyed to announce the @PTBOpoetry programme.

In response to an unexpected venue change, this year’s festival will set sail across

@DanceBase

@DovecotStudios

@ScotStoryCentre and Pleasance

https://pushtheboatout.org/programme/

Poetry on your Wavelength: Push the Boat Out launches 2023 programme on International Poetry Day

Push the Boat Out (PTBO), Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival, returns for its third year with a vibrant, exciting line-up featuring over 50 events and with over 80 performers, artists and speakers within the programme.

Tickets go on sale today, Thursday 5th October – International Poetry Day. 

Running over the weekend of 24-26 November in Summerhall, Edinburgh, the third Push the Boat Out programme, supported by Creative Scotland, continues and expands the festival’s mission to change our perceptions of what poetry can be. 

From poetry readings and discussions, to new commissions, singer-songwriter circles, music hybrid events, dance and hip hop, poetic cocktail-making classes, film screenings, beach walks, panels, workshops and development opportunities – this vibrant, multi-layered, polyphonic line-up is a true fiesta of the vernacular with something for everyone and anyone.

This year, we’re celebrating the poetry of songwriting. Join Hamish Hawk for a solo performance and an evening of lyrical enchantment with support from Iona Zajac. Hawk will also appear alongside Karine Polwart and Inua Ellams in a special Songwriting Circle event discussing what it means to create a song through poetry.

Continuing to wax lyrical, Bemz, Dave Hook and Queen of Harps will lift the lid on their songwriting process by sharing the backstory to their songs in a Song Exploder event, whilst multi-instrumentalist, Dizraeli will take an honest look at human creation and connection in their event, Animal Noises.  

We’re also finding the drama in poetry, with a series of new commissions in association with the National Theatre of Scotland. We’re taking inspiration from our home, Summerhall, as Ever Dundas and Harry Josephine Giles celebrate the building’s history with a darkly gothic night of poetry and original music composed by David Paul Jones that promises to be ‘cinema for the ears’. 

We’re interested in the politics of poetry, as Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCluskey posit that poetry is for the many, with Yvonne Reddick’s urgent climate poetry, Kim Moore’s feminist poetic, and the pulsing poem-stories of William Letford and Dawn Watson.

Our online programme includes international poetry stars Meena Kandasamy and Tishani Doshi, beamed into your home. We’re enjoying the sheer pleasure of poetry, as Cat Prince Michael Pedersen hangs out with his feline subjects in Maison de Moggy, Joelle Taylor and Kate Fox will help shake up a poetic cocktail or two, Sean Wai Keung leads us through a dumpling and poetry workshop, Inua Ellams throws open the doors with his audience-led Search Party show, and John Hegley runs an anarchic, joyous, hands-on creative session. 

Emma Collins, Director of Push the Boat Out, said: “In this third year, Push the Boat Out is definitely poetry placed firmly in a current tide. This year’s programme is a true showcasing of contemporary excellence. Modern, charged, alive, joyful and celebratory with events that are also vehicles for important and vital discussions. 

“We’ve brought together over eighty of the most exciting poets from Scotland, the UK and beyond and we’ve continued to expand our notion of what poetry is, with eclectic events that celebrate words and language in their many glorious forms and in conversation with other artistic disciplines. 

“Poetry is everywhere, it’s the lyrics in songs, our conversations and dialogues, the rhythm of spoken word, scripts and sonnets, proclamations and points of view, the stories we tell and the history around us. 

“That’s what Push the Boat Out is primarily about … words, how we use them, a celebration of them and what they mean to us. We’ve endeavoured to capture that in this year’s programming.

“We also strive to make Push the Boat Out as accessible for audiences as possible. BSL interpreted events are indicated within the programme and once again, in addition to our in person and online programme, we will have a programme of events free to listen to at home via our partners EHFM Radio as well as a selected live stream event that showcases newly commissioned work.

“We’ve been overjoyed by the response from the incredible artists and poets who’ve agreed to come on board the boat this year and cannot wait to bring them all together for audiences this November.”

Harriet MacMillan, Literature Officer at Creative Scotland, said: “In its third year, the Push the Boat Out programme is brighter and more dynamic than ever, capturing the many dimensions of Scotland’s rich poetry scene.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, this unique and varied international suite of events is testament to the vital role poetry plays in all of our lives.

“Their increasing range of collaborations and activities continues to show us how words can connect us with each other and ourselves – the power of poetry will be felt by all who take part in this brilliant celebration.”

Push-the-Boat-Out-2023_Brochure_ONLINE-PAGESDownload

Brand new poetry festival Push The Boat Out launches Poetry Mile

Push The Boat Out (PTBO) Scotland’s newest and most boundary-bending poetry festival, launches its online and hybrid offer today, October 1st in Edinburgh.

Taking place from the 15 – 17 October 2021 within the creative hub of Summerhall, Push The Boat Out will be the second poetry festival ever to be held in Scotland and has already been making waves for its mission to change perceptions of poetry.  

Named after the poem “At Eighty” by the first Scottish makar Edwin Morgan, PTBO is inspired by the vibrancy and range of contemporary poetry, hip hop and spoken word and creates an environment where all variations of this vital artform are encouraged to grow, evolve and even collide. 

The festival is directed by Jenny Niven (Former head of literature Creative Scotland and Acting Director Edinburgh International Book Festival), and was co founded by Jenny Niven and Kevin Williamson (Rebel Inc, Neu Reekie!).

The flagship project of the hybrid offer from PTBO is ‘A Poetry Mile’ an unique project which saw 23 leading poets commissioned to produce more than 70 brand new poems relating to locations within a square mile of Summerhall.

The poems have been built into an app which custom generates walking tours of some of Edinburgh’s most iconic locations, from the Scottish Parliament (where users hear spoken word poet Leyla Josephine’s devastating response to the Alex Salmond allegations) to the Sheep Heid Inn (where Michael Pederson recounts his time there as a skittle boy).

Users determine the type of experience they’d like to have, from ‘melancholy’ to ‘historical’ to ‘queer poetry’ and are served a bespoke audio map to follow.  Each poem is read by the poet themselves, creating hundreds of possible individual audio tours.

The project, supported by James and Morag Anderson, and the Futures Institute at Edinburgh University, offers an original, contemporary take on a modern, complex city and features poets such as Edwin Morgan prize winner Alycia Pirmohamed, spoken word icon Hollie McNish and three Edinburgh city makars, Christine de Luca, Alan Spence and recently anointed Hannah Lavery.

 Totally covid safe, the app can be enjoyed on foot, promoting the mental health benefits of walking, or from anywhere, online (an idea which appealed to the Futures Institute for students planning to come to Edinburgh).

The project is Push the Boat Out’s  innovative imagining of what a truly hybrid festival, born in covid times, might look like and proudly supported poets to create new work during difficult times.

Poetry rabble rouser Michael Pederson will host a bespoke Poetry Mile walk, lunch and game of skittles at Scotland’s oldest surviving public house, The Sheep Heid Inn, as part of the festival.

Michael Pederson says: ‘Edinburgh is a city buoyed by poetry – poetic sentiment is the cement that clasps together its ancient rock; is what marbles the sea haar, and propels the gelid the wind that pummels our bodies, spilling down a deep fissure for a quick getaway; it’s the butt of the joke brewing in its underbelly.

“Of course, the only real way to map this City is by poetry, by voices, by visitants, by denizens. Ordnance Survey is over, The Poetry Mile is here – tread careful & trust no-one (but us).’

Julia Sorensen, PTBO comms manager and poet laureate of St Albert, Edmonton, Canada said: ‘A Poetry Mile feels like a collection of secrets. It’s not that poems are things we should’ve kept to ourselves – it’s the opposite – it’s just that there’s been no space to tell them yet.

“A Poetry Miles gives poets a place to share personal and specifically-located stories through their work, and the poems help users discover – or re-discover – the city afresh.

Dr Patricia Erskine, Culture & Community Director, Edinburgh Futures Institute said: “Nothing conjures up a sense of place quite like a poem. The wonderful new poems in A Poetry Mile will evoke warm feelings, engage your senses, draw out hidden memories and create some new ones.

“At the Edinburgh Futures Institute, we challenge, create and make change happen. So it has been incredibly exciting to support Push The Boat Out as they created this extraordinary digital project. The poems and walks may chime with us or they may change how we think about the city, its buildings and its green spaces.

“Whether it’s your first time or you’ve walked the routes many times before, the poems are sure to inspire anyone who wants to walk A Poetry Mile in Edinburgh, in person or online.”

Today PTBO also announce our wider online offer, with a range of events streamed live, offered on catch up, or developed into podcasts which will be released immediately following the festival.

These include partner events with leading Scottish literary organisations Scottish BAME Writers Network, Gutter Magazine, Shoreline of Infinity and Stewed Rhubarb press. A one of kind bespoke sign language poetry workshop is offered by Chinese filmmaker and poet Yi Ru.

All online events are free.

Completing the festival’s accessibility offer is a series of free events, including Artists’ talks with Alec Findlay, Sean Wai Keung and Pip Thornton, and sessions showcasing the work developed in partnership with leading reading charity, Open Book Reading.

Jenny Niven, director of Push The Boat Out, said: “With the festival born during, and in some ways in response to, covid times, we’ve been thinking since the beginning about how to keep innovating and creating, and make vibrant contemporary poetry as accessible as we can in these unusual circumstances.

“We’re really pleased to be able to offer such a wide selection of our events available to anyone who can’t physically come to Summerhall – as well as our lovely Poetry Mile app which you can use from absolutely anywhere.

“Nonetheless we can’t wait to be.”

To access A POETRY MILE click here:

https://walks.pushtheboatout.org/

For the FULL PROGRAMME visit:

https://shows.pushtheboatout.org/

Push The Boat Out, Scotland’s second poetry festival, launches inaugural programme today

Push The Boat Out (PTBO) Scotland’s newest and most boundary-bending poetry festival, launches its inaugural programme today, Wednesday 8 September in Edinburgh.

Taking place from the 15 – 17 October 2021 within the creative hub of Summerhall, Push The Boat Out will be the second poetry festival ever to be held in Scotland and its aims to do what it says on the tin, by challenging perceptions of what poetry is and how it can be enjoyed.  

Named after the poem “At Eighty” by the first Glasgow poet laureate Edwin Morgan, PTBO is inspired by the vibrancy and range of contemporary poetry, hip hop and spoken word coming out of Scotland, the UK and indeed the world. The aim of the festival is to not only give poetry a new platform, but to create an environment where all variations of this vital artform are encouraged to grow, evolve and even collide. 

Taking place within the creative spaces of Summerhall in Edinburgh, the PTBO programme will seep into every nook and cranny of this established arts venue through multiple means, including film, imagery, song, music, dance, singing, debate and other forms of poetry performance.

Underpinning the festival are four key themes; social justice and representation; healing and recovery; climate crisis and ecopoetics; and virtual and other realities. 

Audiences can expect first-class performances from around 60 poets, emerging and established, including the newly appointed Scots Makar Kathleen Jamie.

Images: Alicia Pirmohamed and Roddy Woomble

Other key programme highlights include performances by Scottish hip hop legend Solareye /  Dave Hook of Stanley Odd, celebrated Caribbean poet Lorna Goodison, and the author the first-ever poetry collection to win The Guardian First Book Award, Andrew McMillan. Joining them on the many and varied Summerhall ‘stages’ are Roseanne Watt, Hannah Lavery, Nova Scotia the Truth, Harry Josephine Giles, Ray Antrobus, Clare Pollard, Caroline Bird, Salena Godden and many more.

Another key element to the PTBO programme is the Poetry Mile initiative which, through a dedicated web app, allows users to experience Edinburgh differently, filtered through the eyes and ears of some of the country’s finest poets.

Featuring over 50 specifically commissioned poems from over 25 poets, all locations featured are within a square mile of Summerhall. The app generates bespoke walking tours depending on the type of experience the user requests to have.

The brainchild of director Jenny Niven, former head of literature at Creative Scotland, and co-founder Kevin Williamson, writer, publisher and founder of the Edinburgh arts events collective Neu! Reekie!, PTBO is convinced of the need for poetry more now than ever before, particularly as we emerge from lengthy lockdowns and seek new ways to express ourselves.

Images: Founders Jenny Niven and Kevin Williamson

Jenny Niven, co-founder of Push The Boat Out, said: “We are so excited to be launching our inaugural Push The Boat Out programme after what has been a difficult year for everyone, not least those working within the arts.

“That said, poetry is all about using language in new ways, to express new experiences, so if ever there was a time to explore this vital and vibrant art form, it is now.

“We feel incredibly lucky to be hosting our inaugural festival in a city so full of talent, at a time when there is so much to say, and off the back of a summer festival season that saw performance take over more city spaces than ever before.

“With performers and artists spanning the full spectrum of this spectacular artform, from classical verse to hip hop, we can’t wait for audiences to come along and enjoy.”

Hot on the heels of a fringe festival that was soul food for a city starved of culture and live performances, Push The Boat Out founders and organisers hope to harness this sense of the city as a natural backdrop as the inaugural festival takes its first steps onto Scotland’s stage.

Push The Boat Out will go ahead in keeping with whatever Covid-19 regulations are in place on the 15 – 17 October in Scotland. Born out of a time of turbulence, the festival team, venue, founders and friends will continue to manage the festival in a safe and agile way.

For the full programme visit: https://shows.pushtheboatout.org/