Fiona Hyslop hosts inaugural Poetry in Parliament event

Poetry in Parliament: A Voice for the Climate Emergency was co-hosted by Creative Carbon Scotland and Creative Scotland and featured work by four Scotland based poets – Kat hleen Jamie, the Scottish Makar; Canadian born Alycia Pirmohamed; North East based poet, Jo Gilbert and Shezar Doja, a Bangladeshi poet based in Glasgow whose family and fr iends are currently living with the devastating impacts of Climate Change now.

Fiona said: “I was very pleased to sponsor such an enjoyable, challenging and important event at the Scottish Parliament last Tuesday.

“Poetry has the power to change the way we see the world and because culture is, by definition, our way of life, it is who we are, where we are, and ultimately, where we want to be. There is no issue more important when thinking about the future, than climate change, and this is particularly relevant following the completion of COP27 just last week. Poetry can be more powerful than a speech.

“The arts generally create new ways of thinking, sharing and educating and it was very inspiring and moving to hear directly from these poets who had responded to the issue of our natural environment, many of whom were climate activists themselves.

“After quoting Bangladeshi Poet Shezar Doja in a Parliament Speech on Climate Change and the Global South earlier this year, I was pleased that he could share his experiences in Parliament through his poetry.

“I would like to add my thanks to all the poets who read their work and to Creative Scotland and Creative Carbon Scotland for making the event possible. This was the first such event in Parliament, and I hope it will be the first of many.”

Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland, said: “The arts and culture inspire, communicate, make visible the invisible, encourage new ways of thinking and almost uniquely enable collective thinking about knotty problems, and we need all of these to tackle climate change.”

Alan Bett, Head of Literature at Creative Scotland, added: “The poets’ words took centre stage to inspire and challenge their audience .”