I’m thrilled to receive a £1,200 award of funding from the Saltire Society towards my next poetic venture. Eight writers and artists from over 100 applicants were selected for ‘To See Oursels – Re-imagining Scotland’, celebrating 90 Years of the work of the Saltire Society. The projects will seek to spark conversation around the theme of memorialisation in Scotland, exploring how the stories we tell reveal who we are.
My project focuses on John Muir, who was born in my home town, Dunbar, and worked to protect areas of wilderness by helping to found the first National Parks in the USA. My commission seeks to bring Muir alongside, or “into conversation” with, red-listed species at risk of extinction.
Here’s an extract from the Saltire Society’s press release (29 June 2026):
Endlings are the last known individuals of a species, such as curlews. Through the form of poetry Liz will give voice to species on the edge of extinction, articulating their fragile beauty and vital importance in a fragmenting world. Nature is the bedrock of Scotland’s culture and identity, not least in the legacy of the naturalist John Muir. The poems will form part of a larger collection and contribute to the reinterpretation of Muir’s legacy at his museum in Dunbar.
Council member Gerry Carruthers said, ‘“Endlings” brings poetic urgency to the theme of species extinction, both witnessing particular types of bird under threat and engaging with John Muir’s important conservationist legacy.’
Liz MacWhirter said, ‘I’m thrilled to receive this generous funding and validation from the Saltire Society for my next poetic venture. These imagined pieces will not only memorialise John Muir but bear witness to the very precious, critically endangered creatures around us’.
To have a new creative project focus, with such validation, immediately after submitting my PhD is wonderful – especially on a subject that means so much to me. The idea for the project came to me while walking along the coast of Dunbar, steps away from John Muir’s birthplace. The decline in the incredible wildlife all around us is heartbreaking. I started to think about what John Muir would make of this, if he were alive today, and what difference it might make if we could hear his voice in these times.
The new venture builds on some themes I explored in the writing of my poetry pamphlet, Blue: a lament for the sea (Stewed Rhubarb 2025), while taking me into new creative-critical territory.
The project ends in December 2026, and will form part of a longer work.
Liz MacWhirter Novelist & Poet 