The Stirling Makar
Introduction from Laura Fyfe
I'm Laura Fyfe, Stirling Makar.
A Makar is the Scottish version of a Poet Laureate. What a Makar does is make things – poetry, specifically.
The reason we've asked you to take this survey is that I am coming towards the end of my period as Makar, and I’d love to hear from you about how you feel we (Libraries and myself) have done to engage people with poetry over the last three years.
We’d also like to hear what you’d like more (or less) of in the future.
All questions and suggested answers are just bouncing-off points. Feel free to let us know anything else in the comment boxes.
All feedback is welcome and may inform what the next Makar does for Stirling’s communities in the next few years.
The new Makar will be appointed in the autumn, and I'll be staying in place to work with them as a mentor until the end of the year.
Lapsed parachutist Laura Fyfe suffers from a chronic low boredom threshold. She teaches out of compulsion, writes stories for fun, novels for the challenge, and poems because she can’t not. She supports other writers by mentoring, editing and by facilitating writing workshops and communities across Scotland and online. Her work has been published in Butcher’s Dog, Postbox and Northwords Now and was shortlisted for the 2022 Bridport Prize. Her pamphlet The Truth Lies is available from Red Squirrel Press. Laura’s non-fiction books Wellspring and Magpie Mind help writers and artists defeat procrastination and live more creative lives. She lives in river deep, mountain high Stirlingshire, and is the Stirling Makar.
Credit: Claire Macfarlane, Zenspirations Photography
Phases
What next?
Thank you to everyone who took part in this consultation. Your feedback has been invaluable in helping us to understand what you like, don't like, and want more or less of from a Makar. These responses will be taken into consideration in decisions about the future of the Makar role.
What we found
The current Stirling Makar, Laura Fyfe, is coming to the end of her Makarship. This consultation was undertaken to understand the impact she has had on those who she has engaged, and to identify areas for continuation or improvement for the incoming Makar.
A total of 221 responses were received. Responses represented a range of sex, age, disability status, and residential area.
Of the 221 respondents, 77 stated that they do not engage with poetry. 71 of those who identified the ways they engage with poetry selected multiple forms of engagement. One hundred and eighteen respondents (53%) indicated that they had not engaged in any of the events that Laura had conducted in the past three years, with a further 42 (19%) providing no answer to the question. Of those who had engaged, the top three most useful formats selected were: performances and readings (n=18), writing workshops and feedback groups (n=17), and Forth Fridays (n=17). The least-selected options were representing Stirling (n=2) and online events (n=5).
Of those who accessed poetry, most did so through books (n=105) or the internet (n=79), with 57 participants stating that they accessed poetry through live events. Eighty-two of the respondents (37%) used more than one method of engaging with poetry.
When asked what further work they would like to see, 81 respondents (37%) indicated that they would like more performance events; 62 (28%) said that they would like information or news about opportunities to be involved; and 52 (24%) wanted to see recommendations for poets and poems. The remaining options (inspiration for writing poetry, poetry sharing groups, writing feedback groups/workshops, and places to send poetry for publication) were each selected between 40 and 47 times.
Comments received spoke about Laura’s personal qualities as key reasons for their positive experiences, and several comments considered Laura to have been a dedicated supporter of local writers and of the city.
A common theme among those who had not engaged with the Makar over the last three years was a lack of awareness, and many respondents questioned whether the service was advertised, especially in rural areas. Some of the barriers identified include ability to access the locations of events, and the timing of events.
Suggestions for further work included more extensive publicity; ensuring geographic spread of Makar events; working more closely with children and young people, as well as with libraries; and working more frequently in collaboration with other local events, spaces, and arts.
A small number of respondents (n=13, 6%) expressed concern that the role of Makar was diverting funds and resources from other local services and requirements.
Next steps The responses to this consultation will be reported to library services, senior leaders, and relevant members of the recruitment panel ahead of the appointment of the next Makar. Suggestions and feedback will be shared with the incoming Makar to ensure that the service is informed by community experience and hopes.
Click the link below to read the full report on what we found from the survey.