Introduction : feeling independent

It is widely acknowledged that the late twentieth century was a dynamic, productive and innovative period in Scottish history. A flourishing of creative and scholarly endeavour, along with a rejuvenated Scottish publishing industry, radically transformed the cultural landscape north of the border. So how does poetry find space among all this critical attention and expansive creativity? The effective revival of Scottish aspirations to self-government in the late twentieth century offers a compelling point of comparison with the agenda advanced by MacDiarmid and others in the 1920s. Given that the currents of contemporary Scottish poetry have inevitably been responsive to changes in the socio-economic and political environment over recent decades, the failed referendum in 1979, the rise of Thatcherism and the restoration of a Scottish parliament in 1999 cannot help but suggest useful reference points.