Friday 2 October 2026
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Watt to edit poetry anthology

Roseanna Watt.

SHETLAND writer and rising star of the Scottish poetry scene Roseanne Watt has been selected as the guest editor of this year’s Best Scottish Poems online anthology.

The distinguished Scottish Poetry Library anthology brings together the year’s best poems written by a Scottish poet or poet based in Scotland. Past editors have included Jen Hadfield, Alan Spence and Janice Galloway.

Watt’s debut collection Moder Dy won the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award in 2018, and it was also nominated for the 2018 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year Award.

While feeling honoured to be judging the year’s best Scottish poetry, Watt – who now lives and works in Edinburgh – said she was very aware of the “daunting task” that lay ahead of her.

“The anthologies of previous years are testament to the quality and vitality of Scottish poetry; 2019 has certainly continued this trend,” she said.

“The winter months are for burying under, contemplation and staying warm; I can think of no finer way to achieve this than through reading the best of the year’s poetry.”

For the first time Best Scottish Poems will also have Gaelic and Scots editors. Niall O’Gallagher has been chosen to be Gaelic language editor while Derek Ross has been named as Scots editor.

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