Makar issues call for lines of poetry to be turned into World Cup verse to inspire team
The lines will be turned into a ‘collective poem’
Scots Makar Peter Mackay has issued a call for Scots to submit lines of poetry inspired by the World Cup which he plans to turn into a “collective poem”.
Contributions in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic can be sent via a bespoke page on the Scottish Poetry Library website.
Mr Mackay will then gather up all the lines, which can be two individual ones or a couplet, and create something encouraging, inspiring, “or just plain realistic”, to send the Tartan Army and the team on their way to Mexico, Canada and the USA.
Mr Mackay said: “It has been 28 years since our men’s national team last qualified for a World Cup, so Scotland’s qualification is a significant milestone in the history of our national sport. We invite the Scottish public to join the party by sending in poetic lines that hit the back of the net.”
In his capacity as Scotland’s national poet, Mr Mackay has already written his own poem , At the Impossible, for the World Cup, in both Gaelic and English.
The poem, which is dedicated to the Scotland men’s team, who will play their first match againts Haiti on 14 June, ends:
O we’ve been at the impossible but must now –
in Miami, Boston, anywhere, anyhow –
do it all over again. And then yes sir, we shall boogie,
absolutely, to whatever song we choose.
Appointed in December 2024, Mr Mackay succeeded Kathleen Jamie in the role, and is the first Makar to write primarily in Scottish Gaelic.
The deadline for submissions is midday on Thursday, 21 May.
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