Sandra White MSP for the Glasgow Region has today written to Glasgow's new Leader asking him to consider the proposal of a lasting memory of Glasgow's first Poet Laurate and Scotland's own Makar, the late Edwin Morgan, who passed away on the 19 August 2010, aged 90.

Morgan who was considered to be one of Scotland's greatest poets studied and lectured for a large part of his life at Glasgow University and many of his works reflected his experiences of and thoughts upon Glasgow at the time.

Born in Glasgow in 1920 he attended Glasgow High School before going on to study English at Glasgow University, and despite his studies being interrupted by the Second World War, when he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps he returned to Glasgow after the War and graduated in 1947, before becoming a lecturer at the University from 1947-1980. Morgan will be remembered, amongst of course his great works, for the enthusiasm and energy he brought to his teaching and the generations he inspired to follow in his footsteps.

Commenting Sandra White said: "Edwin Morgan was a great man, a man whose poetry will always be with us and a man that Glasgow should honour.

"I can think of no better way or place to give Glasgow a lasting legacy of one of its great sons than by creating a monument to the man in Glasgow's iconic West End, where Morgan worked and studied to pay homage to his works and to inspire a new generation to read his works."

Notes:

A copy of the letter to Glasgow City Council Leader is attached.

Sandra White's parliamentary motion:

S3M-06860 Sandra White (Glasgow) (Scottish National Party): Glasgow's First Poet Laureate and Scotland's Own Makar -
That the Parliament pays tribute to the life and works of Edwin Morgan, Glasgow's first Poet Laureate and Scotland's own Makar, who sadly passed away on 19 August 2010, aged 90, considers Morgan to have been one of Scotland's great poets and an inspirational force to all those who knew the man and his work; supports efforts to commemorate and ensure a lasting legacy for one of Scotland's greatest in Glasgow's west end where Morgan studied and lectured for a large part of his life; remembers the hopes and aspirations expressed in Morgan's poem for the opening of the Scottish Parliament and hopes that, as Scotland's parliamentarians prepare to return to Holyrood, the following excerpt from his poem - "We give you this great building, don't let your work and hope be other than great when you enter and begin. So now begin. Open the doors and begin." - will ring true.