Scottish Poetry Today: Hannah Lavery, Taylor Strickland & Aditya Narayan

Three award-winning poets and performers from across Scotland join us to discuss and read from their latest publications.

Poet and playwright Hannah Lavery's third collection Everything Everyday is a poetic journal of the year, while Taylor Stickland's latest books Dares Paradise and Dwell Time follow Dastram/Delirium, winner of the 2023 Saltire Award for Scottish Poetry Book of the Year.

Aditya Narayan will read from his debut pamphlet, following his 2025 Roundhouse Poetry Slam, Loud Poets Grand Slam and Scottish National Poetry Slam wins! They will be chaired by poet and PhD in Creative Writing candidate, Genevieve Carver.Hannah Lavery is an award-winning poet and playwright.

Her pamphlet, Finding Seaglass was published by Stewed Rhubarb and her poem, 'Scotland You're No Mine' was selected as one Scotland's Best Poems for 2019.

The Drift, her highly acclaimed autobiographical lyric play toured Scotland as part of the National Theatre of Scotland's Season 2019 and in 2020, she was selected by Owen Sheers' as one of his Ten Writers Asking Questions That Will Shape Our Future for the International Literature Showcase, a project from the National Writing Centre and the British Council.

Her second lyric play 'Lament for Sheku Bayoh' premiered at Edinburgh International Festival in 2021.

She was also appointed Edinburgh Makar in November 2021 for a three year term.

She is an associate artist with the National Theatre of Scotland and one of the winners of the Peggy Ramsay/Film4 Award 2022.

Her first two poetry collections, Blood Salt Spring and Unwritten Woman were published by Polygon in 2022 and 2024, respectively.Taylor Strickland is an award-winning poet and translator living in Aberfeldy.

His most recent books are Dares Paradise (Princeton University Press, 2026) and Dwell Time (Tapsalteerie, 2025), the latter longlisted for the 2025 Highland Book Prize.

His first book, Dastram/Delirium, won the 2023 Saltire Award for Scottish Poetry Book of the Year.

He works as creative developer for Corbenic Camphill Community.Aditya Narayan is an award-winning spoken word poet based in Scotland.

He is the 2025 Roundhouse Poetry Slam winner, the 2025 Loud Poets Grand Slam Champion, and the 2025 Scottish National Poetry Slam winner.

His debut pamphlet, My Name is a Two-Person Sport explores immigration, identity, and the comedy of moving between cultures.