Push the Boat Out
Since 2022, I have been the Executive Producer of the gorgeously eclectic Push the Boat Out: Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival. This new festival, founded by Jenny Niven, is a place where a venn diagram of artforms come together, cross pollinate and collide in a polyphonic explosion of poetry, spoken word, live music, hip hop, songwriting, film, sound, gaming, visual art and concrete poetry.
Push the Boat Out will be back in Summerhall from 24th to 26th November 2023 for another fantastic festival. In the meantime get your poetry fix from our open mic, Rock the Boat, held on the first Thursday of the month in Summerhall's Gallery Bar.
The Festival
Forged in the flames of 2020, Edwin Morgan’s centenary year, our festival takes its title from his unforgettable poem ‘At Eighty’. Forward-looking and progressive; the poem encapsulates his persistent, indefatigable curiosity for the unknown, whatever it holds, come what may. The project pays homage to his inestimable contribution to poetry, his international perspective and to his restless pioneering spirit.
You’ll find me commissioning new work, overseeing the marketing and design, working with venue, tech and artists to bring it all together on the ground and throughout the year.
Awards
We were thrilled to win a 2022 Creative Edinburgh Award in the City category, recognising our contribution to the cultural life of the city.
"By turns funny, moving and unsettling, resolutely lively and fresh, it […] demonstrated what is strongest in Push The Boat Out’s contemporary approach to poetry."
The Scotsman
Get In Touch
Please get in touch via the contact page, or you can book a call with me.