Donny O'Rourke

Poet, critic and cultural commentator Donny O’Rourke has had overlapping careers in broadcasting, journalism and university teaching. Former Head of Arts at STV and executive at BBC Scotland, he was a founding columnist for The Sunday Herald and for a decade The Scotsman’s Television critic. The recipient of several fellowships, professorships, bursaries, residencies, awards and commissions, internationally, Donny has taught and researched at Yale, Glasgow School of Art, Jena and Bern universities and other prestigious European and North American institutions.

He has published more than a score of books, and many CDs have featured his songs. Ten collections and innumerable public appearances have secured his place as a celebrated and much anthologised poet. A translator, editor and publisher, Donny has been an influential teacher, mentor, festival organiser and significant collaborator across all art forms. Notably, he has written and spoken extensively about Robert Burns. He edited the seminal Dream State: The New Scottish Poets and Across The Water: a survey of Scots/Irish poetry, prose and drama. A graduate of the Universities of Glasgow and Cambridge, he has taught at the latter and holds a Lifetime Fellowship at Glasgow’s School Of Education.

(Photo credit: Stewart Ennis)