Black & White to publish Burns poetry selection

Black & White Publishing has acquired Burns for Every Day of the Year from Robert Burns expert Dr Pauline Mackay. 

Burns for Every Day of the Year will offer readers 366 poems, described as "glimpses into the genius and literary legacy of this remarkable bard". Each day's choice will reflect the season, link past and present, and highlight the life of Burns, says the publisher. Mackay will also include introductions to each poem, in both Scots and English. 

Alison McBride, publishing director, acquired world rights direct from the author. The title will be published in January 2021. 

Mackay commented: "There is such variety in the life and writing of Robert Burns, and this has sustained his timeless and universal popularity. Lord Byron summed it up perfectly, hitting the nail on the head as only another poet could: ‘What an antithetical mind: tenderness, roughness; delicacy, coarseness; sentiment, sensuality; soaring and grovelling; dirt and deity... all mixed up in that one compound of inspired clay!’ Complicated and brilliant, Burns resists being put in a box, so appreciating his words each day bring us as close to a fully dimensional idea of him as we might ever get."

Mackay is a lecturer in Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow and hosts the podcast series "#TaeTheBar".