William Soutar
William Soutar is arguably Perth's most famous literary son, and
stands among the leading group of all Scottish poets.
He died tragically young at the age of 45 in 1943, having spent
many years virtually bed-ridden. He wrote beautifully in both Scots
and English and was well-respected within the literary world
community. Two volumes of his poetry have been published by
Perth and Kinross Libraries and these can be purchased following
the instructions given on the
Library Publications page.
As a tribute to Soutar, Perth and Kinross library
service set up a William
Soutar website in 2001. It takes the form of a stroll around
Perth and its immediate environs, stopping at places referred to in
Soutar's work. At some of these stops readings are performed by
William Soutar fellows. The William Soutar Fellowship was set up as
a writer-in-residency, and the post was held by a number of
Scotland's current leading writers from its inauguration in the
1980s.
The library service still has stewardship of the Soutar House at
27 Wilson Street in Perth. Soutar's room, at the back of the house
with its picture window looking onto the back garden, remains
as it was when Soutar died. The house has been used by Soutar
Fellows and is currently used for writers' groups and literary
events. The library headquarters in York Place also houses the
Scots Language Resource Centre.
