He was born and raised here, and Glasgow has always been his home base, although he has spent much time travelling. He has an on-going relationship with the University which includes the recent installation of a stained glass representation of one of his poems for the refurbished Gilmorehill Centre. I saw my writing and my University work as separate things, although they are connected. I got a lot from books I read, and from other poets. Glasgow is an inspiring place.
Plenty happens here.
It has an interesting feel in terms of buildings and people and I think that its strong ups and downs make Glasgow an intrinsically dramatic city, and that makes it a good place to be a writer. Edwin Morgan has witnessed what he regards as a revolution in poetry in his lifetime. The landscape or water lapping on the shore. It took me a long time to realise you could write about absolutely anything. A group of Glasgow writers emerged who could write about Glasgow's social problems and maybe that is a good reason for the city to be the first to with its own poet laureate.