Alan Spence

Alan Spence is an award-winning poet and playwright, novelist and short story writer. Books include Its Colours They Are Fine, The Pure Land and Glasgow Zen. His play Sailmaker is a set text in Scottish schools. He is Professor Emeritus in Creative Writing at The University of Aberdeen, (where he founded the WORD Festival). From 2017 to 2021 he was Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate). In 2018 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun from the Government of Japan. With his wife he runs the Sri Chinmoy meditation centre in Edinburgh. His latest novel, Mister Timeless Blyth, was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction.