Push the Boat Out is delighted to announce that poet Iain Morrison and artist Corin Sworn have been awarded this year’s Little Sparta Residency.
Bringing together poetry and visual art, the residency offers a unique opportunity for artists to respond to one of Scotland’s most extraordinary cultural landscapes. Created by the late Ian Hamilton Finlay, Little Sparta is a place where language, sculpture and landscape intertwine, making it an inspiring setting for creative collaboration and experimentation.
The selected partnership reflects the residency’s commitment to cross-disciplinary practice, bringing together two artists whose work continually explores the boundaries between language, performance, visual art and place.
About the artists
- Image credit: Ross Fraser McLean / StudioRoRo
Iain Morrison
Iain Morrison is a poet, performer and cultural programmer based in Edinburgh whose practice moves fluidly between literature, performance and the visual arts. His debut collection, I’m a Pretty Circler, was shortlisted for the Saltire Poetry Prize, and his work has been presented internationally, including at Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania. Alongside his writing, Iain has developed acclaimed performance works, curated exhibitions and contributed essays and poems to numerous publications, with a practice that frequently finds poetry in dialogue with galleries, music and contemporary art.
Speaking about the residency, Iain said:
“Very occasionally you spot an opportunity where what’s proposed fits perfectly with your field of interest and way of working. Push the Boat Out’s residency with Little Sparta was one of those rare alignments. As a poet working where poetry brushes against visual art and performance, I couldn’t be more pleased to write in Ian Hamilton Finlay’s extraordinary garden. Corin Sworn holds an inquisitive and transformative intelligence with a true affinity for language, and I feel incredibly lucky to have her as my co-adventurer.”
Corin Sworn
Corin Sworn is an internationally recognised visual artist whose work spans moving image, installation and experimental writing. Awarded the Leverhulme Prize in 2016 and the Max Mara Art Prize for Women in 2014, Corin represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale in 2013. Her work has been commissioned by leading international organisations and translated into eleven languages. Recent projects include On Weaving for Alchemy Film and Moving Image (2025), Moving in Relation with The Common Guild, Glasgow, Cumulo with URRA, Buenos Aires, and Fabric Noir for Radiophrenia.
Corin said:
“Oh, Push the Boat Out – how rare, a commission across art forms! I am absolutely delighted to work at Little Sparta as a garden entwining language, sculpture and landscape, and with Iain Morrison, a poet whose playfully astute work I deeply admire.”
The residency will see Iain and Corin spend dedicated time at Little Sparta, developing new work inspired by its unique environment and legacy. Through conversation, research and creative exchange, the pair will explore the rich intersections of poetry, visual art and landscape that have long defined Ian Hamilton Finlay’s remarkable garden.
We look forward to sharing more about their residency, creative process and the work that emerges in the months ahead.