It’s October 2025, and that means it’s the official end of the funded aspects of Project Fergusson. We would like to thank The Leverhulme Trust for their support of the project, and for enabling us to undertake all the wonderful explorations of Fergusson’s life and legacies over the course of the past two years.
I thought to summarise the project in one blog post, it would be a good idea to detail all of the project’s achievements – and there are a lot!!
– We’ve made huge progress towards ‘The Collected Works of Robert Fergusson’, which will be published by Edinburgh University Press in 2026/early 2027. Finishing touches are currently being made to the volume.
– Our wonderful website, BlueSky and X/Twitter pages are still active, and where we have shared lots of information about the project. Do follow us on social media for updates regarding future publications and events!
– We have presented research on Fergusson at conferences including the IASSL Fourth World Congress of Scottish Literatures (July 2024), the British Association for Romantic Studies Conference (July 2024), British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference (January 2025), and the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society Conference (June 2025). I have also given public talks at the Romanticism Across Borders International Seminar (October 2024) and at the Kilbryde Burns Club (March 2025). Rhona gave a keynote lecture at the IASSL Fourth World Congress, which was incredibly well-received, alongside a public talk for the Irvine Lasses Burns Club (February 2025).
– We have discussed Fergusson at University of Glasgow events, including a ‘Textual Editing Lab’ seminar (May 2025) and at a Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies lecture (October 2024). Rhona was also invited to speak at the University of Aberdeen’s research seminar (March 2025).
– Rhona led as Research Consultant on the play Crown of Straw by Martin Travers, which was performed by Braw Clan, the Scots language theatre company in June 2024.
– We were so excited to be involved in the co-curation, with librarian Clare Thompson, of the Mitchell Library exhibition, ‘Celebrating the Scottish poet, Robert Fergusson (1750-1774)’, which ran in autumn 2024. We have recently also turned this into an online exhibition which can be accessed on our website.
– We have articles in the popular press via History Today Magazine and The Bottle Imp about Fergusson’s legacies. We also have academic articles in the pipeline!
– Our wonderful poetry collection O’er a’ my labours sey your skill: Poetic Responses to Robert Fergusson has been published by Taproot Press (September 2025). We have had two wonderful launch events, in Glasgow and online, with a further Edinburgh event to come!
– We’ve appeared on a number of podcasts, including the University of Glasgow’s ‘Stories of Glasgow’ podcast (October 2024), and on ‘Ear Read This’, Edinburgh’s book podcast (coming soon!).
We also led a diverse and extensive events programme in 2024, to commemorate 250 years since the death of Robert Fergusson. These events included:
– Contributing to a Scottish Poetry Library Event ‘Robert Fergusson: the simmer o’ his life’ (May 2024).
– We organised a day symposium ‘Robert Fergusson’s Textual Legacies in the 250 Years Since his Death’, to celebrate Fergusson’s long-reaching legacy as a poet and his influence on other writers (September 2024).
– We collaborated with the Real Mary King’s Close, the Edinburgh tourist attraction. I contributed to a livestream on social media, and we gave research support to their new and exciting ‘Meet the Poet – Robert Fergusson’ tours (September 2024).
– Handling sessions of Fergusson’s archival items and rare books at the National Library of Scotland (October 2024). What a treat!
– Talks at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, to run alongside our exhibition were given by Rhona, alongside a creative writing workshop for adults by Dr Jim Ferguson. Jim also delivered a series of creative writing workshops in local schools (October 2024).
– Our amazing flagship Fergusson event was the ‘Remembering Robert Fergusson’ celebration, in conjunction with the Scottish Poetry Library, and held at St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh. We were joined by Scottish writer and broadcaster Billy Kay, authors Andrew O’Hagan and James Robertson and musicians Kirsteen McCue and David Hamilton for a memorable and rousing event filled with poetry readings, musical performances, and discussions about Fergusson’s impact on Scottish literature (October 2024).
– We also collaborated with the National Galleries: Portrait, who not only re-hung Runciman’s famous portrait of Fergusson in the gallery, but also invited Rhona, alongside curator Liz Louis, to discuss Fergusson in the memorably titled ‘Poet, Prodigal Son, or Tavern Rat? (November 2024). A recording of this discussion can be viewed here.
Thank you to all the amazing partners and friends we’ve worked with over the course of the project – it’s so appreciated and we’ve loved how invested and interested people are in Fergusson!!
Overall, for me, this project has been an absolute delight to be a part of. Alongside all the organising of exciting events, there has been a lot of archive trips, magnifying glass usage and dusty old book-reading going on the background. I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of it. It’s so rare to get the chance to work on such a wonderful project and to work with Rhona (and Fergusson of course!) every day has been amazing! My Scots has certainly improved…
Of course, that’s not the end of Project Fergusson – we still have the Edinburgh launch of ‘O’er a’ my labours sey your skill’ taking place on 15th October 2025, we’ll have launch events for ‘The Collected Works of Robert Fergusson’ in 2026/2027, and potentially other one-off events happening too. Watch this space!
Amy Wilcockson
1 October 2025