Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) became Scotland's first National Poet, or Makar, in 2004. His poetic output was hardly dimmed by increasing age; Collected Poems  (Carcanet, 1990) and Collected Translations  (Carcanet, 1996) were succeeded by several later volumes of poetry, including Dreams and Other Nightmares (Mariscat Press, 2010). He was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2000.

Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and Newham College, Cambridge. Her first book, Free Love and Other Stories (1995) won the Saltire First Book of the Year award and a Scottish Arts Council Book Award. Her novel Autumn was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker. She lives in Cambridge.