Edwin Morgan is Scotland's major living poet, and "Inventions of Modernity" is the first book-length study of his work. Since the 1940s Morgan's poetry has been carving out an alternative to the conventional evolutions from Modernism to Postmodernism, creating instead a substantial body of writing that ranges from the sublime to the hilarious. Instinctively at odds with the literary politics of the Pound-Eliot axis that remained influential deep into the twentieth century, Morgan develops instead a radical and libertarian poetics in an encyclopaedia of forms; from Anglo-Saxon metre through sonnet-sequences to concrete poems, and including gay poetry, science fiction verse and prize-winning translations into both English and Scots from numerous languages. Because his inventive and often transgressive practices were ahead of their time his poetry now seems to elaborate many of the theories that have followed him into print. From his early attraction to Apocalype poetry, to his continuing engagement with the liberating potential of Surrealist forms, and including his more recent work for the theatre, this book traces the various movements that Morgan has used (and refused) over a long life of writing. It will be of interest to students, teachers and academic researchers involved with strategies of reading, with cultural studies, with the politics of literary history and with gay and transgressive writing.

This is the first book to take political devolution as an organising context for the presentation and discussion of main currents in contemporary Scottish poetry. The book combines thematic chapters with in-depth analysis of key poets writing in English, in Gaelic and in Scots, to address the central issues raised in work that is responding to changes in the socio-economic and political environment over recent decades: the influence of tradition (both national and international); the question of language; the rise of women's writing; the relationship between poetry and politics; and the importance of place to the Scottish imagination. The chapters demonstrate a broad range of interests, while also offering detailed analysis of the many ways writers broach their subject matter; including close readings of poetry by Edwin Morgan, Kenneth White, Aonghas MacNeacail, Kathleen Jamie, John Burnside, Robin Robertson, Mick Imlah and Don Paterson, among others. Chapters by practicing poets and by academics deliver senses of the current range and quality of poetry in Scotland. Key Features *A thorough guide to contemporary Scottish poetry and poets, making the book an ideal course text *Reflects the ways in which the work of Scottish poets reflects a radical cultural independence following Devolution *Provides authoritative essays by the leading experts in the field *Includes a valuable synoptic bibliography

The early eighteenth century saw a far-reaching financial revolution in England. In this original study, Colin Nicholson reads familiar texts such as Gulliver's Travels, The Beggar's Opera and The Dunciad as "capital satires," responding to the social and political effects of the installation of capitalist financial institutions in London. While they invested in stocks and shares, Swift, Pope and Gay conducted a campaign against the civic effects of new financial institutions such as the Bank of England and the inauguration of the National Debt. Conflict between these writers' inherited discourse of civic humanism and the transformations being undergone by their own society is shown to have had a profound effect on a number of key literary texts.

The early eighteenth century saw a far-reaching financial revolution in England, whose impact on the literature of the period has hitherto been relatively unexplored. In this original study, Colin Nicholson reads familiar texts such as Gulliver's Travels, The Beggar's Opera and The Dunciad as 'capital satires', responding to the social and political effects of the installation of capitalist financial institutions in London. The founding of the Bank of England and the inauguration of the National Debt permanently altered the political economy of England: the South Sea Bubble disaster of 1721 educated a political generation into the money markets. While they invested in stocks and shares, Swift, Pope and Gay conducted a campaign against the civic effects of these new financial institutions. Conflict between these writers' inherited discourse of civic humanism and the transformations being undergone by their own society, is shown to have had a profound effect on a number of key literary texts.