Scotland’s new makar Kathleen Jamie: ‘Poetry is at the heart of our culture’ | Poetry | The Guardian

Speaking from her home in Fife two days later, she is already excavating that thought: "The warmth of reception I received has been wonderful. I'm wondering if people who are not terribly interested in poetry recognise that here is something of integrity, somewhere where they're probably not going to be lied to or bullshitted, where language is taken seriously."

As those virtues become less common in public life, people might still recognise them in poetry, Jamie suggests. "There's such a depth of a thirst for that, especially after the pandemic." It puts a responsibility on poets, she adds briskly, which is absolutely fine.