Papers of Roddy Lumsden
Scope and Contents
This is collection consists of the papers of Scottish poet Roddy Lumsden, dating mostly from his time in Edinburgh from mid-1980s to mid-1990s. It includes poetry (typed and handwritten), short stories, professional and personal correspondence, photographs, printed ephemera relating to poetry events in Edinburgh, and trinkets he would collect. The poetry material mostly proceeds from his first publication Yeah Yeah Yeah (Bloodaxe, 1997), and from a privately published pamphlet entitled Elsewhere perhaps later (1995), which contained many of the poems that appear in Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.
The collection’s original arrangement, as accumulated by Roddy Lumsden has been maintained (see “Arrangement” note). Some files contain mix of correspondence, poetry, ephemera, and other materials. You can browse documents by type by clicking on the subjects listed below.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1984-1996
- Creation: 1966-2020
Creator
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Most of the collection is open for consultation, however some parts are restricted or closed under Data Protection regulations. Please contact the repository in advance for more details.
Full Extent
6 boxes
Arrangement
Roddy Lumsden did not organise his work systematically. Instead, he was known to place printed poems into various plastic bags scattered around his flat, without any specific order or context. The records were contained within these bags at the time of deposit, and it has been decided to preserve this original arrangement, avoiding the imposition of a new order that might introduce subjective interpretations, and to honour the personal nature of the collection.
Custodial History
The bulk of this collection consists of Roddy Lumsden's papers when he lived in Edinburgh between 1984 and 1995. When he left for London in 1997, Lumsden stored all this material in his parent’s attic in St Andrews.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated in June 2024. Accession no. SC-Acc-2024-0081.
Separated Materials
The papers also included some printed material, which has been transferred to the Rare Books collections, and are catalogued on DiscoverEd [accessed on 25/09/2025].
Separated publications:
- Verse, Vol. 5, No. 2, July 1988.
- Verse, Vol. 10, No. 2, Summer 1993.
- Verse, Vol. 10, No. 3, Winter 1993.
- Verse, Vol. 11, No. 1, Spring 1994.
- Poems of Robert Browning 1844-1864.
- Selected Poems of Robert Frost.
- New Writing Scotland 14 (1996).
- Special Reserve - New Writing from Women in Aberdeen.
- Prairie Schooner, Summer 1994, Vol. 68, No. 2.
- Magma Poetry, ed. by Roddy Lumsden, Spring 2008.
- Scratch, Winter 1996, No. 14.
- ibid - new poets series.
- ibid, issue 4, autumn- Winter 95/96.
- ppq, "poetry postcard quaterly, spring 96, no 2.: Salena Godden 'Wipe me away with the back of your hand'".
- Snippets from the Powder Room by A. B. Jackson, with an autograph dedicace: "'C'est le vent, Werty'. Andrew".
- The Rialto, number 35, autumn 1996.
- The Wide Skirt no. 26 and no.27 (1995).
- The Dark Horse no. 2 (1995).
- PN Review no. 107 (1996).
- The Beating Heart no. 3 (1986), Bloodaxe Books.
- The Catalogue, 1994 and 1998 issues.
- Literature Quarterly. Literature Events on the South Bank. January - March 1994.
- St Andrews Poetry Festival 18 - 21 February [no year]. Enclosed is a handwritten poem by Lumsden, first line: "Katrina, bringing home that stolen kiss...".
Processing Information
Catalogued by Aline Brodin in June-September 2025.
- Title
- Papers of Roddy Lumsden, 1966-2020
- Author
- Aline Brodin
- Date
- September 2025
- Description rules
- Isad(g)2
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk