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Embro

 
Katie L Review by Katie L 4 Published: 6 Aug 2025 Outside Scottish Poetry Library Show Dates: 1 Aug 2025-24 Aug 2025

Let Edinburgh come alive in front of your eyes in a very different way. Instead of seeing the world through the sights, see it through words. Edinburgh becomes a whole new world when walking around places that might easily be missed when you are able to see it through the lens of the poetic word.

It is one thing to see Edinburgh and another thing to feel Edinburgh

Local Edinburgh poet Ken Cockburn hosts the literary walking tour of Edinburgh – Embro, and through this, he showed me an Edinburgh alive with literature. Using poetry, Cockburn brings to light the history of Edinburgh through the eyes of poets like Victor Hugo, Edwin Morgan, and even prose from Dorothy Wordsworth. This tour has it all. I was able to see an Edinburgh I had not imagined I would see and was enraptured from the beginning.

Throughout the tour the poems become an integral part of understanding Edinburgh. Each stop has history and someone to tell that story, moving through time with every poet. Cockburn made a tour that revealed it is one thing to see Edinburgh and another thing to feel Edinburgh. Each poem or literary piece provided a new perspective to have on some of Edinburgh’s most famous spots, such as Holyrood Palace, Arthur’s Seat, and more. Cockburn himself presents a deep passion for the information he is presenting, always allowing time for questions, comments, and pictures of the sights.

This tour allows for seeing Edinburgh through the eyes of others – both through their real eyes and imagined ones. Though it may be a niche not everyone will fill it is certainly worth checking out if the idea of viewing Edinburgh through the words of someone else piques your interest this is certainly for you. It also allows for those deeply fascinated in poetry to find another great Edinburgh spot – the Scottish Poetry Library. So, if poetry, history, and a little bit of Scottish architecture is something you love then think about taking a walk through Edinburgh along with the famous poets Ken Cockburn brings along from history.

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Join Edinburgh poet Ken Cockburn on this walk through the literary sights of the Royal Mile. Ideal for those who like strolling the city to see its historic closes and green spaces, and hearing about its great writers. If you're new to Edinburgh you'll see some of the main sights and if you know the city you’ll experience it afresh through the words of poets down the centuries. 'A privilege… to enjoy the poetry and discover places and features that I didn’t know down the Royal Mile. I would never have explored them on my own' (Audience Review 2024).