Disabled-led arts organisation Disability Arts Online (DAO) has today announced that a poet from Edinburgh has been selected as its new Associate Artist, in partnership with the Edwin Morgan Trust.
Elspeth Wilson is one of only three creatives from across the UK selected for the 2024 DAO Associate Artists cohort. The other artists have been named as Revell Dixon from London and Louise Page from Newcastle.
Elspeth said: “I am so excited to be selected as an Associate Artist for poetry and can’t wait to explore masking and identity in various forms through Scottish folklore. This opportunity will allow me to explore new skills in poetry film and new site-specific ways of making work at a time where I am exploring next steps in my poetry career. The support of DAO and the Edwin Morgan Trust will allow me to experiment and take risks.”
Disability Arts Online’s Associate Artist programme offers disabled artists tailored career development support over a period of a year, with seed funding to achieve a bigger project or ambition. Since launching in 2018, it has supported 9 disabled artists.
Elspeth’s associateship will be delivered in partnership with the Edwin Morgan Trust. Thanks to a partnership with the Edwin Morgan Trust’s The Second Life Award scheme, this is the second time Disability Arts Online has extended its Associate Artist programme into Scotland, working with a Scottish disabled poet to support their practice over a period of 12–18 months. This year’s Associateship will support Elspeth to expand her creative practice, develop new processes and skills and research spaces to showcase her work. The first Associate Artist supported by Disability Arts Online and Edwin Morgan Trust was poet, performer, and theatre maker Ellen Renton.
Elspeth is an Edinburgh-based poet and writer interested in exploring the limitations and possibilities of the body. She writes about joy and happiness from a marginalised perspective and her debut poetry pamphlet, Too Hot to Sleep, is published by Written Off Publishing and was shortlisted for the Saltire Society’s 2023 Poetry Book of the Year Award. Her debut novel, These Mortal Bodies, is forthcoming with Simon and Schuster in 2025. Elspeth often uses folklore and a connection to nature as a jumping off point in her poetry.
For her DAO Associateship, she is writing a series of poems and producing a poetry film that explores masking through the lens of Scottish mythology. She draws on an interest in the folklore of the selkie – a seal who can turn into a person – because it asks questions about what we are asked to excise to make ourselves palatable for our loved ones and for wider society.
Trish Wheatley, Chief Executive of Disability Arts Online, said: “Our Associates programme is a standout part of what we do at Disability Arts Online. The DAO team is really excited by the prospect of seeing the creative projects grow and we are looking forward to supporting Elspeth and the other talented associates in their development. We are grateful for the investment and continued collaboration with the Edwin Morgan Trust to extend our Scotland-based Associateship for another year.”
Chris Creegan, Chair of the Edwin Morgan Trust, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Disability Arts Online again to support a new Scottish artist on their creative journey. Aligning with our commitment to support underrepresented poets in Scotland and widen their access to opportunities, we’re proud to help facilitate this strand of DAO’s Associates programme and excited to see what new work Elspeth will produce in the coming year.”
