Soil Song

This Book Week Scotland, botanist and science communicator Max Coleman will be in conversation with poet JL Williams, about their shared interest in earth and its vitality.

As a prelude to the 2026 exhibition in Inverleith House, Earth Matters, this event will illuminate the beauty and brilliance of soil - our buried treasure.

Join us in Inverleith House for this special event, which will include poetry readings, an audience Q&A, and the opportunity to purchase signed books by the authors.

This event is part of Book Week Scotland 202 and will be British Sign Language (BSL) interpreted.

If you have any access requirements or questions relating to this event, please email creativeprogrammes@rbge.org.uk

JL Williams is a contemporary poet, performer and educator whose work explores themes of myth, metaphysics, nature and the human experience through a lyrical and often surreal lens.

Books by JL Williams include Condition of Fire, Locust and Marlin, House of the Tragic Poet, After Economy, Origin and Strange Architectures. Published widely in journals, her poetry has been translated into numerous languages. She has read at international literature festivals and worldwide venues. Williams has undertaken collaborations with artists, perfumers, filmmakers, composers, choreographers and others, and is currently exploring how yoga, meditation and breathwork can support creativity. Williams is Creative Projects Manager at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and curates Utopia Lab.

She is hopeful about the simple and mysterious power of poetry that allows us to know ourselves, each other and the world more deeply.

Dr Max Coleman is the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s science communicator. Being a botanist, Max tries to communicate the vital role of plants and fungi for the functioning of life on Earth. Max makes weekly livestreams for the Botanics instagram exploring the garden through its seasons.

Max acted as an editor for the book From Another Kingdom: The Amazing World of Fungi, which accompanied a major exhibition on fungi at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2010, and edited an updated and redesigned second edition under the new title The Fascinating World of Fungi in 2024.