Elspeth Murray
Poet / librettist
Elspeth Murray is a poet who loves writing for singers. Her collaboration with composer Duncan Fraser Be Loved: A Passion had its world premiere at St James Piccadilly this year. Pre-covid, she worked with Love Music on a woodland-inspired poetic soundscape for young voices at On This A Winter’s Night. In 2013 she adapted Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar’s epic poem Conference of The Birds, a collaboration with composer Dee Isaacs, The University of Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. Other projects with Isaacs include songs for Greek refugee camps and community music projects in Gambia including Your Life is a Work of Art a musical based around her 2009 poem of the same name. As a workplace poet in residence she was featured in BBC Radio 4’s Blood, Sweat, Tears and Poetry. While working for the NHS she wrote This Is Bad Enough, which features in Scottish government health literacy policy and was animated by NHS Education Scotland in 2021. Her BBC Authors Live appearance for schools was broadcast several times during lockdown. She is a member of the Authentic Artist Collective, and a graduate of their intensive PathMakers course in embodied arts facilitation.
For Mahogany Opera: The Great Learning
