Following his hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Festival, in-demand poet and performer Kevin P Gilday is coming to Dunfermline for Outwith Festival. We asked him about his show and what inspires him as a writer:

AS: What can people expect from your live show at Outwith?

KPG: It’s going to be a night of amazing spoken word. You’ll laugh, maybe cry, and feel all sorts of feelings you didn’t know you had. I’ll be sharing work from my forthcoming book Anxiety Music so you’ll also get a preview of new work before it hits the shops later in September. Forget about the old poems you had to read at school – this is the type of work that speaks to our lives right now and the world we live in.

AS: What inspired you to become a poet?

I find real freedom in poetry. For me it’s the most democratic artform in the world – pen and paper and you’re away. I was really drawn to that ability to react to something in the moment, to capture a little bit of life as it happens. Other artforms take time and equipment to pull off but poetry is nimble – it can get in the spaces where others can’t. That ability to speak to people in a raw, unfiltered way really inspired me to follow poetry.

AS: What contemporary poet do you most admire?

KPG: I could go on for days about this but I think I’ll instead just say that I am consistently inspired by my peers in the Scottish poetry community – there is a rich scene of contemporary poets who are reflecting our society through their art. It’s vital and it’s on our doorstep.

AS: What is your all time favourite line/s of poetry?

KPG: ‘A Musselburgh accent/Is a muscle relaxant’ – Mark McG

Kevin’s show is at 7.30pm on Friday 9th September at Fire Station Creative. Tickets cost just £5 plus booking fee and are available here.  For more information about this and all the other events on at Outwith Festival click here.