Robert Burns and Cultural Authority

Eleven contemporary writers and academics analyze the place of Scotland's best-loved poet in relation to literary and social institutions since the eighteenth century. From "Burns and God" to "Burns and Sex", the essays reflect upon why Burns's work has acquired worldwide cultural importance. Nobel prize winner Seamus Heaney, novelist A. L. Kennedy, poet Douglas Dunn and literary historian Marilyn Butler are among the impressive array of contributors to this lively volume.