This year, the National Trust for Scotland’s Burns Big Night In returns. Radio DJ and personality Edith Bowman will be presenting a night of music, song and verse direct to living rooms across the land from Burns Cottage in Ayrshire.

For Love Scotland, we join host Jackie Bird for a very special chat with two of the Burns Big Night In guests – leading contemporary poets, Janette Ayachi and Michael Pederson. 

Janette Ayachi is based in Edinburgh, born in London, with Scottish and Algerian heritage. She’s a regular on BBC Scotland arts programmes and has published work in nearly a broad range of literary journals.

Michael Pederson writes in English and Scots and performs at festivals everywhere from Edinburgh to Indonesia. He co-founded Neu! Reekie!, an arts collective that spans events, publishing and a record label. 

Janette and Michael tell how Burns and how his legacy has found a place in their poetry – and read some of their new poems.

Find out more about Burns Big Night in at www.burnsbignightin.org

And in Hidden Secrets, Cameron speaks to Ann Middleton (tour guide) who discusses two etchings recently discovered around Drum Castle.