Michael Symmons Roberts and Hannah Westland on John Burnside

The Empire of Forgetting is the final collection of the Scottish poet, novelist and essayist John Burnside, who died in May 2024. Fellow poet Kathleen Jamie describes him as ‘a titan of literature…. His passing leaves a gap not only in our literature, but in our ability to exist in the world. He increased the possible ways of our being.’

At the Bookshop, poet and essayist Michael Symmons Roberts and editor Hannah Westland paid tribute to Burnside and celebrated his life and work.