Meet the Makers: JL Williams

Join us at Inverleith House for a special event - the first in our Meet the Makers series - which will include poetry readings and a workshop led by the poet, JL Williams.

Hope grows

In a time of crisis and frightening change, how can we honour our attention to loss and grief in our writing, while still allowing for energy and engender hope?

In this workshop we will use our breath and senses to explore soil, grass, petals and leaves, birdsong and the perfume of flowers, connecting with that in us which is unconscious and eternal. We will use connection as a starting point for writing into a place of hopeful, generative and creative inspiration.

Please note, weather permitting, this will be an outdoors event. Meet at the enterance to Inverleith House, to attend the workshop held at Around a Tree. Seating will be available. If you have any access requirements or questions relating to this event, please email [email protected].

JL Williams is a contemporary poet, performer and educator whose work explores themes of myth, metaphysics, nature and the human experience through a lyrical and often surreal lens.

Books by JL Williams include Condition of Fire, Locust and Marlin, House of the Tragic Poet, After Economy, Origin and Strange Architectures. Published widely in journals, her poetry has been translated into numerous languages. She has read at international literature festivals and worldwide venues. Williams has undertaken collaborations with artists, perfumers, filmmakers, composers, choreographers and others, and is currently exploring how yoga, meditation and breathwork can support creativity. Williams is Creative Projects Manager at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and curates Utopia Lab.

She is hopeful about the simple and mysterious power of poetry that allows us to know ourselves, each other and the world more deeply.

Meet the Makers is supported by The Andrew Raven Trust and Edinburgh Geological Society.

Earth Matters is curated by Susanna Beaumont | Design Exhibition Scotland and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The exhibition runs from 20 March – 1 November 2026 at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and is free and open to all.

Earth Matters is supported by Players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200 and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.

Main image: Sekai Machache, Light Divine Sky II, 2021. Photography: Antanas Budvytis. Courtesy the artist, Patricia Fleming Gallery and the Fleming Collection.