This week’s poetry news roundup takes a look at a violin linked to Robert Burns, the property where Wilfred Owen was born and how people really see AI-generated poetry.

Robert Burns Violin Goes on Tour

A fiddle with links to the poet Robert Burns will be going on tour and will feature in two very special concerts. 

The Gregg fiddle, which dates back to the 18th century, is thought to have been owned by the dance teacher of the poet. It will be played in Glasgow at the OVO Hydro and in New York at Carnegie Hall and will be played by two of the most accomplished players from Scotland. The “gigs” are being hailed as landmark occasions.

The fiddle is normally displayed in Alloway at the birthplace of the poet, but is being loaned out as a result of a collaboration between the National Trust for Scotland and the Hoolie in the Hydro concert series. 

Dating back to 1750, the fiddle belonged to William Gregg, and it believed to have been played when Burns was learning dance steps a The Bachelor’s Club in Tarbolton. It is now only played a handful of times each year and there are only a couple of Ayrshire fiddle players who have been granted permission to play it. 

The event in Glasgow will take place on 7th December with the New York event taking place on 5th April as part of the Tartan Week celebrations.

Wilfred Owen’s Birthplace on the Market

Wilfred Owen was born in 1893 in Oswestry. He enlisted in 1915, witnessing WWI trench warfare that inspired his poetry writing. He was injured in 1917, returning to the battlefield in 1918 where he was killed a week before Armistice Day. 

His poetry, which represents a generation of young men who lost their lives serving their country in wartime is well known. Only five of his pieces of work were published whilst he was alive, the rest were published posthumously. Many of his poems appeared together in a collection edited by Siegfried Sassoon. 

The Grade II listed Georgian property where he was born, Plas Wilmot, was placed on the market at the beginning of this week. A particularly poignant time as it coincided with the Remembrance period. 

Steeped in history, the property has a blue plaque in commemoration of the poet.

Study Looks at People Perceptions of AI-generated Poetry

A recent study has made a discovery that could ring alarm bells for the poets all over the world. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh set out to find out if people could tell whether poems were created by real people or through AI and which they preferred. 

Those who were asked to look at the poems often gave higher ratings to the AI-generated poetry compared to the works of world renowned poets like Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson. 

Whilst this may sound alarming, much of the AI-generated content had a simpler structure and themes that were more straightforward, perhaps leading to its popularity. People were also unable to tell which were the classic works and which were AI imitations. A staggering 78%  of those who took part gave better ratings to the AI generated poems over those written by famous poets.