Polygon has acquired world rights to Hannah Lavery’s third poetry collection, Everything [Everyday]: A Year of Empty Promises, which will be published in May 2026. The rights were procured by Polygon Editor Edward Crossan.
This new collection brings together a year of poems that move between myth and the everyday, grief and tenderness, protest and ritual. Former Edinburgh Makar Hannah Lavery’s work has been widely acclaimed for its formal daring and ethical urgency, and Everything [Everyday] continues her exploration of poetry as both witness and act of survival.
Publishing with Polygon, home to some of Scotland’s most vital contemporary voices, Lavery offers a collection that will resonate with readers of political, lyrical, and formally innovative poetry alike.
‘I’m so pleased to be able to tell you about my new collection, Everything [Everyday]: A Year of Empty Promises, which will be published by Polygon,’ says poet Hannah Lavery. ‘It’s a book that gathers a year of vigils, myths and everyday moments – poems that move between grief and tenderness, protest and ritual, survival and love. Working with Polygon means a lot to me, and I hope this collection will feel like something to hold on to, as it has been for me in the writing.’
‘Hannah’s new collection stops the clock and explores the moment in which we find ourselves. Throughout the collection, the poet brilliantly guides the reader through a year, and she offers a beacon of hope. Each poem is an unflinching exploration of memory and identity, and in a constantly shifting landscape, it’s something to hold on to,’ says Editor Edward Crossan.
Everything [Everyday] will be published by Polgon in May 2026.
Hannah Lavery is an award-winning poet and playwright. Her pamphlet, Finding Seaglass was published by Stewed Rhubarb and her poem, Scotland You’re No Mine was selected as one Scotland’s Best Poems for 2019. The Drift, her highly acclaimed autobiographical lyric play toured Scotland as part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Season 2019 and in 2020, she was selected by Owen Sheers’ as one of his Ten Writers Asking Questions That Will Shape Our Future for the International Literature Showcase, a project from the National Writing Centre and the British Council. Her second lyric play Lament for Sheku Bayoh premiered at Edinburgh International Festival in 2021. She was also appointed Edinburgh Makar in November 2021 for a three year term. She is an associate artist with the National Theatre of Scotland and one of the winners of the Peggy Ramsay/Film4 Award 2022. Her first two poetry collections, Blood Salt Spring and Unwritten Woman were published by Polygon in 2022 and 2024, respectively.
