This book is unashamedly aimed at a wider market than the ordinary academic volume, as it seeks to extend the impact of the research it contains, making it available to the worldwide community of Burns enthusiasts, without compromising on scholarship.

Contributors have been selected not only for their academic rigour and reputation, but also because of their ability to handle their material with elegance and accessibility for the general reader. They offer fresh insights for both academic and general readers, not least through the volume's interdisciplinary approaches, including a contribution from the great interpreter of Burns's songs, Sheena Wellington.

A key part of this volume's attraction lies in the way it opens up fresh issues and aspects of performance and performativity and their impact on our perception of Robert Burns and his work.