Asif Khan was appointed Director of the Scottish Poetry Library from June 2016. The Scottish Poetry Library (SCP) is an independent charity that provides a comprehensive, free lending and enquiry service from the stand-alone library in Edinburgh. The staff team includes specialists in collections management, communications, projects, learning and events. The library also secured three-year continuation funding to a total of around £1.2 Million from April 2025.
Asif has worked in a number of senior roles involving cultural policy, business development, marketing & PR, public engagement and creative production. Sectors have included visual art, performing arts, libraries, cultural heritage and youth services.
He has worked with and for Royal West of England Academy (business development); Colston Hall (PR); Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (national policy); Bristol Libraries (engagement manager); the National Art Gallery Committee of Barbados (strategic development) and Bristol Tourism (marketing).
Asif has held senior project management roles for the national Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade commemoration programme and Bristol’s European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. Literature events that I have produced and co-produced include Jamaica Rising, Yardstick and Biosphere at Bristol & Bath Festival of Nature. He was also the press officer for Bristol Sound City music festival.
In a voluntary capacity, he sits as a trustee/director on the board of Perth and Kinross Culture Trust. He’s on the advisory group of the British Council in Scotland, and is also a trustee of The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust, which is responsible for Ellisland Museum and Farm.
Previously, he has supported the Boards of Bristol Poetry Can and Afrika Eye film festival and is a former chair of Bristol Racial Equality Council.
