Jon Plunkett was born in 1975 among the drumlins and granite of County Down in the north of Ireland. While The Troubles formed an unavoidable backdrop to that time, his childhood was shaped less by politics than by long days spent exploring fields and woods on foot or by bike. At seventeen, he moved to Scotland to attend the Scottish School of Forestry, beginning a lifelong relationship with landscape that continues to inform his work. The influence of rural Ireland and wild Scotland has proved more enduring than any inherited divisions of history, politics, or religion.

During his studies in Scotland, Jon met painter Lindsay Turk, then a student at Edinburgh College of Art. Partners for almost thirty years, their shared life has been shaped by a deep and ongoing creative exchange. After working as a tree surgeon, Jon went on to study psychology and psychotherapy, bringing an attentiveness to human experience that sits alongside his engagement with place. Now based in the Scottish Highlands, Jon and Lindsay continue their individual practices—words and paintings—while occasionally collaborating on exhibitions that bring poetry and visual art into conversation.

Jon has been active in the Scottish poetry scene for over two decades. He is the founder and curator of the Corbenic Poetry Path in Highland Perthshire, a public arts trail combining poetry and sculpture, featured on BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors. His poems have appeared in leading UK and Irish literary journals, including Gutter, Northwords Now, Poetry Scotland, Envoi, Acumen, and Causeway, as well as in anthologies such as Perthshire 101 and Tour de Verse.

His commissioned work includes a poem written for Johnnie Walker and performed by Stanley Tucci, alongside contributions to environmental and community arts projects for the John Muir Trust and the Heart of Scotland Forest Partnership. He has also presented his poem Meanwhile in the Scottish Parliament as part of Time for Reflection. Jon’s collaborative projects span design, music, and film, including work with furniture maker Angus Ross, regular collaborations with musician Foy Vance, and projects with photographer and filmmaker James Millar.

Jon’s first full collection ‘A Melody of Sorts’ was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2019. His second collection will be published in Spring 2026 by Tippermuir Books.