George Mackay Brown: The Life
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Maggie Fergusson |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | The Life |
| Publisher | John Murray |
| Honors | |
| George Mackay Brown was one of Scotland’s greatest twentieth-century writers, though in person a bundle of paradoxes. He had a wide international reputation but hardly left his native Orkney. Maggie Fergusson interviewed George Mackay Brown several times and is the only biographer to whom he, a reluctant subject, gave his blessing. Through his letters and through conversations with is wide acquaintance, she discovers that this particular artist’s life was not only fascinating but also vivid, courageous and surprising. | |
George Mackay Brown was one of Scotland’s greatest twentieth-century writers, though in person a bundle of paradoxes. He had a wide international reputation but hardly left his native Orkney. A prolific poet, and hailed by the composer Peter Maxwell Davies as “the most positive and benign influence ever on my own efforts at creation”, he was also an accomplished novelist and a master of the short story. When he died in 1996, he left behind an autobiography as deft as it is ultimately uninformative.
Maggie Fergusson interviewed George Mackay Brown several times and is the only biographer to whom he, a reluctant subject, gave his blessing. Through his letters and through conversations with is wide acquaintance, she discovers that this particular artist’s life was not only fascinating but also vivid, courageous and surprising.
