Alasdair Maclean

Alasdair Maclean (1926–1994)[1] was a Scottish poet and writer, born in Glasgow.

Employment and university

Maclean left school at 14 and took a variety of jobs, mostly as a labourer.[2] He did National Service in India and Malaya, and lived for ten years in Canada. From 1966 to 1970 he attended the University of Edinburgh as a mature student, graduating with an MA in English.

Writings

Maclean began writing poetry at the age of 20, doing so sporadically until 1966. His first book of poems, From the Wilderness, was the Poetry Book Society Choice for 1973.

Extracts from his diary appear alongside those of his father, Ian Maclean (1898–1973), in Night Falls on Ardnamurchan. The book gives a humorous, perceptive and moving account of the Scottish crofting life.[3]

Books
  • Maclean, Alasdair (1973). From the Wilderness. Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-01807-0.
  • Maclean, Alasdair (1976). Waking the Dead. Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-02203-5.
  • Maclean, Alasdair (1984). Night Falls on Ardnamurchan: The Twilight of a Crofting Family. Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03460-2.

References
  1. Scottish Poetry Library catalogue
  2. Poetry Book Society Bulletin, No 79: Christmas 1973
  3. Irene and Alan Taylor, eds: The Assassin's Cloak. An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2000), p. 656.
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