Iain Crichton Smith

Iain Crichton Smith bust at South Gyle. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Iain Crichton Smith (Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn) OBE (1 January 1928 - 15 October 1998) was a Scottish poet who wrote in both English and Scottish Gaelic, known for his poetry, short stories, and novels.

Life

Youth and education

Crichton Smith was born in Glasgow, but at the age of 2 moved to the isle of Lewis, where he and his two brothers were brought up by their widowed mother in the small crofting town of Bayble (which also produced Derick Thomson). It was a Scottish Gaelic speaking community; he learned English as a 2nd language once he attended school.

He earned a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen.

Career

,After serving in the National Service Army Education Corps, Crichton Smith went on to become a teacher.

He taught in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Oban from 1952, retiring to become a full-time writer in 1977, although he already had many novels and poems published.

Writing

Friend and poet Edwin Morgan notes that unlike his contemporaries (such as Sorley Maclean and Derick Thomson), Crichton Smith was more prolific in English than in Gaelic, perhaps viewing his writing in what (from Crichton Smith's view) was an imposed non-native language as a challenge to English and American poets. However, Crichton Smith also produced much Gaelic poetry and prose, and also translated some of the work of Sorley Maclean from Gaelic to English, as well as some of his own poems originally composed in Gaelic. It should also be noted that much of his other English-language work is actually directly related to, or translated from, Gaelic equivalents.

Crichton Smith's work also reflects his dislike of dogma and authority, influenced by his upbringing in a close-knit, island presbyterian community, as well as his political and emotional thoughts and views of Scotland and the Scottish Highlands. Despite his upbringing, Crichton-Smith was an atheist. A number of his poems explore the subject of the Highland Clearances, and his best known novel Consider the Lilies (1968) is an account of the eviction of an elderly woman during such times.

Elderly women and alienated individuals are common themes in his work.

Poetry

Crichton Smith's poetry quite often had a character perhaps based on his mother. He also typically used natural images to convey emotion.

His poems include:

• Culloden and After (1961) - an attack on that period in British history, especially "Bonnie Charlie".
• Old Woman (1965)
• The Iolaire (date)
• The Man who Cried Wolf (1964)

Recognition

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1980.

Publications

Poetry

• The Long River. Edinburgh: Macdonald, 1955.
• New Poets 1959 (by Iain Crichton Smith, Karen Gershon, & Christopher Leveson). London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1959.
• Bùrn is Aran. Glaschu : Gairm, 1960, 1987.
• Thistles and Roses. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1961.
• An Dubh is an Gorm. Glaschu : Clò Chailleann, 1963.
• Bìobuill is Sanasan Reice. Glaschu: Gairm, 1965.
• The Law and the Grace. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1965.
• At Helensburgh. Belfast: Belfast : Festival / [[Queen's University Belfast|Queen's University of Belfast, 1968.
• Three Regional Voices (by Iain Crichton Smith, Barry Tebb, & Michael Longley). London: Poet & Printer, 1968.
• From Bourgeois Land: Poems. London: Gollancz, 1969.
• Iain am Measg Nan Reultan. Glaschu: Gairm, 1970.
• Maighstirean is Ministearan. Inverness, UK: Club Leabhar, 1970.
• Selected Poems. London: Gollancz, 1970.
• Love Poems and Elegies. London: Gollancz, 1972.
• Penguin Modern Poets 21 (with George Mackay Brown and Norman MacCaig). London: Penguin, 1972.
• An-t-Adhar Ameireaganach. Inverness, UK: Club Leabhar, 1973.
• Rabhdan is Rudan Glaschu: Gairm, 1973.
• Eadar Fealla-dha is Glaschu. Ghlaschu: Roinn nan Canan Ceilteach, Oilthigh Ghlaschu, 1974.
• Orpheus, and other poems. Preston, UK: Akros, 1974.
• Hami Autumn. 1974.
• The Notebooks of Robinson Crusoe, and other poems. London: Gollancz, 1975.
• The Permanent Island: Gaelic poems. Loanhead, Midlothian, UK: Macdonald, 1975.
• An t-Aonaran. Glasgow: K & S Studio, 1976; Dept. of Celtic, Glasgow University, 1991.
• Iain Crichton Smith. Glasgow: National Book League, 1979.
• Selected Poems 1955-1980. Loanhead, Midlothian, UK: Macdonald, 1981.
• The Exiles. Manchester, UK: Carcanet / Dublin: Raven Arts Press, 1984.
• Selected Poems (edited by James MacGibbon). Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1985.
• A Life. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1986.
• An t-Eilean agus an Caan. Glaschu: Roinn nan Cànan Ceilteach Oilthigh Ghlaschu, 1987.
• Na Speuclairean Dubha. Glaschu, 1989.
• Turas tro Shaoghal Falamh. Acair, 1991.
• Na Guthan. Glaschu: Gairm, 1991.
• Collected Poems. Manchester, UK: 1992, 1996.
• Ends and Beginnings. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1994.
• The Human Face. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1996.
• The Leaf and the Marble. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1998.
• A Country For Old Men / My Canadian Uncle. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2000.
• Am Miseanaraidh. Inverness: Clàr, 2005.
• New Collected Poems (edited by Matthew McGuire). Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2011.
• Deer on the High Hills: Selected poems (edited by John Greening). Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 2021.

Novels

• Consider the Lilies (with Isobel Murray). London: Gollancz, 1968; London: Weidenfield & Nicholson, 2018.
• The Alien Light. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969.
• The Last Summer. London: Gollancz, 1969; Edinburgh: Polygon, 2015.
• My Last Duchess: A novel. London: Gollancz, 1971.
• Goodbye Mr Dixon. London: Gollancz, 1974; Edinburgh: Polygon, 2015.
• An End to Autumn. London: Gollancz, 1978; Edinburgh: Polygon, 2015.
• Murdo: The life and works. London: Gollancz, 1981; Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001.
• A Field Full of Folk: A novel. London: Gollancz, 1982; Edinburgh: Polygon, 2015.
• The Search. London: Gollancz, 1983.
• The Tenement. London: Gollancz, 1985.
• In the Middle of the Wood: A novel. London: Gollancz, 1987.
• The Dream. London: Macmilan, 1990.
• An Honourable Death. London: Macmillan, 1992.
• Thoughts of Murdo. Nairn, UK: Balnain, 1993; Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001.

Short fiction

• Survival Without Error, and other stories. Longon: Gollancz, 1970.
• The Black and the Red, and other stories. London: Gollancz, 1973.
• The Hermit, and other stories. London: Gollancz, 1977.
• Mr Trill in Hades, and other stories, London: Gollancz, 1984.
• Selected Stories. Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1990.
• Listen to the Voice: Selected stories. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1993, 2010.
• The Black Halo: The complete English stories, 1977-1998. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001.
• After the Dance: Selected stories. Edinburgh: Polygon, 2017.

Non-fiction

• The Golden Lyric: An essay on the poetry of Hugh MacDiarmid. London: Akros, 1967.
• Towards the Human: Selected essays. Edinburgh: Macdonald, 1986.

Juvenile

• River, River: Poems for children. Loanhead, UK: Macdonald, 1978.
• On the Island. World Literature Today, 54:3 (1980); Drew, 1988; Edinburgh: Polygon, 2015.
• A' Bheinn Oir. Acair, 1989.

Translated

• Duncan Ban MacIntyre, Ben Dorain. Preston, UK: Akros, 1969.
• Sorley Maclean, Poems to Eimhir. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Northern House, 1973.

Edited

• Modern Gaelic Verse (edited with Commun Gàidhealach). Thurso, UK: Caithness Books, 1966.
• Moments in the Glasshouse: Poetry and prose by new Scottish writers. Aberdeen: Thistle, 1987. editor

Magi Gibson reads When I am Reading by Iain Crichton Smith

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Audio / video

• Iain Crichton Smith (casette). Bournemouth, UK: Canto, 1985.

See also

• List of British poets

External links

Poems

• Iain Crichton Smith in the Scottish Poetry Library (5 poems)

Audio / video

• Off the page: Iain Crichton Smith

Books

• Iain Crichton Smith publications on the Carcanet website
• Iain Crichton Smith at Amazon.com

About

• Iain Crichton Smith at BBC Two - Writing Scotland
• Obituary: Iain Crichton Smith, The Independent
• The Contribution of Iain Crichton Smith - An essay on Crichton Smith's poetry, by Edwin Morgan