Aonghas MacNeacail
Encyclopedia
Aonghas MacNeacail nickname Aonghas dubh or black Aonghas) is a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language. Born and brought up in the Isle of Skye
, he was registered at birth as Angus Nicolson, but has changed his official name to his native Gaelic. He attended Uig
Primary School and Portree
High School, and from 1968 the University of Glasgow
where he was one of a group of young writers who gathered around Philip Hobsbaum
.
Besides drawing on his rich Gaelic traditions, MacNeacail is influenced by wider practice, including the Black Mountain School of the USA, and tends to work in modern idioms. He has held a number of writing fellowships in Scotland, including repeated residences at the Gaelic college of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
, and reads his own work at festivals around the world. He has collaborated with a number of musicians and visual artists, and has written drama.
Aonghas MacNeacail won the Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year with his third collection, Oideachadh Ceart ('A Proper Schooling and other poems'), in 1997. His most recent collection Laoidh an Donais òig ('hymn to a young demon') was published by Polygon in 2007. His partner is the actor and writer Gerda Stevenson
.
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
, he was registered at birth as Angus Nicolson, but has changed his official name to his native Gaelic. He attended Uig
Uig, Skye
The village of Uig lies at the head of the sheltered inlet of Uig Bay on the west coast of the Trotternish peninsula on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Uig is situated partly on the raised beach around the head of the bay and partly on the steep slopes behind it...
Primary School and Portree
Portree
Portree is the largest town on Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the Island, Portree High school. Public transport services are limited to buses....
High School, and from 1968 the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
where he was one of a group of young writers who gathered around Philip Hobsbaum
Philip Hobsbaum
Philip Dennis Hobsbaum was a British teacher, poet and critic.-Life:Hobsbaum was born into a Polish Jewish family in London, and brought up in Bradford, in Yorkshire. He read English at Downing College, Cambridge, where he was taught and heavily influenced by F. R. Leavis...
.
Besides drawing on his rich Gaelic traditions, MacNeacail is influenced by wider practice, including the Black Mountain School of the USA, and tends to work in modern idioms. He has held a number of writing fellowships in Scotland, including repeated residences at the Gaelic college of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a Scottish Gaelic medium college located about north of Armadale on the Sleat peninsula of the island of Skye in northwestern Scotland. It is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands and also has a campus on Islay known as Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle.The college was...
, and reads his own work at festivals around the world. He has collaborated with a number of musicians and visual artists, and has written drama.
Aonghas MacNeacail won the Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year with his third collection, Oideachadh Ceart ('A Proper Schooling and other poems'), in 1997. His most recent collection Laoidh an Donais òig ('hymn to a young demon') was published by Polygon in 2007. His partner is the actor and writer Gerda Stevenson
Gerda Stevenson
Gerda Stevenson is a Scottish actress, director and writer, described by The Scotsman in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress". She has played a vast range of parts in the theatre, including both Desdemona and Lady MacBeth, and has appeared in many television dramas...
.