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Carve the Runes

Selected Poems
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( 18 ratings, 5 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Carve the Runes delves into the rich cultural tapestry of Orkney through the poetry of George Mackay Brown. His work captures the ancestral world, communal work, and the fables and religious stories that shape mortal lives. Brown viewed the poet's role as integral to the community, singing its stories while also embracing introspection to 'interrogate silence'.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in poetry that blends cultural heritage and introspection, fans of Scottish literature, and those intrigued by the social role of art within communities.

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In this new Selected Poems , Kathleen Jamie explores the multi-faceted world of George Mackay Brown's Orkney, the poet's lifelong home and inspiration.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In this new Selected Poems, Kathleen Jamie explores the multi-faceted world of George Mackay Brown's Orkney, the poet's lifelong home and inspiration.

George Mackay Brown's concerns were the ancestral world, the communalities of work, the fables and religious stories which he saw as underpinning mortal lives. Brown believed from the outset that poets had a social role and his true task was to fulfil that role. This is not the attitude of a shrinking violet, tentatively exploring his 'voice'. Art was sprung from the community, and his role as poet was to know that community, to sing its stories. But there was also room for introspection; the poet's task was simultaneously to 'interrogate silence'.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Spectator praises the new editions of Brown's work for revealing his spirituality and extraordinary gift for 'involved detachment'. Donald Murray from the Stornoway Gazette commends the editors Kathleen Jamie and Malachy Tallack for thoughtfully selecting poems and stories that highlight the power and appeal of Brown's writing.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781846975165

Publisher: Birlinn General

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 June 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited

Contributors:

  • Selected by Kathleen Jamie

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 195.0mm

Weight: 198g

Pages: 224

About the Author

George Mackay Brown (192196) was one of the twentieth century's most distinguished and original writers. His lifelong inspiration and birthplace, Stromness in Orkney, moulded his view of the world, though he studied in Edinburgh and later at Newbattle Abbey College. He produced a regular stream of publications from 1954 onwards. These included A Calendar of Love (1967), A Time to Keep (1969), Greenvoe (1972), Hawkfall (1974), and, notably, the novel Beside the Ocean of Time (1994), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the Saltire Book of the Year.

Kathleen Jamie is a poet and essayist. Her 1995 collection The Queen of Sheba won the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize; The Tree House (2002) also won the Forward Poetry Prize and the Scottish Book of the Year Award; The Overhaul, published in 2012, won the Costa Poetry Award. In 2016 Kathleen won both the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year and the overall Saltire Book of the Year for her collection The Bonniest Companie

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