Donald S Murray
| Donald S Murray | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| 🏫 Education | MA (Joint Hons) at University of Glasgow |
| 💼 Occupation | Novelist, poet, playwright |
| Notable work | For the Safety of All As the Women Lay Dreaming |
| 🏅 Awards | Paul Torday Memorial Prize (2020) |
| 🌐 Website | https://www.donaldsmurray.co.uk/ |
Donald S Murray (born 1956) is a Scottish novelist, poet, and playwright. He has written several non-fiction books including For the Safety of All.[1], novels, poetry, music, and a play. He was awarded the 2020 Paul Torday Memorial Prize[2]
Early life
Murray was born in 1956 and grew up in South Dell in the Ness district of the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides.
He was a pupil at The Nicolson Institute in Stornoway before studying at the University of Glasgow during the 1980s, where he graduated with an MA (Joint Hons) in English and Scottish Literature. He then obtained a Diploma in Education and a Secondary Teaching Qualification before embarking on a teaching career.
Career
After three decades[3] as an English teacher, Murray became a full-time writer in 2012[4]. He now lives and works in Shetland.
His debut novel, As the Women Lay Dreaming, won the Paul Torday Memorial Prize in 2020 and was shortlisted for the The Herald Scottish Culture Awards Outstanding Literature Award and the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award in 2019.
In total, Murray has written 14 books[5] and published essays, columns, short stories, and poems in the likes of The Herald, The Guardian, and The Island Review.
His writing, both of fiction and non-fiction, has received critical acclaim[6] [7] [8]awards and appeared on shortlists and longlists for numerous literary prizes.
Playwriting
In 2015, Sequamur, Murray’s first full-length Scottish Gaelic play, was performed across Scotland, including at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as in Belfast, London, and Ypres in Belgium.
Characterized as ‘moving, powerful, with a message that resonates today,’ it explored the effect of the First World War on The Nicolson Institute in Stornoway.
Poetry
Murray has published several poetic works and was chosen as one of three Scots poets to give a reading at COP 26 in Glasgow in October 2021. He appeared in the Green Zone along with fellow Scots poets, Roseanne Watt and Pàdraig MacAoidh, at “Weathering the Storm: Scottish Poets Discuss Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation.[9].”
Murray’s poetry has been critically acclaimed[10] [11] in the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, being shortlisted twice in 1997 before winning in 2021 with Achanalt, a poetry pamphlet, along with publishers, Roncadora Press.
Articles
Murray is a regular contributor to several publications, including The Guardian, The Herald, Scottish Review, Bella Caledonia, and The Shetland Times, among others:
Radio interviews
As a native Scottish Gaelic speaker, Murray can often be heard on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, while on BBC Radio Four he has featured on Open Book with Mariella Frostrup.
He has appeared on TV, on BBC Four’s Birds Britannia, a series on British birdlife, and The Last Seabird Summer, which examined the decline of seabirds in the North Atlantic.
Speaking engagements
Murray also regularly speaks at book festivals and international conferences, and has delivered talks at the University of Reykjavik in Iceland; the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland; the Nordic Centre in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; the Blasket Centre in Dingle, Ireland; and the Pisa International Book Festival in Italy, among others.
Bibliography
Fiction novels
As the Women Lay Dreaming (2018)
Small Expectations (2010)
Special Deliverance: Short Stories from the Western Isles (1997)
Non-fiction books
For the Safety of All (2021)
In a Veil of Mist (2021)
The Dark Stuff: Stories from the Peatlands (2018)
The Italian Chapel (2017)
Herring Tales: How the Silver Darlings Shaped Human Taste and History (2016)
SY StorY: A Portrait of Stornoway Harbour (2015)
The Guga Stone: Lies, Legends and Lunacies from St Kilda (2014)
The Guga Hunters (2008)
Poetry
The Man Who Talks to Birds (2020)
Speak To Us Catriona: New Tales and Traditions of The Lews (2007)
Music
Weaving Songs (2011)
Plays
Sequamur (2015)
Awards and listings
2021: Callum Macdonald Memorial Award
2020: Paul Torday Memorial Prize
2019: Shortlisted, The Herald Scottish Culture Awards Outstanding Literature Award
2019: Shortlisted, The Author’s Club Best First Novel Award
2019: Longlisted, Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown
2019: Walter Scott Prize, Academy Recommends List
2018: Longlisted, Highland Book Prize
2013: Jessie Kesson Fellowship
2012: Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship
2009: Neil M Gunn Prize (awarded third place for a villanelle)
2007: Shortlisted twice, Callum Macdonald Memorial Award
1997: Shortlisted, Saltire Society Literary Awards (First Book Award category)
References
- ↑ "New book shines a spotlight on Scotland's iconic lighthouses | Hist Env Scot". www.historicenvironment.scot. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Donald S. Murray wins Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2020". Paul Torday. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Donald S. Murray". Books from Scotland. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Donald S. Murray - Poet". Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Books". www.donaldsmurray.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Author: Donald S Murray". Scottish Book Trust. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Book review: As the Women Lay Dreaming, by Donald S Murray". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Weathering the Storm: Scottish Poets Discuss Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation". UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
- ↑ "Book review: Donald S. Murray, In a Veil of Mist". The Oban Times. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
External links
- Official website
- As the Women Lay Dreaming - novel synoposis
- Callum Macdonald Memorial Award - details of the prize award
- Sequamur - Play review in the Irish News
- Operation Cauldron spawned 100 legends on Lewis in the 1950s. The Herald, March 2021
- Country diary: an island built on seaweed. The Guardian, October 2018
- Country diary: Arctic terns swirl around a grey stretch of rock. The Guardian, August 2018
- A rare capacity to inspire. Scottish Review, March 2018
- Stir it up, silver darlin’: Bob Marley provides the soundtrack to a sea voyage to Floro for Norway’s Herring Festival. The Herald, February 2016
- Open Book - Radio Four interview with Mariella Frostrup
Videos
- Donald S Murray - For the Safety of All | Wordplay 2021. Shetland Arts, September 23, 2021
- Herring Tales September 18, 2015
- Waulking Song. Wigtown Book Festival, October 4, 2015
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