A Shetland-based writer who is appearing at this year’s St Duthac Books and Arts Festival in Tain has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Association for Scottish Literature from the University of Edinburgh.
The Lewis-born writer, is appearing at the St Duthac Books and Arts Festival on Thursday, September 11th in the Tain Golf Club.
The book he will be discussing at that event, the Torday Prize-winning novel ‘As The Women Lay Dreaming’, is one of the reasons cited for Murray receiving the award, as part of his substantial and distinctive contribution to the Scottish literary tradition.
That novel joins his play ‘Sequamur’ which has been allocated to over 100 secondary schools throughout Scotland as part of the English Higher course for pupils.
Talking on his website, Murray said:
“Clearly, I’m thrilled to have won this award.
“There are a number of people with Hebridean connections to whom I owe a great deal of gratitude.
“They include the likes of the late Charles Macdonald, who taught in Cross Primary School, and the likes of Tom Clark and many others who taught in the Nicholson Institute.
“Both these individuals were fantastic in their encouragement of my ability.”
Donald S Murray’s inspiration for the novel ‘As The Women Lay Dreaming’ came from conversations he heard as a child in his home district of Ness on the Isle of Lewis.
One story was of the Iolaire disaster which came to be known as the “crowning sorrow of the war”.
HMY Iolaire hit rocks and sank near Stornoway on 1st January 1919 resulting in the deaths of over 200 men returning home from the First World War.
They were just 20 yards from the shore and safety.
This beautiful, poignant yet powerful novel, set across two decades, tells how this single event impacted communities and individuals for the rest of their lives.
Previously inducted honorary fellows include the late Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, the late novelist William McIlvanney, the poet and former Scots Makar Kathleen Jamie and folk singer Dick Gaughan.
St Duthac Books and Arts Festival Chair Frances Wood said:
“We were delighted to hear about Donald’s awards.
“We were already excited about his appearance at the Festival as several of our members hold his writing in the highest regard, we were thrilled to discover that we were far from alone.
“Visitors to the Festival will have an excellent opportunity to judge for themselves and are sure to be enthralled and moved by Donald’s talk.”
Donald S Murray, ‘As The Women Lay Dreaming’, Thursday 11th September 7.30pm—8.30pm Tain Golf Club, Chapel Road, Tain, IV19 1JE £10 Live music from Eric Bell from 6.50pm.
Tickets and further details are available at https://www.stduthacbookfest.com
