Brown, George Mackay

Brown, George Mackay (1921–96), Scottish poet, novelist, playwright and short story writer, born in Orkney, where he remained most of his life. He was educated at Newbattle Abbey College, under E. Muir, and at the University of Edinburgh. All his work springs from a deep local source and is rooted in Norse saga, island folklore, the cycles of rural life, and a deep Christian faith. His volumes of poetry include Loaves and Fishes (1959), The Year of the Whale (1969), and Following a Lark (1996). Among his collections of short stories are A Calendar of Love (1967) and A Time to Keep (1969). His first novel, Greenvoe (1972), was set on an imaginary northern island, Hellya, which becomes the site for a military project called Operation Black Star. The story describes the resulting destruction of the village of Greenvoe against the unchanging and self-renewing backdrop of nature. This was followed by Magnus (1973), and Beside the Ocean of Time (1994), set on another fictitious Orcadian island. Other works include An Orkney Tapestry (1969, prose and verse), and a posthumously published Autobiography (1997).